Songs where the singer mentions his own name

The Fall - "Shoulder Pads"

Black Box Recorder - Andrew Ridgeley
Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat

Okay, in Ouija Board, Ouija Board Moz spells out S.T.E.V.E.N. Will that do?

James Brown
Sam and Dave

"How do you do? I don't think that we've met. My name is Ian and I'm in Minor Threat."

"The crowd gasps at Cocker's masterful control of the bicycle" – Pulp, "I Spy"

"Hey Annie, well, look at you! Is that a new boy stuck on your shoe?"

xpost crikey, triple jarvis

Paul Westerberg, "Something is Me"

(And I think there are still a few more)

(isn't "LA Woman" the anagram one?)

"Bo Diddley," "Who Do You Love?"

True, Oblig, but in the context of an ILM thread, it isn't.

Ah, I'll just fuck off, already. Sorry I said anything.

FUCK ON!

"Come on, get your fuck on..."

Also, two band self-drops:

"I wanted her to be a big PM Dawn fan."

"They got the Steely Dan t-shirts."

(Jagger retains the namecheck on Exile)

1. beastie boys - fight for your right

COME ON U CUNT LET'S 'AVE SOME APHEX ACID

Megadeth - Lucretia

"My friends all say Dave your(sic) mental anyway"

Dexys Midnight Runners-Kevin Rowland's 13th Time

"My name is Kevin Rowland, I'm the leader of the band"

The Mountain Goats, "Going to Cleveland", on some next-level shit:

I hear the Cuyahoga calling, now I know
What I was born for
And you say, "Hey John, where are you going?"
But that's not my name anymore

he goes by his ILX name now

Sweet -Ballroom blitz.
"ready steve? andy? mick? allright fellows! let's go!!!!"

Julian Cope – Julian H. Cope

The Bonzo Dog Band - The Intro and the Outro ("Hi Vivian Stanshall, trumpet!")
Plus Viv names other band members in "The Bride Stripped Bare by 'Bachelors'" and "Look At Me I'm Wonderful")

The Roches - We ("We are Maggie and Terre and Suzzy / We spell our last name R-O-C-H-E")
The Death of Suzzy Roche ("Everyone in the laundromat is equal / Suzzy Roche")

Randy Newman - My Life Is Good (Purportedly quoting Springsteen: "Rand, I'm tired / How would you like to be the Boss for a while?")

David Bowie - Can't Help Thinking About Me ("My girl calls my name / Hi Dave")

Electric Light Orchestra - Shine a Little Love (the backing vox sing "E-L-O" near the end)

John Mayer, "Stop This Train"

Another Leonard Cohen one: "Because Of"

"Look at me, Leonard,
Look at me one last time."

Freddie Mercury: "Mr. Bad Guy"

"Mr. Bad Guy
Yes, I'm everybody's Mr. Bad Guy
Can't you see, I'm Mr. Mercury
Oh, spread your wings and fly away with me."

James Brown: "Santa Claus, Go Straight to the Ghetto"

"Santa Claus, go straight to the ghetto
Tell 'em James Brown sent you
And go straight to the ghetto."

Hi boys and girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black and I'm the indian of the group.

dude, geir, you mention ABC upthread, bu you forgot the best one!

Ladies and gentlemen, it's my proud privilege to present:
A-B-C

My name is Martin Fry, F-R-Y
Who needs the moon, when we got the stars?

(A-B-C, A-B-C)

Mark White (That's right)
Mark White
Mark White (That's right)
Mark White (Right, right)

(A-B-C, A-B-C)

Hi, I'm Eden
I want you to kiss my snatch

(A-B-C, A-B-C)

Howdy disco citizens
I'm David Yarritu
I may be tiny (tiny), but I'm strong

(A-B-C, A-B-C)

(A-B-C)

(That's all)

TG - Something Came Over Me

"And that's the message, the message, the message from Gen"

Al Stewart, "You Should Have Listened to Al":

"I guess I was doing all right up until now
I'm beginning to think you should have listened to Al"

Robert Cray:
"It's because of me
It's because of me
Because of me
Young Bob!"

Also self-refers in Bad Influence and I imagine some others.

About 80-90% of Jerry Lee Lewis' recorded output.

― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Thursday, March 10, 2005

listening to Lewis Country recently I decided that Jerry Lee mentioning his own name in damn near every song = Hitchcock appearing in his own movies

I hope that Bo Diddley is mentioned in this thread somewhere.

Oh, dang! How could Bo Diddley have only arrived in this thread so late? Nice one, Nick.

Lennon, from "God": "I was the Walrus but now I'm John."
Also see "Ballad of John & Yoko".

Radiohead - Lift

(We've been trying to reach you, Thom)

Goddo's "Sweet Young Thing" (speaking to a groupie): "You like the fact I'm in the Goddo band..."

Waylon Jennings -Luckenbach, Texas

("Willie and Waylon and the boys...")

Sufjan Stevens finds a slant-rhyme for "Vesuvius":

Vesuvius
Oh, be kind
It hasn't occurred
No it hasn't been said
Sufjan, follow the path
It leads to an article of imminent death
Sufjan, follow your heart
Follow the flame
Or fall on the floor
Sufjan, the panic inside
The murdering ghost
That you cannot ignore

Omah Lay in "Godly", simultaneously rejoicing in and lamenting the sound of his name now that he has become an overnight star in Nigeria and far beyond:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqUd72pK15Y

#thepriceoffame

Jeffrey Lee Pierce picking up on the Robert Johnson self reference in Preachin the Blues and singing come on ol' Jeffrey Lee know can't hardly turn it around

Happens many times on Jacques Brel's "Grand Jacques (c'est trop facile)"

Madder Rose - Goodbye June Fool

this is an odd one in that it presents a songwriter's-eye view of the singer, as it was sung by Mary Lorson and written by her bandmate Billy Coté, with whom she had a kid

First thing, I wake up, I think of Mary
We've got things to do
Gotta do things to ourselves
There is just one problem and we share it
Mary is the one
It's her and no one else

---

And Mary's out on the couch
She wakes up and tells me that she hates me
But when I look into her eyes
I know she sees herself

somehow this didn't register for me at all until I read Ned's AMG review

I see “My Name Is” at the start of the thread but there’s also “you belong to Prince” in “Private Joy”

oh and “Darling Nikki” as well

and fwiw (xposts) Madder Rose also have a song called "Madder Rose" (retitled "Swim") that goes, "hey Rose / hey Madder / hey Rose / do I make you sadder?". this is conceptually identical to Darius Rucker singing "hey Hootie / hey Blowfish" on Hootie & the Blowfish's debut single "Hootie & the Blowfish"

(correction, the exact Hootie analogue would be, "hey Blowfish / hey Hootie / hey Blowfish / do I make you moody?". there are lots of other eerie parallels btwn Madder Rose and Hootie & the Blowfish, but I'll save them for a more appropriate thread, as I'm just returning from an extended derailing-related tempban 😔)

Shocked to find Jason Derulo missing from thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak-OUYwCbmo

Another Leonard Cohen one, "Ballad of the Absent Mare"

theres that one part in "i wanna hold your hand" where paul mccartney goes "im paul mccartney, im in the beatles and i wanna hold your hand baby" so good

"Drunk II" by Mannequin Pussy:

And everyone says to me
"Missy, you're so strong"
But what if I don't wanna be?
And everyone says to me
"Missy, how do you stand?"
There's so much you don't see

Scritti Politti - "Overnite", except it's the backing vocalists going "Tell Us About It, Green" and it's one of the great pop moments ever.

― Ferlin Husky (noodle vague), Thursday, March 10, 2005 12:48 AM (twenty-one years ago) bookmarkflaglink

wow, i've fallen hard for this song after reading this post. thank you, noodle vague of 2005

I would struggle to deal with how overwhelmingly lonely this song is nowadays

Bowie - Teenage Wildlife

"Thankful n' Thoughtful" by Sly & the Family Stone:
"Something could have come and taken me away
But the main man felt Syl should be here another day"

"Surrender" by Cheap Trick:
"Robin's alright" (and other band members)

"What I Do" by Donald Fagen:
"He says, 'Don, don't despair, take some time
Just find your bad self, you're gonna do just fine'"

Happens many times on Jacques Brel's "Grand Jacques (c'est trop facile)"

"Video" by India.Arie

I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be
India.Arie

"Alma Mater" by Alice Cooper:
"Hey, don't make a stranger of yourself, huh?
Remember the Coop, huh?"

The B-52s - 52 Girls "Kate! Kate and Cindy!"

“Bitch Box” by Chris Butler:

Be glad you’re not me
I’m Chris Butler so you don’t have to be