Song meme

[dr_whom]

People seem to be enjoying the guess-songs-by-their-first-lines meme (first seen by me recently apud tiamat360), so here's my version of it. I post the first lyrics of randomly chosen songs; you get to guess what songs they are. When you get them right, I'll add the titles here. I omit songs that I've already seen used in this meme.

All done!

Answers are below.

1. I may not always love you...
2. Every day a little death...
3. Welcome to my secret lair on Skullcrusher Mountain.
4. Run, freedom, run!
5. Here's to us!
6. You can get anything you want...
7. Lovely Rita Metermaid!
8. Is this the real life?
9. Hold me close and hold me fast.
10. You can't take three from two; two is less than three.
11. Why did he look at her that way?
12. I am a man with an ordinary head.
13. Thousands on board...
14. Join us! Leave your field to flower.
15. Oh, there's no fire in the fireplace!
16. Ain't this the kind of weather...?
17. A little slower, and please keep the fingers curved as nice and high as you possibly can.
18. Remember?
19. We are the Folk Song Army!
20. Look at the stars; / look how they shine for you.
21. A good bit of me sleeps underneath / in the bed of my soul, lying next to belief. / If I stay where I lay, I might turn away...
22. The sun sinks low.
23. I lit out from Reno; I was trailed by twenty hounds.
24. A public-service announcement followed me home the other day.
25. Some enchanted evening...
26. I can't sing a note!
27. Money makes the world go around.
28. Let us be lovers; we'll marry our fortunes together.
29. Gotta sing sing!
30. Whatever happened to fair dealing?

...and, following clauclauclaudia, a bonus one for each song whose title appears in the excerpted line:

31. How do you come out of numbingly humble beginnings...?
32. First there was nothing; then there was something; / it was the world.
33. You wanna lose your only friend? Well keep it up; you're doing fine.
34. A salute to the man on the deck of that ship.
35. It's time for me to be on my way, I know.
36. Rock! Rock! Rock! / The water running down that pipe...
37. Come gather round, people, wherever you roam.
38. All the leaves are brown.


Answers follow:

1. "God Only Knows", the Beach Boys
2. "Every Day a Little Death", A Little Night Music
3. "Skullcrusher Mountain", Jonathan Coulton
4. "Run, Freedom, Run", Urinetown
5. "Old Friends", Merrily We Roll Along
6. "Alice's Restaurant", Arlo Guthrie
7. "Lovely Rita", the Beatles
8. "Bohemian Rhapsody", Queen
9. "La vie en rose", the Louis Armstrong version
10. "New Math", Tom Lehrer
11. "Impossible", A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
12. "Easter Island Head", Throat Culture
13. "To Be a Captain", Titanic
14. "Magic to Do", Pippin
15. "Happiness Hotel", The Great Muppet Caper
16. "What a Game!", Ragtime
17. "Piano Lesson", The Music Man
18. "Remember", A Little Night Music
19. "The Folk Song Army", Tom Lehrer
20. "Yellow", the Logarhythms
21. "Everywhere I Go", the Logarhythms
22. "The Sun Won't Set", A Little Night Music
23. "Friend of the Devil", the Greatful Dead
24. "Bad Day", R.E.M.
25. "Some Enchanted Evening", South Pacific
26. "Where Tina Gets It From", Ruthless!
27. "Money", Cabaret
28. "America", Simon and Garfunkel
29. "Prisoners of Love", The Producers
30. "Class", Chicago
31. "Make the Most of Your Music", Follies
32. "It Was the World", Songs to Wear Pants To
33. "Nobody's Side", Chess
34. "Journey On", Ragtime
35. "Temptation", Billy Joel
36. "The Biggest One", They Might Be Giants
37. "The Times They Are a-Changin'", Bob Dylan
38. "California Dreamin'", The Mamas and the Papas


There's a lot of these that I don't think I'd be able to get. 32 is definitely the hardest.

Comments

[apley33.livejournal.com]

2. "Every Day A Little Death" from A Little Night Music
4. "Run Freedom Run" from Urinetown
11. "Impossible" from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
25. "Some Enchanted Evening" from South Pacific
27. "Money" from Cabaret

[dr_whom]

Correct!

[apley33.livejournal.com]

I can't resist:

8. "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
9. "La Vie En Rose" (not sure who it is by)

[dr_whom]

Likewise correct!

[occultatio.livejournal.com]

May I suggest putting the answers elsewhere, so new people can play without being spoiled?

3. Skullcrusher Mountain (Jonathan Coulton)
6. Alice's Restaurant
7. Lovely Rita, Meter Maid (Beatles)
10. New Math (Tom Lehrer)
12. Easter Island Head
14. Magic To Do (Pippin)
17. OH GOD I KNOW THIS WHAT
18. Remember (A Little Night Music)
19. Folk Song Army (Lehrer)
22. The Sun Won't Set (Night Music)
31. Make The Most of Your Music (Follies)
38. California Dreamin (The Mamas and the Papas)

[occultatio.livejournal.com]

ALSO!

30. Class (Chicago)

That one took me a fourth look.

[dr_whom]

If you insist!

Your answers are all correct except #17.

[dumble.livejournal.com]

before I've looked at anyone else's answers:
2) Every day a little death (A Little Night Music)
3) Skullcrusher mountain (by that guy who also does Mandelbrot Set)
4) Run freedom run (Urinetown)
6) Alice's Restaurant (I forget who)
7) I think Lovely Rita Metermaid is more or less the title (The Beatles)
8) Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen)
11) Impossible (Forum)
12) Easter Island (Toxic Audio?)
17) Goodnight my someone (The Music Man)
24) I'm 100% sure I know this. Is it End of the World (REM)? If not, then I still know what it is, but I'll have to think about it more...
25) Some Enchanted Evening (South Pacific)
28) America (Simon & Garfunkel)
34) Journey On (Ragtime)
37) The Times are A'Changing (originally Bob Dylan, no?)
38) California Dreamin' (The Mamas and the Papas)

[dr_whom]

"Goodnight My Someone" starts with "Goodnight my someone," and "The End of the World as We Know It" (that's great, it) starts with an earthquake. I'm 100% sure you know #24 too, though....

The rest you have right.

[dumble.livejournal.com]

17) Oh right, it's the one before that where Marion is talking to her mom. I don't know what it's called.

24) Yeah, I knew that. This would be easier if we didn't have the Beatles blasting all through the apartment. =)

[dr_whom]

17. Correct!
24. Well, all told, that's not a bad trade-off.

[clauclauclaudia]

5. Here's To Us / Little Me ?

13. To Be a Captain / Titanic

33. You Want to Lose Your Only Friend? (Broadway) or The American and Florence (London) / Chess ;-)

[dr_whom]

5. Nope. I'm surprised nobody's gotten this yet; it's one of my favorite songs.
13. Yup!
33. Good enough... whichever recording it is I have, it's the same track as "Nobody's Side".

[clauclauclaudia]

That'd be London. My track is titled "The American and Florence/Nobody's Side".

[clauclauclaudia]

Oh!
5. Old Friends / Merrily We Roll Along?

[dr_whom]

Bingo!

[tiamat360.livejournal.com]

Is #29 possibly "Prisoners of Love," from the Producers?

[dr_whom]

Is it ever!

[dumble.livejournal.com]

24) Bad Day. (R.E.M.) Bah. I knew it was R.E.M.! =)

[tiamat360.livejournal.com]

And for #26, all I can think is "Sing" from A Chorus Line, but I somehow doubt that's right...

[dr_whom]

You sure did!

[tiamat360.livejournal.com]

Good. I'm glad I can still get one even after everyone else has had a crack at it...these are really much less fun when most things are solved by the time you get there...

[dr_whom]

It's not. 26 is hard, by which I mean fairly obscure—but not nearly as much so as 32.

Songs

[notachnai.livejournal.com]

No. 16 is that baseball song, "What A Game", from Ragtime. I think 15 is a Muppets song, something like "Happiness Hotel", yes? No. 23 has to be the Dead's "Friend of the Devil". And No. 35 has to be Billy Joel's "Temptation". I give you no. 32; other than a famous quotation--not sung--from Disraeli's "Tancred", I have no idea.

No. 26

[notachnai.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I think no. 26 is "Where Tina Gets It From", from Ruthless--the Musical. If I'm right, Joan Ryan (sp.?) sang it in a beautiful voice that gave the lie to the title. Yes?

Re: No. 26

[dr_whom]

Nicely done!

Re: No. 1

[notachnai.livejournal.com]

Thank you. God only knows when someone will get no. 1!

Re: No. 1

[dr_whom]

Subtle.

It Was The World

[notachnai.livejournal.com]

Oh, God, is that the "It Was The World" thing, that history-of-the-world-in-under-two-minutes-so-I-don't-get-thrown-in-the-shark-tank thing, that the guy on Songs To Wear Pants To wrote? Someone played that for me once when we were talking about songs that summarized things, like Shakespeare plays, or Jewish history. That's almost undoubtedly cheating if I'm right!

Rock, rock, rock

[notachnai.livejournal.com]

And I now believe that one is a TMBG song, but I can't remember the name--the chorus is something like "I have only my fat self to blame".

Re: It Was The World

[dr_whom]

Ding! Give the man a prize!

I did say it was the hardest one. And, in my defense, you solved it, didn't you?

Re: It Was The World

[notachnai.livejournal.com]

Yes, but . . . come on! I don't believe the song exists anywhere in reproducible form. If I hadn't happened to hear it once . . . .

Re: Rock, rock, rock

[dr_whom]

Not quite specific enough for me to give it to you, yet... but let's see if anyone else can get it from that.

Re: Rock, rock, rock

[notachnai.livejournal.com]

I've looked it up, so now I know. I won't post it because I looked it up, but I was close!

Re: It Was The World

[dr_whom]

It Was the World.mp3. It's also on the Songs to Wear Pants To (vol. 1) CD, which you can buy.

Say, it looks like this one was suggested by thedan. That's pretty cool.

Re: It Was The World

[notachnai.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the mp3. I had forgotten (of course) most of the song, and it was good to hear it again. Now I have to order all 3 cds!

I didn't know Dan, but he has quite a resume! By the way, I will be in Philly this weekend with thekinginyellow and ophblekuwufu. Perhaps we could have dinner motzi Shabbos?

Re: It Was The World

[dr_whom]

That would be delightful. E-mail me or give me a call and we can make plans.

[tiamat360.livejournal.com]

Ah. #20 is by Coldplay, I think it's called "Yellow"?

[dr_whom]

"Yellow" it is! I have the MIT Logarhythms' cover of it.

Re: Rock, rock, rock

[dr_whom]

At this point, I might as well give it to you anyway.

Re: It Was The World

[thedan.livejournal.com]

> he has quite a resume!

I do?

Yes, I did request that song, and amazingly it actually got posted within about three days of my sending the e-mail. And then my request got quoted in an Oregon newspaper. It was weeeeird.

No.21

[notachnai.livejournal.com]

So, let's put everyone out of their misery. Is it "Everywhere I Go" by Shawn Mullins?

Re: It Was The World

[notachnai.livejournal.com]

Yes, you do, from both a theatrical and a puzzling perspective. I have been enjoying your puzzles tremendously, and discussed some of them with dr_whom. Thank you for providing such fun!

Re: No.21

[dr_whom]

Also covered by the Logarhythms.