In which I steal post ideas from Kate: The following are two-word phrases from songs in my iTunes library that ought to be enough to identify the song in question. Leave your guesses in the comments:
- Pre-Raphaelite curls
- Chrome horse
- Pink torpedo
- Jasmine tea
- Ashtray floors
- Quartet practiced
- Lickety splitly
- Burnt sienna
- Guaranteed personality
- Danville train
- Balalaikas ringing
- Silicon chip
- Silicone sister
- Toadstool sandwich
- Diamond car
- Uninterrupted prosperity
- Golden fiddle
I'll stop there, for now.
Humanities & Social Science
Comments
Let's see . . .
Just for the record, I know 8, 10, and 17, but don't like to post them because I have an unfair advantage.
(8 & 10 were actually candidates for my post that were edited out.)
Posted by: Kate Nepveu | April 1, 2008 9:40 AM
Just for the record, I know 8, 10, and 17, but don't like to post them because I have an unfair advantage.
Those are now 7, 9, and 16, because I had screwed up a tag, and didn't fix it until after you posted this. But yes, you should know all of those.
I'm surprised you don't recognize 8 and 14...
Posted by: Chad Orzel | April 1, 2008 10:12 AM
Ooo, 16 is one of my favs: "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" by Cake.
Posted by: Optimus Primate | April 1, 2008 10:14 AM
11 - Beatles - Back in the USSR
12 - Boomtown Rats - I don't like Mondays
17 - I'm suspect "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" has a golden fiddle in it, but can't recall who it was by and am too lazy to google.
Posted by: Mike | April 1, 2008 10:16 AM
10. - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The Band
Posted by: bc | April 1, 2008 10:19 AM
Ooo, 16 is one of my favs: "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" by Cake.
Yep. My favorite odd trait is "Fingernails that shine like justice," but it's too many words.
11 - Beatles - Back in the USSR
12 - Boomtown Rats - I don't like Mondays
17 - I'm suspect "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" has a golden fiddle in it, but can't recall who it was by and am too lazy to google.
Yes to all three. "The Devil Went Down to Georgia is also in the original Izzle Pfaff list from way back when.
0. - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The Band
Yep.
Posted by: Chad Orzel | April 1, 2008 10:26 AM
13 Springsteen-- Blinded by the Light
17 Charlie Daniels-- Devil Went Down to Georgia
Posted by: John Novak | April 1, 2008 10:26 AM
I'm surprised you don't recognize 8 and 14...
8: d'oh!
14: *groan*
Posted by: Kate Nepveu | April 1, 2008 10:29 AM
2 (Chrome horse) is from Rolling Stone magazine's choice for greatest song of all time: Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone. Am I showing my age?
Posted by: JohnM | April 1, 2008 10:47 AM
#6 is "American Pie" by Don McLain.
#13 is "Blinded by the Light", as John Novak said, but the version I know is by Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
Posted by: Eric Lund | April 1, 2008 11:04 AM
#3: "Big Bottom" by Spinal Tap
Posted by: asad | April 1, 2008 11:36 AM
2 (Chrome horse) is from Rolling Stone magazine's choice for greatest song of all time: Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone. Am I showing my age?
Not any more than I am.
I have something like five different versions of that song-- all by Dylan, not covers.
#6 is "American Pie" by Don McLain.
#13 is "Blinded by the Light", as John Novak said, but the version I know is by Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
I don't have the Manfred Mann version, but I know it.
#3: "Big Bottom" by Spinal Tap
Yeah, that was pretty obvious.
1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 14, and 15 remain unguessed.
Posted by: Chad Orzel | April 1, 2008 11:45 AM
3: Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
10: The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
13: Scissor Sisters - Take Your Mama Out
16: Cake - Short Skirt, Long Jacket
Posted by: Jeff | April 1, 2008 11:48 AM
Oops, 4 is Let It Bleed.... and you can forget the rest.
Posted by: Jeff | April 1, 2008 11:51 AM
number 1 - Richard Thompson - Cooksferry Queen
Posted by: Jeff | April 1, 2008 11:57 AM
#9 'Guaranteed personality' is The Clash from 'Lost in the Supermarket' from London Calling
Posted by: Bob Loblaw | April 1, 2008 12:11 PM
#15 - Reminds me I haven't watched The Blues Brothers in ages. "Minnie the Moocher" by Cab Calloway
Posted by: Mike | April 1, 2008 12:16 PM
I hope I don't embarrass myself with an already answered lyric like at kate's blog...
"Jasmine tea" - Spock's Beard "Revelations"
Posted by: Eyal Ben David | April 1, 2008 12:37 PM
I am truly ashamed of science blogs for leaving #7 unguessed for so long.
Tom Waits. Ol' 55.
8 may be BNL: life, in a nutshell
Posted by: Anon | April 1, 2008 2:05 PM
4 is Let It Bleed
Yep. I haven't heard the Spock's Beard song mentioned in #18-- I was thinking of the Stones.
number 1 - Richard Thompson - Cooksferry Queen
Yeah. I wasn't sure anybody would get that one-- it's not that well known a song.
#9 'Guaranteed personality' is The Clash from 'Lost in the Supermarket' from London Calling
Yep. I like the Afghan Whigs cover version better, but it's a Clash song.
#15 - Reminds me I haven't watched The Blues Brothers in ages. "Minnie the Moocher" by Cab Calloway
I was torn between "diamond car" and "platinum wheel" for this one. Either would've worked.
I am truly ashamed of science blogs for leaving #7 unguessed for so long.
Tom Waits. Ol' 55.
8 may be BNL: life, in a nutshell
Both correct.
That just leaves #14. My second choice there was "seasick crocodile," which ought to completely give it away.
Posted by: Chad Orzel | April 1, 2008 3:06 PM
number 1 - Richard Thompson - Cooksferry Queen
Yeah. I wasn't sure anybody would get that one-- it's not that well known a song.
I was just going to mention it, but too late. Not well known, but if you've heard it, those are the words you remember.
Posted by: Ed Martz | April 1, 2008 3:54 PM
Number 14 is "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," sung by the incomparable Thurl Ravenscroft in the 1966 animated Christmas special of Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
Posted by: Kevin C. | April 1, 2008 5:14 PM
Weird. I don't recognize a single one.
I'm pretty clueless about pop music, but usually I can squeak out ten or twenty percent on quizzes about it, based on commercials and whatnot.
Posted by: Johan Larson | April 1, 2008 5:33 PM
Izzle Pfaff's original contest I found very easy--there were some I got but I instantly recognized the vast majority of the songs. Your version is more difficult and Kate's is more difficult still, probably because I'm just not as familiar with as many of the songs on the list--though I'm embarrassed that I forgot about the "toadstool sandwich" line; I recognized 11, 12, 13 and 15 but not that one even though it's a song I've heard many times.
Posted by: Matt McIrvin | April 2, 2008 9:27 PM
Funny, #14 was the only one I got at first (and immediately!). Then on second reading, I got #3. I expect that says something about my own music tastes.
#6, which I *should* know, wasn't familiar at all. #8 seemed somehow familiar, but I didn't know why until I saw the answer.
Posted by: Wilson Fowlie | April 3, 2008 11:34 AM
Without looking at earlier comments, here are the only ones I got:
Pink torpedo
That's a Spinal Tap tune -- "Big Bottom", is it not?
Balalaikas ringing
"Back in the USSR"
Silicone sister
"Blinded by the Light"
Posted by: Julie Stahlhut | April 4, 2008 2:33 PM