My original plan was to title each chapter with the city or neighborhood in Los Angeles where the chapter takes place. Los Angeles is almost a character in this story, so that makes sense to me. Several chapters will take place in the same location, but there are ways around that. A chapter at UCLA does not have to be called “Westwood” if there is another chapter in Westwood.
But then I wrote chapter 17. There is a Paul Simon song that would be perfect for the chapter title. Not only does the title work, but the character in the song shares a few similar traits with one of the characters in the chapter.
Song titles are not copyrighted. Anyone can use them, as long as they are not trademarked. Most song titles could never be copyrighted even if the songwriter wanted them to be. Glenn Frey and Jackson Browne could never copyright the phrase “Take It Easy”. Some titles are completely unique, like “Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band”, but still not copyrighted. Anyone can use that title, unless it's trademarked. If you are a songwriter, you can write a song called “Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band”. No one ever does, for obvious reasons. Every single critic in the world would compare your song with the original. That is not a position you want to put yourself in.
Rather than think about other songs for all the other chapters, I will simply keep my original plan for chapter 17. It's a shame, but I'm sure Paul Simon will not mind.
Take It Easy
Eagles
Stranded In a Limousine
Paul Simon
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