Naming Instrumental Songs

[MikeyFingers]

I've been writing some songs lately with the aid of a drummer friend of mine. We're not quite a band yet, but we have some solid tunes and are about to bring in a guitarist. As we progress, we started getting confused when trying to identify the songs. I don't sing and therefore don't write lyrics, We just work on the rhythm and general structure of the song since it's only the 2 of us.
We're playing primarily funk music with a little jazz here and there, and we intend to keep it instrumental. So what the hell do we call these songs? For the most part, they're not about anything. Some of them we gave titles based on a joke or something funny that happened, (we have one song called Beer Tubes, and another called Take Your Time With that Juice Box) but for the most part they are just spontaneous songs that aren't born from anything in particular.
So unless I dedicate a song to a girl or something specific like that, how do you go about picking a name for a song about nothing?

[Jazz Ad]

I go with automatic writing, basically the first thought that comes to my mind when I play the song.

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

I go with automatic writing, basically the first thought that comes to my mind when I play the song.

This.

Im in an Improv band, and everything is made up as we go along. Including my lyrics.

Sometimes I'll write a 'set-list' where I'll make up a few titles with a key sig next to it. The key sig is so we all play in tune, the title I sometimes use to help with my freeform lyrics.

I would name the instrumental song after something it reminds you of when you listen to it.

[Mr wiggl3s]

Just name it something that means something to you.

It doesn't have to be ****ing awesome or a life story in a few words, just something that at some time meant something to you.

[MikeyFingers]

Some titles we have so far, each has a bit of a back-story:
Beer Tubes
Take Your Time With That Juice Box
Tiny Cat Will Never Die

We still have (I think) 4 songs without titles. Gonna have to make it a team effort next time we practice.

[dave64o]

Similar to what Jazz Ad does, the names we've given songs have something to do with things that were happening around the time it was being write and/or recorded, while we were practicing it, while we were talking about it, etc.

Example...
My guitar player friend borrowed my 4-track several years ago to put down a basic guitar track for one song. When I got it back and listened to it for the first time I thought he was announcing the name of the song because he said "Alright, we're gonna try this one ... more ... stinking ... time ... 340 Feet". Every time we talked about the song I called it "340 Feet". He finally asked me "How the hell did you come up with THAT name?!?!" I told him it was what he called it on the tape but he had NO idea what I was talking. So... I played it for him and he busted out laughing.

He said he had done so many takes trying to get a good one that he was pissed off enough at that point to simply will himself to play it right that time. The "340 Feet" part was a mistake on his part. He looked at the tape counter on the 4-track and assumed that the digits were markers that told you how many of feet of tape you had gone through. When he said "340 Feet" he was trying to tell me that the good take was beginning at 340 feet into the tape, not that "340 Feet" was the name of the song.

Obviously the name stuck. That instrumental is officially named 340 Feet.

EDIT - I'd love to know how Jeff Beck came up with "Constipated Duck"!

[MikeyFingers]

Originally Posted by dave64o

Similar to what Jazz Ad does, the names we've given songs have something to do with things that were happening around the time it was being write and/or recorded, while we were practicing it, while we were talking about it, etc.
Example...
My guitar player friend borrowed my 4-track several years ago to put down a basic guitar track for one song. When I got it back and listened to it for the first time I thought he was announcing the name of the song because he said "Alright, we're gonna try this one ... more ... stinking ... time ... 340 Feet". Every time we talked about the song I called it "340 Feet". He finally asked me "How the hell did you come up with THAT name?!?!" I told him it was what he called it on the tape but he had NO idea what I was talking. So... I played it for him and he busted out laughing.
He said he had done so many takes trying to get a good one that he was pissed off enough at that point to simply will himself to play it right that time. The "340 Feet" part was a mistake on his part. He looked at the tape counter on the 4-track and assumed that the digits were markers that told you how many of feet of tape you had gone through. When he said "340 Feet" he was trying to tell me that the good take was beginning at 340 feet into the tape, not that "340 Feet" was the name of the song.

That's basically what's been happening with us. The problem is that I don't want to just force a title on to a song because I think it sounds funny or something. The 3 titles I listed before all came from a similar story, and thus have some significance. I want all of our song titles to have some kind of story behind them, not just some meaningless label that we stuck on the song because we couldn't come up with anything better.
I guess it's the kind of thing where I just have to wait and let it happen on its own.