(June 30, 2024). Black is an interesting color. In its truest definition it means the absence of light. Technically, it’s the result of surfaces absorbing all wavelengths of light and not reflecting any back to the viewer’s eyes.
It can symbolize beauty, as in a race of people, or elegance, sophistication, and formality (e.g. black tie events). It’s even been tied to sexiness (the little black dress), secrecy (the little black book), while at the same time conveying darkness, death and mourning (we often wear black to funerals).
It’s also been known to symbolize power, authority, and sometimes evil or bad luck (think black cats).
Recently, it’s come up again thanks to a former president’s reference in last week’s presidential debate where he claimed that illegal immigrants were taking “Black jobs” — translation: low-paying jobs that no one else wants — in one of his latest displays of, well, Trumpism.
Perhaps it’s this level of complexity surrounding the color black that makes it so uniquely ubiquitous in music, specifically in song titles. It is very likely the only color — musically speaking — where two-word song titles have been created beginning with “Black” and ending with words covering each letter of the alphabet.
From “Black Anime” to “Black Zombie” and almost every black thing in between, musicians have found a way to make black the only color on the spectrum (is it really on the spectrum?) where you could literally find twenty six song titles following this pattern with the second word representing every letter from A – Z.
Now, admittedly, I didn’t bother to search for “Yellow” or “Blue” or “White” or “Green” titles that could contend with “Black” in this context. We all know theres a “Yellow Submarine,” a “Blue Eyes,” a “White Christmas,” and a “Green Tambourine” (there’s a black one of those, too). Heck, there’s even “Red Skies” and “Purple Rain.”
But I challenge anyone to find another color that has (at least) 26 two-word song titles where the second words — usually a noun — cover every letter of the alphabet.
Black’s got that covered in spades (pun intended). And DJROBBLOG has put together an alphabetical playlist with “Black (blank)” tunes whose second word represents each letter of the alphabet, with no omissions. Some letters were so good I had to represent them twice (as in “Black Cat” and “Black Cow”) or thrice (“Beatles,” “Betty” and “Butterfly”). There’s a “Black Queen,” a “Black Girlfriend” and, as already mentioned, a Black girl named “Betty.”
There are also things you’d likely never want to encounter in life, like a “Black Zombie,” “Black Ice” or a “Black Skinhead,” or that you never will (“Black Unicorn”).
And while there’s also a “Black Hole Sun,” that’s actually three words and it wouldn’t fit this pattern. However, that ‘90s alt-rock classic is so epic, it’s included in the playlist (hats off to Soundgarden). For integrity’s sake, I’ve included another (two-word) “H” song — a pretty good one featuring the Dap Kings — to keep the list honest.
Sadly, there are no “Black Jobs” that I could find. There was a “Black Bag Job” (artist: Justin Crosby) and a “Black Bob” (Kid Rock), but we won’t include those.
Think of it as having fun with “Black” when no “Black Jobs” exist… or, even better, a proper way of ending “Black” Music Month.
And for grins, the list starts with just “Black,” a tune from Pearl Jam… no second word needed.
The playlist is available on my Spotify page (linked immediately below), but I’ve also followed that with a YouTube audio/video clip for each song for easier playback.
So here it is; listen and enjoy!
”Black” – Pearl Jam
”Black Anime” – Mosego
”Black Beatles” – Rae Sremmurd ft. Gucci Mane
”Black Betty” – Ram Jam
”Black Butterfly” – Deniece Williams
”Black Cat” – Janet Jackson
”Black Cow” – Steely Dan
”Black Dog” – Led Zeppelin
”BLACK EFFECT” – The Carters
”Black Friday” – Steely Dan
”Black Girlfriend” – Porno for Pyros
”Black Heart” – Stealth ft. the Dap Kings
“Black Hole Sun” – Soundgarden
“Black Ice” – AC/DC
“Black Jesus” – Lil Yachty
“Black Kkk” – Big Flock, 21 Savage
“Black Leaves” – Kirby
“Black Magic” – Little Mix
“Black Night” – Deep Purple
“Black Ops” – They Might Be Giants
“Black Panther” – Kendrick Lamar
“Black Pearl” – Sonny Charles and the Checkmates Ltd.
“Black Queen” – Stephen Stills
“Black Rose” – Waylon Jennings
“Black Skinhead” – Jacques Slade, THURZ, El Pres
“Black Tambourine” – Beck
“Black Unicorn” – 2 Chains, Chrisette Michele, Sunni Paterson
“Black Velvet” – Alannah Myles
“Black Water” – Doobie Bros.
“Black Xmas” – Klark Benjamin
“Black Youngsta” – Rizzoo Rizzoo
“Black Zombie” – Nas
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog and on Meta’s Threads.
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