title songn.
/ˈtʌɪtl sɒŋ/, U.S. /ˈtaɪd(ə)l ˌsɔŋ/, /ˈtaɪd(ə)l ˌsɑŋ/ 1. A song that has the same name as the play, musical, or film, in which it features; (also) a song played during the titles of a film or television programme (which often has the same name).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > a sound recording > [noun] > record or disc > track
title song1889
title cut1894
band1953
track1956
title track1967
1889 Era 2 Nov. 23/4 (advt.) Miss Nellie Gannon has Special Permission..to use the above title song entitled ‘My Jack’.
1892 St. Paul (Minnesota) Daily News 6 May 5/3 What is lacking in artistic work is made up for in innumerable songs and dances, including the title song, which does not seem to have lost its hold.
1932 Daily Mail 2 Jan. 14 ‘Hold My Hand’, the title-song from the Gaiety Theatre show, is a really excellent foxtrot.
1959 I. Gershwin Lyrics on Several Occasions 88 Early in the talkies the producer of a musical invariably hoped for a title song which would publicize his offering.
2012 A. Lawrence Abbey Road 108 Mainstream success in the United States..came with Bassey's powerful rendition of the title song for the 1964 James Bond movie Goldfinger.
2. A song that shares its name with the album on which it features; the song from which an album takes its name. Cf. title track n. at title n. Compounds 1c.
ΚΠ
1941 N.Y. Amsterdam Star-News 13 Sept. 20/8 The title song of the album, ‘Southern Exposure’, expresses poignantly the needs of the Southern Negro suffering from want and pellagra.
2013 N.Y. Mag. 4 Mar. 50/3 His third album..contained the first-rate title song, anchored with a pair of de-amplified riffs.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1889