Lyrics meme

[pedanther]

Memed from justice_turtle:

1. Open up your music player. Hit shuffle.
2. Record the first few lines of the first thirty pieces of music that come up that do not give away the name. Skip instrumentals, but don't skip the embarrassing ones.
3. Make hapless internet denizens guess the song names and artists. Google is cheating. For musical songs, the name of the musical is acceptable in place of the artist.
4. Least hapless internet denizen wins admiration. That's right, just like a computer when you don't have power, the points don't matter.


House rule, following the confusion last time: For anything with a spoken lead-in, or a lead-in by the backing singers, the first line is considered to be the first line sung by the lead singer. (But if a song has a false start, sung by a different lead singer, the first line is the first line. Just to keep you on your toes.)


Skipped:
- Music without words: 24
- Words without music: 1
- Title in the first couple of lines: 10
- Second track in a row by the same artist: 2
- Embarrassing ones: 0


#1:
I've got a pal, a regular out-and-outer
She's a dear, good old gal, and I'll tell you all about her
("My Old Dutch", sung here by Peter Sellers - identified by poinketh)

#2:
I never lived through the Great Depression
Sometimes I feel as though I did

#3:
Close your eyes
Give me your hand, darling
("Eternal Flame" by the Bangles - identifed by arcadiagt5, lost_spook)

#4:
Steve walks warily down the street
With the brim pulled way down low
("Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen - identified by seawasp. I wouldn't have got this; all the times I've listened to those two lines, and I had no idea what most of the words were.)

#5:
Speak, and the world is full of singing
And I am winging
Higher than the birds

#6:
I'm like Humpty Dumpty
Up on the garden wall

#7:
I'm getting married in the morning
Ding-dong, the bells are going to chime
("Get Me to the Church on Time" from My Fair Lady - identifed by arcadiagt5, daibhid_c, lost_spook, seawasp. I'm amused that so many people are getting this, because it was on the list last time as well and nobody got it. That's why this time there's the new house rule about where the song starts.)

#8:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Come you sinners, gather 'round

#9:
In the year of '62, the land received a soul
A baby cried, a mother smiled, a hero made of gold

#10:
Them that's got shall get
Them that's not shall lose
So the Bible said and it still is news

#11:
She walks in the room
And checks out the faces

#12:
My baby, he don't talk sweet
He ain't got much to say

#13:
Let's go surfing now
Everybody's learning how
("Surfin' Safari" by the Beach Boys - identifed by justice_turtle; arcadiagt5 and lost_spook got the artist, but not the title)

#14:
It's not time to make a change
Just relax, take it easy
("Father and Son" by Cat Stevens - identified by ariaflame)

#15:
All the old paintings on the tombs
They do the sand dance, don't you know
("Walk Like an Egyptian" by the Bangles - identified by arcadiagt5, daibhid_c, lost_spook, seawasp; justice_turtle got the title, but not the artist)

#16:
Thine love is mine
Thine heart with mine entwined, love

#17:
When you're weary, feeling small
And tears are in your eyes
("Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel - identifed by justice_turtle, lost_spook)

#18:
Time will not wait for me
Time is my destiny

#19:
Try to see it my way
Do I have to keep on talking till I can't go on?
("We Can Work It Out" by the Beatles - identifed by arcadiagt5, lost_spook. It wasn't actually the Beatles performing it, but I'm not going to make you guess which obscure cover version it was.)

#20:
I hear the drizzle of the rain
Like a memory it falls

#21:
In me you see a sinner
And dancing is my crime

#22:
These days my life seems somehow
Like a tired old cliché

#23:
If you invest your tuppence
Wisely in the bank
("Fidelity Fiduciary Bank" from Mary Poppins - identifed by daibhid_c, justice_turtle)

#24:
Madi ao
Leka sebete chia ho oele sebatha

#25:
Time it was and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence

#26:
it was raining hard in Frisco
I needed one more fare to make my night
("Taxi" by Harry Chapin - identified by arcadiagt5)

#27:
This is the truth sent from above
The truth of God, the God of love

#28:
Another red letter day
So the pound has dropped and the children are creating
("Friends Will Be Friends" by Queen - identified by arcadiagt5)

#29:
Every night I go to sleep
The blues fall down like rain

#30:
Turn around
Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you never come around
("Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler - identifed by daibhid_c, lost_spook, seawasp)


Update: Answers here.

Comments

[justice-turtle.livejournal.com]

#13 is Surfin' Safari by the Beach Boys.

#15 is Walk Like an Egyptian, but I don't know the artist off the top of my head.

#17 is Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel.

#23 is Fidelity Fiduciary Bank from Mary Poppins *squee*

I feel like I ought to know 26 and 29, but I don't quite.

[seawasp]

#15: The Bangles, Walk Like an Egyptian.

[pedanther]

Correct.

[pedanther]

4 out of 4 correct.


*squee*

Heh. One of the two songs I skipped to avoid having a source twice in a row was "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (which I just tried to spell from memory and almost got right).

[seawasp]

I'm not sure I *HAVE* thirty pieces of non-instrumental music in my playlist.

[thisbluespirit]

3. Eternal Flame - The Bangles
7. Get Me to the Church On Time - My Fair Lady???
12. Let's Hear It For the Boy - not sure of the singer.
13. Sounds like it might be the Beach BOys.
15. Walk Like an Egyptian - the Bangles (?)
17. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & garfunkel
19. We Can Work It Out - The Beatles
30. Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler.

[pedanther]

All correct as far as they go.

justice_turtle and arcadiagt5 have identified #13, but you can still get the point for #12 if you can say where it's from.

[thisbluespirit]

I can sing it, but I don't know the artist without looking it up, sorry.

[pedanther]

So you said. I was trying to hint that it's one of the ones where you don't need to know who sang it if you can say what they sang it in.

[thisbluespirit]

But I don't know what it's from. I suppose, since I'm pretty sure it's 1980s, about the only thing I can even guess is Flashdance or possibly Fame or something. But, whatever it is, I don't know the show any more than I know who sang it.

[pedanther]

Flashdance or possibly Fame or something

Ooh, so close...

[seawasp]

(No Order)

#30: "Total Eclipse of the Heart", Bonnie Tyler?

#4: "Another One Bites the Dust", Queen

#26: Can't remember the name, but it's got the refrain "We drank a toast to innocence..."... New years... GOT IT! "Same Old Lang Syne", Dan Fogelberg.

#7: "I'm Getting Married in the Morning", from My Fair Lady.

[arcadiagt5.livejournal.com]

Missed #4 on my original pass (when I wasn't looking at anyone else's answers), then groaned as soon as I saw it.

[pedanther]

#4, #7, #30 - correct

#26 - much as it pains me to say so after such a mighty effort - wrong in every detail. I can see the resemblance, though, now that I've listened to "Same Old Lang Syne" for the first time.

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

Wow, I got three songs and three performers! That's better than I usually do at lyric quizzes!

7 is Get Me To The Church On Time.
15 is Walk Like An Egyptian by the Bangles.
23 is The Song About Investing Tuppence In The Bank From Mary Poppins by Dick van Dyke as the bank manager.
30 is Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

Checking other replies, as suspected there were others I *should* have recognised but didn't.

And annoyingly and embarassingly, I didn't know Get Me To The Church was from My Fair Lady; I thought it was an authentic music hall song.

[pedanther]

The tip-off that it's not a proper music hall song, to me, is that the refrain's only one line long, instead of being a full stanza for the audience to power up and sing along to.

[pedanther]

All correct.

[ariaflame.livejournal.com]

14 Cat Stevens - Father and Son

[arcadiagt5.livejournal.com]

I blew that one. :)

[ariaflame.livejournal.com]

Dylan did pop into my head for that one as one of the options, but the voice I remembered singing it was better than his.

[arcadiagt5.livejournal.com]

#3 is Eternal Flame by the Bangles
#7 is I'm getting married in the morning from My Fair Lady
#13 is Beach Boys, I forget the name
#14 is Bob Dylan, but I'm blanking on the song name
#15 is Walk Like an Egyptian by the Bangles
#19 is "We can work it out" by the Beatles
#23 is "With a little bit of luck" from My Fair Lady
#26 is Taxi by Harry Chapin
#28 I should know, I can hear the tune in my my head but can't place it.
#30 also seems familiar but I'm blanking again.

[pedanther]

#3, #7, #13, #15, #19, #26 - correct (though I'd be tempted to make you re-do #7 if others hadn't already given the proper answer, because it's been clearly established that the first line is not the title)

#14, #23 - incorrect, and are you kicking yourself yet? :)

[arcadiagt5.livejournal.com]

Certainly - then again I think I just remembered 28: Friends will be Friends, Queen.

[pedanther]

Correct!

[splanky.livejournal.com]

#12 is Let's Hear It for the By by someone I can't remember and can't be bothered googling :) Denise someone?

[splanky.livejournal.com]

Boy, not By.

[pedanther]

Well, you're one word closer to the correct answer than anyone else has got so far. :)

(I occasionally ponder coming up with stand-in names for my friends and relatives so I can talk about them on LJ without calling them "my friend who I mentioned before in this context" or whatever. If I do, my brother's daughter is definitely going to be Denise.)

[splanky.livejournal.com]

I just googled and found the correct spelling of her name. I assume an aunt or uncle had some influence in the naming process. *snigger*

[poinketh.livejournal.com]

#1 Dear Old Dutch.

I can't give you a proper artist name, the only version I've heard is Peter Sellers singing it.

20 and 29 are going to kill me when I find out what they are.

[pedanther]

That will do nicely, as it was in fact the Peter Sellers version.

Maybe, maybe not. One of them is one of the ones I can't identify without looking at the list of answers.