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This is a list of songs titled as acronyms and/or initialisms. Instrumental pieces are tagged with an uppercase "I", or a lowercase "i" for quasi-instrumental including non-lyrics voice samples. A after a title denotes a song where the letters are actually said, and a () means the letters are spelt but not together (as in Nat King Cole's "L is for the way you look at me, O is for the only one I see, etc.").
Included in the list are:
Songs whose title is a pseudo-acronym (or presumed so), that is words written with periods and presumably not standing for something else, such as "F.E.E.L.I.N.G. C.A.L.L.E.D. L.O.V.E." or "N.I.B."
Songs whose full title includes an optional parenthesis, such as "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" or "A.F.U. (Naturally Wired)", when they can be, and usually are, referred to without the parenthetical content.
Songs whose full title includes an article, such as "The N.W.R.A." (aka "N.W.R.A.") or "P.I.M.P. the S.I.M.P."
Excluded from the list are:
Songs whose full title includes a non-optional parenthesis, such as "M-O-O-N (That Spells Suicide)", which aren't usually referred to in a shorter form.
Songs whose title includes non-article words, such as "T-E-X-A-S Spells Texas" or "L-O-V-E Spells Fool", which aren't usually referred to in a shorter form.
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0-9
"4.U." by Korn on Issues - stands phonetically for "FOR YOU" *
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A
"A.N.I.M.A.L." by W.A.S.P. on W.A.S.P. - presumably the literal spelling of "animal"
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B
"B." by Pinback on Offcell - probably stands phonetically for a "BEE" ("audio hum ... stereo drone ... there's a sound in my head ... buzzing in my head") *
"B.I.B.L.E." by GZA on Liquid Swords - stands for "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth"
"B.I.T.C.H" by Jamelia on Thank You - stands for "Beautiful, Intelligent, Talented, Cool Honey"
"B.L.U.R.E.M.I." by Blur on 13 - presumably stands for "BLUR and their label EMI"
"B.S.L." by Die Ärzte on Planet Punk - stands for "Brutal Schneller Lärm" (German for "brutally fast noise")
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C
"C.R.E.A.M." by Wu-Tang Clan on - stands for "Cash Rules Everything Around Me"
"C.U.T.M." by 311 on Unity - stands for "Cosmic Utopian Thrivin' Mission"
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D
"D.I.S.C.O." by Ottawan on D.I.S.C.O. - stands for a girl that's "Delirious, Incredible, Superficial, Complicated, Oh, oh, oh" and more: (&)
"D.J.D.J." by Transplants on Transplants - stands maybe for "? Drug Jockey Drug Jockey ?" in reference to a Disc Jockey (lyrics "the powder that sells ... life of drug funds") *
"D.L.M.D." by 311 on 311 - stands for "Don't Let Me Down"
"D.M.S.R." by Prince on 1999 - stands for "Dance, Music, Sex, Romance" *
"D.W.A." (a university students' drinking chant) - stands for "Down With Acronyms"
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E
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F
"F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X." by The Fall of Troy on Doppelgänger - stands for "Fuck Condoms, Premarital remix", a remix of "F.C.P.S.I.T.S.G.E.P.G.E.P.G.E.P." (not the fan joke "Fuck Condoms, Premarital Ratsex Eat Moms In Xylophones")
"F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E"
"F.I.N.E." by Aerosmith on Pump - stands here for "Fucked-up, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional" **
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G
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H
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I
"I.E.A.I.A.I.O." by System of a Down on Steal This Album! - stands for "(???)" ** - Clues and theories: the original title was "Why is I-E-A-I-A-I-O"; it may refer to the vowels in "idealization"; it may be a phonetical transcription of an Indian chant or a KKK chant; it may be an incantation used by occultist Aleister Crowley. It was sung "eye-eee-hey-eye-hey-eye-oo" in its draft version "K.I.T.T." *
"I.T.H.O.T.M.O.A." by The Bobs on Plugged - stands for "In The Halls Of The Malls Of America"
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J
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K
"K.I.N.G.D.O.M.O.G.O.D." by Soul-Junk on 1956 - presumably stands for "Kingdom o' God"
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L
"L.A.B.A.T.Y.D." by Nik Kershaw on Radio Musicola - stands for "Life's A Bitch And Then You Die"
"L.A.M.C." i by Tool on Salival - stands for the "Los Angeles Municipal Court"
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M
"M.O.R." by Blur on Blur - stands for "Middle Of the Road" (a contrario to the "MOR" music style) *
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N
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O
"O.U. (Gone, Gone)" by Pulp on Intro - maybe stands phonetically for "OH YOU" (lyrics "Oh you could stop her/If you get out of bed") *
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P
"P.O.E." by Adam Ant on Vive Le Rock - stands for "the nuclear-war recall code in the movie Dr. Strangelove" * (hinted at by the insane General Ripper's doodles "Peace On Earth & Purity Of Essence" *)
"P.O.M.E." I by Sparta on Porcelain - possibly stands for "Prisoner Of Mother England" or "Post O Modern Entropy" *
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Q
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R
"R.D.N.Z.L." by Frank Zappa on Studio Tan - pronounced "Redunzel" (its original title on the WB release was "Redunzl") so it rhymes with "Rapunzel", it may possibly stand for nothing and be as imaginary as the "rapunzel" of the tale. It remains a popular mystery among Zappa fans who have invented hundreds of facetious meanings, and will invent new bogus ones to feed the newbies asking the question. Serious clues could include: Zappa live introducing "a song dealing with the delicate subject of Ruth" (one explanation being "Ruth Doesn't Need Zappa Lyrics"); a car license plate RNDZL (but that could have been after the song); or simply a name "Redunzel" (for a male version of Rapunzel). Most other theories are shot down by various facts. *
"R.U.O.K. by KMFDM on Adios - stands phonetically for "ARE YOU O.K." *
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S
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T
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U
"U.M.F." by Duran Duran on Duran Duran 2 (aka The Wedding Album) - stands presumably for "Ultimate Mind Fucker" (lyrics "I'm making love to the ultimate mind") *
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V
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W
"W.D.Y.C.A.I." by A on Hi-Fi Serious - stands for "Why Don't You Cry About It?" *
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X
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Y
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Z
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