Songs whose very first word is a given name...

[Whatsahoe]

...and is not the title or part of the title

Queen -- Another one bites the dust (Steve)

Amy Grant -- Saved by love (Laura)

[skullturfq]

"Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi perhaps doesn't strictly qualify -- there are some spoken words (Once upon a time, not so long ago) before the sung portion begins, with "Tommy used to work on the docks"

Edit: "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" by the Beatles begins with the word "Joan"

[Bill]

"Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night ("Jeremiah was a bullfrog...")

[SMWinnie]

Maxwell's Silver Hammer by the Beatles begins with the word "Joan"

Jo Jo was a man who thought he was a loner; Desmond has a barrel in the marketplace.

[Joshua Kreitzer]

"Wedding Bell Blues" by Laura Nyro, or the 5th Dimension (Bill)
(an appropriate choice for the 5th Dimension to record, because lead singer Marilyn McCoo was soon to marry one of the other group members, Billy Davis Jr.)

[Bill]

"Shooting Star" by Bad Company ("Johnny was a schoolboy when he heard his first Beatles song...")

[ArtVark]

Maxwell's Silver Hammer by the Beatles begins with the word "Joan"

Jo Jo was a man who thought he was a loner; Desmond has a barrel in the marketplace.

And a Mondegreen as well.


Would the Name Game by Shirley Ellis be cheating?

[Don WW]

"Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People begins "Robert's got a quick hand."

[Bill]

Would the Name Game by Shirley Ellis be cheating?

No, because it starts with the words "The Name Game!" and is therefore ineligible.

Cheating would be "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel ("Harry Truman...").

[SMWinnie]

...for a ruling on whether "Fat Charlie the Archangel" constitutes a given name.

While Tom is not The Only Living Boy in New York, Joseph's face was in fact black as night.

(This evening's playlist question: Paul Simon. Did his writing go downhill immediately when he ditched Garfunkel or only when he stopped writing about being a kid from Queens?)

[TheConfessor]

The Band Played On - written in 1895:
"Casey would waltz with a strawberry blonde
And the band played on..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23oePEVM1nE

[PhygLeGuy]

Subterranean Homesick Blues.

Would the Name Game by Shirley Ellis be cheating?

No, because it starts with the words "The Name Game!" and is therefore ineligible.

Yes. Losing does not constitute proof that you didn't cheat.

[Whatsahoe]

Billy Joel -- Leningrad (Victor)

[Don WW]

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" begins "Katie Casey was baseball mad."

[grodney]

Pop Goes the World by Men Without Hats

"
Johnny played guitar, Jenny played bass.
Name of the band is The Human Race.
Everybody tell me have you heard? Pop goes the world.
"

[grodney]

Your Love by The Outfield

"
Josie's on a vacation far away
Come around and talk it over
"

[TheConfessor]

The Star Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key.
"Jose, can you see?"

[PhygLeGuy]

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Mack the Knife starts with Bo Diddley's given middle name, although it might be a homophone

[rockgolf]

Oh, I smell a Sporcle quiz in this...

[Russ]

I thought Movin' Out by Billy Joel would work, but its parenthetical subtitle, "Anthony's Song" screws that up. We Didn't Start the Fire works though (Harry).

[Paucle]

"Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi perhaps doesn't strictly qualify -- there are some spoken words (Once upon a time, not so long ago) before the sung portion begins, with "Tommy used to work on the docks"

In that same vein- "Games Without Frontiers." There's a background chorus saying the title in French before Peter starts singing. (Hans plays with Lotte/ Lotte plays with Jane.)

[ArtVark]

Young Turks -- Rod Stewart

[grodney]

Perhaps opening a genre that doesn't count, but "Fairly Odd Parents Theme" starts with "Timmy".

[grodney]

Oh! 88 Lines About 44 Women by The Nails

Deborah was a Catholic girl,
she held out to the bitter end.

[Bill]

Perhaps opening a genre that doesn't count, but "Fairly Odd Parents Theme" starts with "Timmy".

Fear of genre-opening made me hesitate to suggest "Glad to Have a Friend Like You" ("Jill told Bill..."), a children's song recorded by Marlo Thomas.