What is the most commonly used song title in history?
Some artists go out of their way to create unique titles during songwriting. Panic! At the Disco, for example, became well-known for their lengthy approach to the art of track-naming, while Aphex Twin’s titles flit between generic numbers and indecipherable collections of letters. But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to concoct a name that hasn’t been used before, to think of a song title that doesn’t return several other results when you search it on Spotify.
While specific musicians have considered this a challenge, others have merely leaned into it. Rather than racking their brains for something new and fresh, they give into predictability or simplicity regarding song names. ‘Stay’, for example, seems to have become a go-to song title. Rihanna and Mikky Ekko used it back in 2013, Post Malone employed it just five years later, and Justin Bieber used it in 2021.
One-word titles, in particular, seem to be favoured in the process of track-naming. ‘Crazy’ is another one of the most used titles in music, used by the likes of Gnarls Barkley, Patsy Kline, and Seal. ‘Home’ has also been used by a number of artists throughout history, from indie rockers LCD Soundsystem to Michael Bublé to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
Songs with love in the title also seem to prove popular, which is unsurprising given how many tracks have been inspired by the feeling of passion. The title ‘I Love You’, in particular, has been employed by many. Billie Eilish used it, in all lower case, on her 2019 record, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, while Fontaines DC used the title to push into their love for Ireland on Skinty Fia.
While names like ‘Stay’ and ‘I Love You’ seem guaranteed to crop up on a new album every couple of years, neither of these are the most common song titles.
So, what is the most common song title?
The most common charting song title is ‘Hold On’, according to Billboard. The name ‘Hold On’ has appeared in the Billboard Hot 100 an impressive 17 times over the years, with artists such as Santana, Wilson Phillips and Kansas using the song title. Outside of the charts, a number of musicians have chosen to name their song ‘Hold On’. More recent artists who have used the phrase include Alabama Shakes, Sampha, and The Internet.
The song name ‘Hold On’ seems to transcend genres and meaning. Following his days with the Beatles, John Lennon used the title on a Plastic Ono Band release directed towards Yoko Ono, while the gruff-voiced Tom Waits used the song name in a more melancholy tone in the late 1990s. The Internet’s version is a gorgeous R&B tune, but Adele adorned it with pianos and drawn-out vocals.
‘Hold On’ alone has been used for a number of song titles, but the list gets even larger if you include songs that feature the phrase alongside additional words. Drake had a hit with ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’ back in 2013, when the Electric Light Orchestra created ‘Hold On Tight’ and Genesis wrote ‘Hold on My Heart’. The phrase has been used by countless artists to evoke different emotions and meanings over the years.
Adaptive and all-encompassing, it’s easy to see why ‘Hold On’ has become one of the most popular song titles. It can be encouraging or desperate, optimistic or despairing, but it’s always evocative. Despite sounding pretty generic at first, it can be attached to more personal feelings and writings, taking on new meaning with each song it names. It seems like there will be many more songs called ‘Hold On’ that are still to come.
