The Ridger, at The Greenbelt (that always seems like a slightly odd reference, with the two “the”s, but hey), decided to post a list thingy the other day before she headed to an airport. I think I’ll post the same list thingy, having just come home from an airport, and having listened to some music on my BlackBerry during the flight. Here’s how The Ridger introduces it:
I saw this at Sciencewoman’s blog. I don’t have lots of commenters, but what the hell, I’ll give it a go, especially since I’ll be on an airplane (or in an airport) for most of the day...She notes that she modified it to eliminate instrumentals — yes, of course — but I had none come up. I also planned to modify it to eliminate songs where the title is in the first line (several of The Ridger’s were), but as it turned out, I didn’t get any anyway (though one is close enough that it’s probably a “gimme” for it). I also was a little loose with the definition of “the first line”, sometimes giving what others might think the first two lines.Step 1: Put your MP3 player or whatever on random.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 25 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Strike through when someone gets them right. I’ll put it in italics if the title has been gotten, but not the artist.
Step 5: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING.
And you wonder why one always has to remind people not to look the answers up. I mean, where’s the fun in that, anyway? But, yeah, you do have to say it, or else someone will just crank ’em all through Google and post the result. Bleh.
Here’s my list; post answers in the comments. I won’t make a guessing game out of which version I have, so in the cases where there’re multiple likely versions, any will do. Be aware that a couple of them are pretty obscure.
Update, 28 Apr: For any that are unanswered after a week, I’ll update and add more lyrics.
Update, 4 May: More words added... each unanswered song now has the whole first verse.
Update, 11 May: Full solutions there now, including enough lyrics to get to the titles.
Many times I tried to tell you, many times I cried alone
Always I’m surprised how well you cut my feelings to the bone
Don’t wanna leave you, really; I’ve invested too much time
To give you up that easy to the doubts that complicate your mind
— We Belong, by Pat Benatar- Well, it’s a strange old game, you learn it slow
One step forward and it’s back you go
You’re standing on the throttle, standing on the brake
In the groove ’til you make a mistakeSometimes you’re the windshield; sometimes you’re the bug
Sometimes it all comes together; sometimes you’re a fool in love
Sometimes you’re a Louisville slugger; sometimes you’re the ball
Sometimes it all comes together; sometimes you’re gonna lose it all— The Bug, written by Mark Knopfler, sung by Mary Chapin Carpenter
- Oh, it’s been such a long, long time
Looked like I’d get you off of my mind
But I can’t; just the thought of you
Turns my whole world misty blue— Misty Blue, written by Bobby Montgomery, sung by Dorothy Moore
Are you breathing what I’m breathing? Are your wishes the same as mine?
— The Consequences of Falling, by k.d. lang- If you’ve been thinking you’re all that you’ve got
Then don’t feel alone any more
’cause when we’re together, then you’ve got a lot
’cause I am the river and you are the shoreAnd it goes on and on, watching the river run
Further and further from things that we’ve done
Leaving them one by one
And we have just begun watching the river run
Listening and learning and yearning; run, river, run— Watching the River Run, by Loggins and Messina
When I think of those East End lights, muggy nights
— Someone Saved My Life Tonight, by Elton John- I know your leaving’s too long overdue
For far too long I’ve had nothing new to show to you
Through dry eyes I watched your plane fade off west of the moon
And it felt so strange to walk away aloneNo regrets, no tears goodbye
Don’t want you back; we’d only cry again
And say goodbye again— No Regrets, written by Tom Rush, sung by Emmylou Harris
- On the road of experience and trying to find my own way
Sometimes I wish that I could fly away
When I think that I’m moving, suddenly things stand still
I’m afraid ’cause I think that they always willAnd I’m looking for space, and to find out who I am
And I’m looking to know and understand
It’s a sweet, sweet dream; sometimes I’m almost there
Sometimes I fly like an eagle; sometimes I’m deep in despair— Looking for Space, by John Denver
Mama, where’s your pretty little girl tonight?
Tryin’ to run before she can walk, that’s right
She’s going out, she has young man waiting
She’s going out, she has young man waiting
— Tenderness on the Block, by Warren Zevon- I was standing at the counter, I was waiting for the change
When I heard that old familiar music start
It was like a lighted match had been tossed into my soul
It was like a dam had broken in my heartAfter taking every detour, getting lost and losing track
So that even if I wanted I could not find my way back
After driving out the memory of the way things might have been
After I’ve forgotten all about us, the song remembers when— The Song Remembers When, written by Hugh Prestwood, sung by Trisha Yearwood
- A man conceived a moment’s answers to the dream
Staying the flowers daily, sensing all the themes
As a foundation left to create the spiral aim
A movement regained and regarded both the same
All complete in the sight of seeds of life with you— And You And I, by Yes
Well, she’s all you’d ever want, she’s the kind I’d like to flaunt
— She’s a Lady, written by Paul Anka, sung by Tom Jones- There was a time gone by when my heart brushed the sky
And simple love was the love I knew
We walked as one back then, untouched by wild winds
Now once again I remember youWe danced, we clicked our heels, we dreamed in feathered fields
And told the stories that lovers tell
You sang the songs anew and made them all seem true
With a voice that I loved so wellDid I ever tell you your name was music to me?
Did I ever show you from the start?
Did I ever know you would fly, oh fly away?
Did I ever offer you my heart?— Music to Me, by Bill Staines
- Cómo lo ves, que el destino llegó a decirlo
Ahora que estamos mirando al futuro aquí
Toda la vida quisimos hablar cara a cara
Como amigos con dos corazones igualDesde aquel día que hablamos de andar mano en mano
Con canciones de paz o quizás con palabras de amor
Hoy quiero ya prestentarnos con algo posible
Si el paso al destino no supo intentarlo jamás¡Ya ves que solo nos fuimos!
¡Ya ves que de un modo lo hicimos!
Así lo escribimos y el paso al destino siguió.— El Paso del Destino, by Tish Hinojosa
I hear the drums echoing tonight
— Africa, by TotoWe all came out to Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline
— Smoke on the Water, by Deep PurpleIf there’s one thing in my life that’s missing
It’s the time that I spend alone sailing on the cool and bright, clear water
With lots of those friendly people, they’re showing me ways to go
But I never want to lose their inspiration
— Cool Change, by the Little River Band- I’ve got a feeling we could be serious, girl
Right at this moment, I could promise you the world
Before we go crazy, before we explode
There’s something ’bout me, baby, you got to knowI get off on ’57 Chevys
I get off on screaming guitar
I like the way it gets me every time it hits me
I’ve got a rock-and-roll, I’ve got a rock-and-roll heart— I’ve Got a Rock and Roll Heart, by Eric Clapton
Well, my time went so quickly, I went lickety-splitly
— Ol’ ’55, written by Tom Waits, performed by The Eagles’twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
— Shelter from the Storm, by Bob DylanThe buzzard took the monkey for a ride in the air
— Straighten Up and Fly Right, written by Nat King Cole, sung by Linda RonstadtA love-struck Romeo sang the streets a serenade
— Romeo and Juliet, by Dire Straits (Mark Knopfler)Guess mine is not the first heart broken
— Hopelessly Devoted to You, written by John Farrar, sung by Olivia Newton-JohnNighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation
— The Music of the Night, from “Phantom of the Opera”Day after day I’m more confused
— Drift Away, by Dobie Gray
25 comments:
15. Africa, Toto
6. I don't know that title, but I can hear Elton John singing that.
20. Simple Twist of Fate (?), Bob Dylan
24. The Music of the Night, from Phantom of the Opera...whoever sings that. Michael something, maybe, on the album I had?
Urge to Google...rising... Must...resist...
25. Drift Away, by whoever sings that. About 20 people/groups, I think, none of whom I can think of offhand.
15, 24, 25, yes. Sarah Brightman is the "Music of the Night" singer on the recording I was listening to.
6, 20: you got the artists right, but not the songs... so I'll leave them up.
19. Tom Waits (that I knew as well as all the lyrics of that song). And I know all his songs but none of the titles and was going to guess randomly from the lyrics... until K. ruined it for me and told me the title so it doesn't count now.
22. "Romeo and Juliet" let's say Indigo Girls though that's not the original, which I'm guessing you have (and I hear the man's voice and I named every other band of their time... from that high school mix I had... but am way too tired to get it right)
19: Yes, Tom Waits wrote it. I was listening to a much more well known cover. But don't you think you and K can be a team on this?
22: Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) wrote it, and that's the version I have, from the Making Movies album. Emily and Amy did their cover some ten years later or so.
"We all came out to Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline"
Deep Purple! Can't name the song, though.
{inw}
"Smoke on the Water" (we all have to give away our age sometime)
If you don't consider it cheating then K said "Old (ole' 'ol') 55" which is right there in the 2nd verse. Never heard of the cover, please enlighten.
I can only add one new contribution:
23. Hopelessly Devoted from the Grease Soundtrack. Porbably the Olivia Newton John version?
Da, it's spelled "Ol’ ’55" (with both apostrophes, a reference to a 1955 car), but I used to think the song was called "Freeway, Cars, and Trucks" because of the line "Now the sun's coming up / I'm riding with Lady Luck / Freeway, cars, and trucks / Stars beginning to fade / [etc...]"
The most famous cover, and the one I have, is by The Eagles, from the album On the Border. The wonderful (and Canadian) Sarah McLachlan also did a good version.
21. la la la... straighten up and fly right, straighten up and stay right, cool down, papa,... la la la... again I don't know titles? Straighten up? - Ummmm, Natalie Cole I know. Others?
You got the title in the lyrics, so that counts: "Straighten Up and Fly Right". It's by Nat King Cole, and, yes, daughter Natalie covered it. The version I have is sung by my mega-hero Linda Ronstadt, from one of her three albums with Nelson Riddle, released together as a two-CD set called ’round Midnight.
Hm, looks like y'all're working this list from the bottom up.
1. Long and Winding Road, Beatles.
20. Shelter from the Storm, Dylan.
I think.
-andy
"Shelter from the Storm", it is.
But the other is wrong. You're thinking of these lyrics:
"Many times I've been alone, and many times I've cried
Anyway, you'll never know the many ways I've tried
But still they lead me back to the long, winding road"
Not the same... and it's not at the beginning of the song.
4. kd lang, Consequences of Falling
12. Tom Jones, (She’s a) Lady
I thought of it! 6 - Someone Saved My Life Tonight
No help at all.
9. is Tenderness on the Block, Warren Zevon
9. Or Shawn Colvin.
Warren, for me. Good... I wasn't sure anyone would get that one.
New lyrics are no help for me, unfortunately. :(
It bugged me for two days, and I'm embarrassed to admit what a product of the 80s I am but 1. is We Belong, Pat Benetar.
Oh, hey, don't be embarrassed about that. I noted when I wrote them down how many of them are from the '70s.
We be who we be....
Hm. I approved a comment this morning, but it seems to've gone missing. "The Beatty Towers Girl" got number 17, "Cool Change" by the Little River Band.
A lot of mine were from even earlier than the 70s...
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