Appropriate Titles

What's in a band name? Seriously, I don't understand where they come up with some of these names. In some cases, that's by design. In their 20 years of togetherness, Better Than Ezra has refused to disclose the origin of their name. Gotta admit, it's a great marketing strategy. Some bands' titles are peppered with rumors: Green Day allegedly referring to marijuana, and Pearl Jam possibly referencing Eddie Vedder's grandmother and her peyote-laced-jam-making Native American husband...ooookaaay. For some groups, a bizarre name is forgiveable. I'd rather Modest Mouse nixed the rodent, but the music is good enough to make up for the folly. On the other hand, some bands choose titles that are strangely appropriate. If Friday and Just Like Heaven, by The Cure, don't heal you of your pessimism and lack of faith in love (corny as it sounds), I don't know what will. Based on The Cure's model of christening, Plain White T's have indeed chosen the correct identification. Not to say their music is ear-splitting. No, it's much worse: supremely mediocre. Or plain, in their words. I know plenty of kid guitar players who could strum out a Hey There Delilah-esque little ditty in their bedrooms before their parents call them down for dinner. This explains why the aforementioned single was released a year before it went number one. People didn't catch on until they were beat slowly over the head with it for a year, inluding a major re-release. Okay, now I'm sounding Simon Cowellishly brutal, but it's nothing personal, Tom! Still, the question is, why some and not others? Looks like sometimes it's all in the marketing, kids.