On the forum, Shellie asks about how to properly quote song titles. Is it "quotation marks" or italics? Barring any overriding style guides used for a specific organization or school, the general rule is to use quotations for song titles and italicize CD or album titles. Do not use underlining (in place of italics) unless you're still using a typewriter or writing out titles by hand.
Examples of How to Reference Song Titles and Albums:
Trace Adkins' first #1 single "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing" is from his 1997 CD Dreamin' Out Loud.
The title cut from Toby Keith's How Do You Like Me Now? was the most played country song of 2000. Other favorites from the same album include "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like That" and "Country Comes to Town."
Song/Album the Same: In the second example, although "How Do You Like Me Now?" was the song title, it was also the album title and in that context is treated as the album title, using italics. It would be just as correct (although wordy) to write: My favorite song on the How Do You Like Me Now? album is "How Do You Like Me Now?"
Punctuation in Titles: When a song title ends in a question mark, exclamation point, or other punctuation that mark goes inside the quotation marks because it is a part of the song title. The beginning portion of the Adkin's song title in parentheses is contained in the quotation marks just like any other part of the song title.
For more on the use of quotation marks and italics, see:
Agree or disagree or have more questions or suggestions? Post in the comments.
[Song/Album information used in the examples originally found at About.com Country Music.]
Updated March 2011