Question About A Song Title?

Danalynn · Oct 12, 2008

Am I using the song title correctly in this sentence, punctuation-wise, etc.?

I could hear him singing the lyrics to “Somewhere Beyond the Sea” by Bobby Darin.

Any help will be much appreciated.

mrockwell · Oct 12, 2008

I might rewrite it like this:

I could hear him singing Bobby Darin's “Somewhere Beyond the Sea.”

I think you can take "the lyrics to" out, because if he's singing and not humming, he's using words, which would of course be the song lyrics, or you wouldn't recognize the song.

Does it matter to the narrative who sings it? If not, I'd write it:

I could hear him singing “Somewhere Beyond the Sea.”

HTH.

-- Marcy

Danalynn · Oct 13, 2008

I might rewrite it like this:

I could hear him singing Bobby Darin's “Somewhere Beyond the Sea.”

Thanks for the help.

:e2flowers

dpaterso · Oct 13, 2008

Just to confuse matters, 'cause I'm good at that, some folks prefer to write song titles in italics instead of quotes, e.g.

I could hear him singing the lyrics to Somewhere Beyond the Sea by Bobby Darin.

Of course you'd write this as,

I could hear him singing the lyrics to Somewhere Beyond the Sea by Bobby Darin.

And song lyrics, if they appear, are often written in italics too.

-Derek

Danalynn · Oct 13, 2008

Kewl! I didn't know that . . .

Thanks, Derek.

So, if I reworded it, it'd be :

I could hear him singing Bobby Darin's Somewhere Beyond The Sea.

Right?

dpaterso · Oct 13, 2008

-Derek

chevbrock · Oct 14, 2008

Didn't Robbie Williams do a version of this song recently? I think it's on Finding Nemo. Just if you wanted to have an artist more recognisable to the young'uns.

Danalynn · Oct 14, 2008

Hmmmm . . . I hadn't even considered that.

:e2shower:

Maybe I just shouldn't put the name of any artist. I think that song has been recorded by several people (didn't Frank Sinatra sing it first? Not sure . . .)

Anyway, I guess it doesn't really matter WHO the song is by, it's only the song title that matters. (Uncle Thomas is singing it in the shower.)

I think most people know the song itself. The artist is really irrelevant to the story.

I could hear him singing the lyrics to Somewhere Beyond The Sea.

Things that make you say, "Hmmmmmmm."

Thanks, chevbrock!

chevbrock · Oct 14, 2008

No dramas, DL.

HeidiHole · Oct 15, 2008

question about a song title

Leave off the "somewhere." The title as it appears on the 45 label is "Beyond The Sea." It's a French song. The French title is "La Mer." Charles Trenet recorded the first hit version in the 1940s.

chevbrock · Oct 15, 2008

It never ceases to amaze me what people around here know!

IceCreamEmpress · Oct 19, 2008

In the US, it's correct to put song titles in quotation marks, not italics. Don't know what the Australian rule on that is.

Charles Trenet was the composer and lyricist of "La Mer" as well as the recording artist who first made it a hit. Jack Lawrence was the US songwriter who wrote the English lyrics that have been performed by many, many singers.

Danalynn · Oct 19, 2008

In the US, it's correct to put song titles in quotation marks, not italics. Don't know what the Australian rule on that is.

That makes sense. THANK YOU for the info!

Question About A Song Title?

Danalynn

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