Sara Smile (Hall & Oates) - Takierra Name Swap
Hall & Oates' soulful classic with every instance of Sara changed to Takierra. A perfect four-syllable name swap that preserves the original's intimate warmth. Listen on ChangeLyric.
Posted by
Related reading
Hallelujah vs The Competitor: Why ChangeLyric Won
A customer hired both ChangeLyric and a competitor to rewrite Leonard Cohen's classic. Here's why ours was 'much better.'
Get Up 10 (Cardi B) - Custom Personal Lyrics
Listen to a custom version of Cardi B's Get Up 10 rewritten as a personalized hardship to triumph story. Before and after audio from ChangeLyric.
Proud of Your Boy (Aladdin) - Mother Son Wedding Dance
Listen to a custom version of Aladdin's Proud of Your Boy flipped from apology to celebration. Before and after audio from ChangeLyric.

Hall & Oates' "Sara Smile" is one of the most beloved soul-pop ballads of the 1970s, a tender, intimate love song built around a woman's name that repeats like a gentle mantra throughout the track. Brian came to ChangeLyric with a simple but meaningful request: swap every "Sara" for "Takierra" to create a personalized version of this classic.
What Changed
This is a pure name-swap project:every instance of "Sara" in the original becomes "Takierra" in the delivered version. The change appears in the iconic chorus hook: "Sara, smile" becomes "Takierra, smile." The name appears four times throughout the song, each time anchoring the emotional climax of the section.
Phonetically, "Sara" and "Takierra" make an interesting pair. "Sara" is two syllables (SAH-rah), while "Takierra" is four (tuh-KEE-rah). The additional syllables stretch the melody slightly, but the stress pattern works well:the emphasis falls on the second syllable in both names. When Daryl Hall's voice slides into the chorus, "Takierra" carries the same emotional weight as the original, just with a bit more rhythmic complexity.
Listen & Compare
Hear the original song and the custom version side by side
Transcripts are auto-generated and may not perfectly reflect the audio.
The Power of a Name
The original "Sara Smile" works because it feels personal -- intimate moments, warmth and comfort, quiet understanding between two people. When that intimacy is directed at "Takierra" instead of "Sara," the song becomes a vessel for someone else's love story.
Soul Music and Personal Connection
Soul music has always been about direct emotional communication, which makes it well-suited for name swaps. When the name changes to Takierra, the song's directness stays intact -- it becomes a way of saying "this is how I feel about you" through one of the best melodies in popular music.
Browse more projects like this in our lyric swap showcase, or start your own custom lyric swap.