Creativity Quote by Jim Capaldi

A “strong title” sounds like a small, almost clerical concern until you remember who’s talking: a working musician who lived in the era when listeners met your art first as a few words on a sleeve, a spine, a radio log, a record-store bin. Capaldi’s line is practical, but it’s also a quiet manifesto about attention. Before anyone hears the chorus, the title has to do the job of the opening chord: it signals mood, stakes, and identity in a world that is always ready to flip past you.

The intent is bluntly professional. A title isn’t decoration; it’s the first act of songwriting. “It’s got to say something” pushes against the lazy habit of labeling tracks like leftovers. Capaldi is arguing that the title should carry meaning, not just refer to meaning. The best ones don’t summarize the song so much as frame it, giving the listener a lens that makes the lyrics land harder. Think of how a title can turn a simple line into a thesis, or make ambiguity feel deliberate instead of unfinished.

The subtext is about authorship and control. Music can be misheard, sentimentalized, stripped for parts by radio, playlists, or marketing. A strong title is a boundary: it asserts intention before the world starts projecting. In the album-driven culture Capaldi came up in, that mattered even more; titles were navigation, memory hooks, and brand in miniature. He’s insisting that if you want people to listen closely, you have to start by naming the thing like you mean it.