A Variant

[dr_whom]

So, I make a lot of 80-minute playlists in iTunes to burn to CD and listen to in the car. Each of these mixes has some unifying theme or topic (except one, whose theme is "songs I want to listen to that aren't in any of my other mixes"). What I'm going to do now is pick several of those mixes and post the first lines of four of the songs from each (according to previously described principles). No points for just identifying the titles of the songs; your target is to identify the themes of the mixes. I have no idea how difficult this is, but I think it might be fun to try? Seems like it might be a collaborative game, rather than a see-how-many-you-can-get-on-your-own game.

Those of you who already know some or all of the answers by virtue of being familiar with some or all of my mixes: please don't give away the answers if you just recognize the song lists! Helpful or snarky hinting or commenting is encouraged, though.

Showtune-only mixes:

I.
a. Whenever I see someone less fortunate than I...
b. Isn't it warm? Isn't it cozy?
c. There's a grief that can't be spoken.
d. Let's find a rock.

II
a. ...Eva's pretty hands reached out, and they reached wide.
b. I remember the way our sainted mother would sit and croon us our lullaby.
c. O say, do you see what I see?
d. We want Billy. Where is Billy? B–I–double L–Y. We're all his.

III
a. I touch the fire and it freezes me.
b. You little creep, you're gonna pay; I won't be shoved out of the way.
c. Look, ma'am: an invitation!
d. The Jets are gonna have their day tonight.

IV
a. ...That's why I love vegetables: you know what you're about.
b. Why did he look at her that way? / Why did he look at her that way?
c. O Father, please don't make me choose. Either way it's more than I can bear to lose.
d. How they play—finding treasure in the sand.

V
a. Hi, Nancy! / Hi, Ursula!
b. Colonel John Jacob Astor and Mrs. Astor too, arriving now from the boat train direct from Waterloo station...
c. Gorgeous! ¡Linda! Tell me something I don't know!
d. Lud love me, such conjecturing could drive a man insane!

VI
a. I wonder what he'll think of me. I guess he'll call me the old man.
b. He's a very smart prince.
c. Who is this man? What sort of devil is he?
d. When I was a boy, world was better spot.

VII
a. There's something sweet, and almost kind.
b. There was no music in my heart tonight.
c. It's okay. I'm still here. Your secret's out, but don't fear.
d. So I got you a present. I went downtown to get it.

VIII
a. There is an island where rivers run deep.
b. Every single night, the same arrangement.
c. Stranded again! Beached again! Washed up on the shore like driftwood in Chicago!
d. There's a bunch of birds in the sky! And some deers just went running by!

IX
a. Let's get down to business to defeat the Huns!
b. She wouldn't! Therefore they didn't!
c. Peacocks! Sink me! Think ye, sir...
d. What's playing at the Roxy? I'll tell you what's playing at the Roxy.

Variety mixes:

X
a. I lit out from Reno; I was trailed by twenty hounds.
b. So many times out there I've watched a happy pair of lovers walking in the night.
c. First you get down on your knees, fiddle with your rosaries...
d. Please allow me to introduce myself; I'm a man of wealth and taste.

XI
a. ...having to spend each day the color of the leaves.
b. I am a man with an ordinary head.
c. Once upon a time I had tides to control.
d. Camelot! Camelot! In far-off France I heard your call!

XII
a. I'm your only friend; I'm not your only friend...
b. In the jungle, the mighty jungle...
c. Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange?
d. Someday, when I'm awfully low, when the world is cold...

XIII
a. Bless this day, pinnacle of life!
b. ...cocked your head to the side and said, "I'm angry."
c. Think of a free symmetrical top, I₁ the same as I₂.
d. That's great—it starts with an earthquake.

XIV
a. See my people? Well, here's my theory of what this country is moving toward.
b. When I wake up, well, I know I'm gonna be...
c. Let us be lovers; we'll marry our fortunes together.
d. Well, I had two weeks of vacation time coming after working all year down at Big Roy's Heating and Plumbing.

XV
a. Taking stock of what I have and what I haven't, what do I find?
b. All the world seems in tune on a spring afternoon...
c. Sweet summer evenings, hot wine and bread...
d. Three hours until 7:30, when the last of the day people all clear out.

XVI
a. Once in every show...
b. Man, I can't, I shan't formulate an anthem...
c. O Zara, my beloved one, bear with me.
d. Once in a while, maybe you will feel the urge to break international copyright law...

XVII
a. A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away...
b. Professor Georgi's going to be there too!
c. Sunday in the blue silver chromium diner...
d. I should like to consider the folk song and expound briefly on a theory I have held for some time...

XVIII
a. ...Now it looks as though they're here to stay.
b. Life isn't fair, so they tell me, because they think I wouldn't know.
c. Nobody on the road, nobody on the beach.
d. The way you wear your hat, the way you sip your tea...

Comments

[dumble.livejournal.com]

1.
a is Popular from Wicked. b is Side by Side by Side from Company. So something about friendship?

3.
Forming plots? It's not clear to me that Walk through the Fire fits, but the others do. (And I haven't seen Buffy, so I really don't know.)

4. Children/parenting

5. Gossip? (On the basis of a and c; I don't know recognize b and d.)

7. Falling in love? (On the basis of a and b.)

9. Gender stereotypes? (On the basis of a and d, and sort of b but I don't really know it.)

11. Okay, the songs here are
It's not easy being green
Easter Island
King of the World
(something from Camelot, presumably)
But what do they have in common??

12. On the basis of b and d, I'm going to guess "songs with 'Tonight' in the title"

This is fun! But I have to go. More later!

[dumble.livejournal.com]

A couple more, before I look at others' replies:

14. Travel-related? (I don't know d.)

17. Parodies?

[khyros.livejournal.com]

I. "Getting By Without a Dear Friend?"

III. "Gearing Up For the Showdown"

IV. "Songs about Children."

VI. "Soliloquies"

IX. "Stereotypical Gender Role Medley"

XIII. "Patterpatterpatterpatterpatterpattersongs"

XVI. "Songs About Songs"

XVIII. "Wistful Remembrance of Times Past"

These are my Stabs at the themes. I'll come through a second pass to give the songs I know on the other ones for collaboration's sake because I know there are a couple that are pretty obscure.

[zdenka]

16 seems to be some sort of song-meta. Songs about songs?

a. is "The song that goes like this" from Spamelot? c. is the recit. leading into "A tenor can't do himself justice" from Utopia, Ltd. I don't know d. but it sounds like a song about writing a filk.

[pastwatcher]

I was thinking "Meta", myself.

[lord-codfish.livejournal.com]

I. So we have Popular, Side By Side by Side, Empty Chairs and Empty Tables, and Big-Ass Rock. I feel like it's got to be something about friendship; if it weren't for Empty Chairs, I would say something more specific about helping people to feel at home or fit in, but that one doesn't seem to work.
III. Walk Through the Fire, Comfort and Joy, Weekend in the Country, and Tonight. Ensemble pieces? Different sides in a conflict all singing about their positions? Songs where everyone starts in a different place and ends up at the same place?
IV. Plant a Radish, Impossible, The Hardest Part of Love, Our Children. Parenthood. (I vaguely remember hearing this mix, actually, but it was several years ago, and I think I'd be able to figure this one out anyway.)
V. The two I know are Telephone Hour and The Scarlet Pimpernel, though I feel like that might be dialogue leading into I Feel Pretty. Gossip?
VI. I know three of these: Soliloquy, On the Steps of the Palace, and A Puzzlement. Monologue-style songs?
VII. Only one I know is Something There; not enough to take a guess.
VIII. I know three: We Dance, Going Through the Motions, Mountain Town. The only thing I can think of that they have in common is that they're opening numbers, ones that do a fairly good job of setting the scene for the rest of the show.
IX. Make a Man Out of You, In Praise of Women, Creation of Man, Guys and Dolls. Songs with "Man" or "Woman" (or a synonym) in the title?
XIII. From the two I know, I'll guess patter-style songs?
XIV. Transportation?
XVII. Parodies/takeoffs of other songs? (Master of the House, Sunday, and what I think is Clementine?)

[tiamat360.livejournal.com]

Could the theme of III be act closers?

[khyros.livejournal.com]

V. Is definitely gossip then, B is the first class roster from Titanic which is a 2nd class woman's song about all the goings on of the first class.

[tiamat360.livejournal.com]

II. Theme=Shows where particular cities are important?
a) And the Money Kept Rolling In (And Out), from Evita
c) Cool, Cool Considerate Men, from 1776
d) All I Care About is Love, from Chicago

IV. Theme=Children
a) Plant a Radish, from the Fantasticks
b) Impossible, from ...Forum
c) Hardest Part of Love, from Children of Eden

V. Theme=Gossip?
d) Scarlet Pimpernel, from same

VII. Theme=Taming the Beast? (and/or falling in love with the beast)
a) I Wonder Why I Didn't See It There Before (?), from Beauty and the Beast
c) Inside Your Heart, from Batboy

IX. Theme=Women and Men
b) In Praise of Women, from A Little Night Music
c) Creation of Man, from Scarlet Pimpernel
d) Guys & Dolls, from same

XI. Theme=Big Egos
b) Easter Island Head
c) King of the World, from Songs for a New World
d) C'est Moi, from Camelot

XII. Theme=(To)night
a) Birdhouse in Your Soul, by TMBG
b) Lion Sleeps Tonight
c) This is Halloween, from Nightmare Before Christmas
d) The Way You Look Tonight, done by many including Sinatra

XIV. Theme=Big Dreams?
a) Henry Ford, from Ragtime
b) I'm Gonna Be, by the Proclaimers

XVIII. Theme=Summer?
c) Boys of Summer, by Don Henley

This is a fun variant! I suspect I'd enjoy it a lot less if our musical tastes didn't overlap so much, though.

[tiamat360.livejournal.com]

Oh having gotten "Yesterday" for a, my thought for XVIII is clearly wrong. Maybe regrets? Or nostalgia?

[pastwatcher]

Hmm, sounds to me from your description like II might be American History.

[occultatio.livejournal.com]

First of all: this is really fun! I might totally copy you at some point after wrapping up my current quiz.

Okay, so, without looking at anyone else's answers:

II: Money (and caring about it)
III: Montage songs
IX: Gender
X: God and the devil
XI: Songs where the singer is talking about themselves
XIII: Transformational/transitional events (maybe? I recognize all four songs, for once, but don't really see the connection)
XV: Simple pleasures
XVII: Parodies
XVIII: Nostalgia

[midnight-sidhe.livejournal.com]

I expect that I should totally be forbidden from doing this, because I know all the answers. Should I try doing one like this, though?

[occultatio.livejournal.com]

Yes!

[dr_whom]

I was mainly thinking of you when I suggested "helpful or snarky hinting or commenting". :)

But yeah, you should totally do one like this! If you include some I don't already know, I'll even try to guess.

[boojum42.livejournal.com]

(done without looking at other comments)
I. Friendship?
II. Love? I'm only saying that because of (iv), though, and that one's ironic.
III. in preparation for a showdown?
IV. parents regarding children
V. (I recognize this playlist so won't spoil it here)
IX. Being a man?
X. Huh, ii and iii could have some kind of Catholicism theme but I don't know how i and iv relate then.
XII. night
XIV. traveling across America? road trips?
XV. times of day?
XVI. trouble performing?
XVIII. lost love?