Music has been a crucial part of human culture for thousands of years. Songs can evoke powerful emotions and memories in listeners. The titles of songs often provide clues into their meaning or theme. Many popular songs throughout history have incorporated colors into their titles. The use of color words allows songwriters to paint vivid images in listeners’ minds. In this article, we will explore numerous examples of hit songs over the decades that have colors in their titles.
Reasons for Using Color in Song Titles
There are a few key reasons why musicians frequently use colors in their song titles:
- Colors evoke visual imagery – Just hearing a color name allows the listener to quickly imagine that color. This triggers associations with that color’s meaning and symbolism.
- Colors convey emotions – Certain colors are strongly tied to various feelings or moods. Songwriters intentionally select color words that complement the song’s tone.
- Colors are universal – Colors hold basically the same meanings across most cultures. So they allow songs to transcend language or location.
- Colors are memorable – Vivid colors stick in people’s memory. Using a color in the title helps makes the song name more recognizable.
By incorporating colors into titles, musicians can tap into these varied effects to enhance the listening experience.
Notable Examples Through the Decades
Looking back at pop music history reveals countless songs with color-inspired titles. Here are some of the biggest hits from each decade that feature a color name:
1960s
- “Purple Haze” – Jimi Hendrix (1967)
- “Green, Green Grass of Home” – Tom Jones (1967)
- “Blue Bayou” – Roy Orbison (1963)
- “Yellow Submarine” – The Beatles (1966)
1970s
- “Black and White” – Three Dog Night (1972)
- “Blue Sky” – The Allman Brothers Band (1972)
- “Red Red Wine” – Neil Diamond (1968)
- “Pink Cadillac” – Bruce Springsteen (1978)
1980s
- “99 Red Balloons” – Nena (1983)
- “True Blue” – Madonna (1986)
- “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” – Poison (1988)
- “Purple Rain” – Prince (1984)
1990s
- “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” – Eiffel 65 (1998)
- “Black or White” – Michael Jackson (1991)
- “Yellow” – Coldplay (2000)
- “Red Dirt Road” – Brooks & Dunn (2003)
2000s
- “White Flag” – Dido (2003)
- “Gold Digger” – Kanye West (2005)
- “Red Solo Cup” – Toby Keith (2011)
- “Brown Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison (1967)
2010s
- “Black and Yellow” – Wiz Khalifa (2010)
- “Red” – Taylor Swift (2012)
- “Blue Ain’t Your Color” – Keith Urban (2016)
- “Rose Gold” – Pentatonix (2017)
This small sampling illustrates the timeless appeal of using colors in song titles across all genres. The vivid images they evoke resonate with listeners.
Most Common Color Title Words
Looking more broadly at pop music history, certain colors appear especially frequently in song titles. Here are some of the most prevalent:
| Color | Example Songs |
|---|---|
| Blue | “Blue Suede Shoes”, “Blue Bayou”, “Rhapsody in Blue”, “Into the Blue”, “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” |
| Red | “Lady in Red”, “Red, Red Wine”, “99 Red Balloons”, “Little Red Corvette”, “Red Solo Cup” |
| Black | “Back in Black”, “Paint it Black”, “Back to Black”, “Black Hole Sun”, “Black or White” |
| White | “White Room”, “White Rabbit”, “White Wedding”, “White Flag”, “White Christmas” |
| Gold | “Heart of Gold”, “Black and Gold”, “Gold Digger”, “Good as Gold”, “Spill the Wine” |
| Purple | “Deep Purple”, “Purple Haze”, “Purple Rain”, “Purple People Eater”, “Smoke on the Water” |
| Pink | “Pink Cadillac”, “Pretty in Pink”, “Pink Houses”, “Raise Your Glass”, “Pink Moon” |
| Green | “Green, Green Grass of Home”, “Green Eyed Lady”, “Green River”, “Green Green Rocky Road”, “Green Garden” |
| Yellow | “Yellow Submarine”, “Yellow”, “Big Yellow Taxi”, “Mellow Yellow”, “Yellow Ledbetter” |
| Brown | “Brown Eyed Girl”, “Lay Lady Lay”, “The Eve of Destruction”, “Brown Sugar”, “Brown Eyed Handsome Man” |
Blue and red clearly stand out as the most popular colors used in song titles. Their ubiquity speaks to how universally these colors evoke strong symbolic meanings. Cool tones like blue connote sadness, loneliness, or depth. Warm tones like red suggest passion, excitement, danger, or love.
Unique Color Title Songs
In addition to the common colors noted above, some songs have featured more unusual or distinctive color names in their titles. Here are a few examples of these one-of-a-kind color songs:
- “Magenta Lane” – Emancipator (2017)
- “Chartreuse” – ZZ Top (2012)
- “Burnt Sienna” – McGuinness Flint (1971)
- “Vermillion” – Slipknot (2004)
- “Mauve” – Remy Zero (2001)
- “Cerulean Blue” -moby (2013)
- “Amber” – 311 (1995)
- “Scarlet Begonias” – Grateful Dead (1974)
- “Magenta Mountain” – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (2022)
- “Viridian” – Between the Buried and Me (2007)
While less common shades like magenta, viridian, and cerulean may not evoke such universal associations, they allow songwriters to come up with more distinctive and vivid song names. The more unique colors help these songs stand out from the crowd.
Conclusion
Colors have been an indispensable songwriting tool for decades across all musical genres. Their ability to quickly conjure up visuals, emotions, and associations makes color-inspired titles incredibly effective. Iconic hits like “Purple Haze”, “Red Red Wine”, “Blue Suede Shoes”, and “Yellow Submarine” demonstrate the power of colors in music. As long as songwriters aim to paint pictures in listeners’ imaginations, color title words will likely continue to thrive.
So next time you come across a song with a color name, take a moment to appreciate the artistry behind its title. The choice of that specific color likely reflects careful thought about the song’s intended tone, meaning, or feeling. Now that you know the most popular examples, you may start noticing color title songs all around you!
