Parenthetical Rock Quiz
Can you recognize song titles just from the sections that are in parentheses? If I throw “(She’s So Heavy)” at you, do you know the artist is the Beatles and the complete title is “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”? Given “(Into the Black),” can you come back with Neil Young’s “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)? Then it’s time to test your PPQ (Parenthetical Power Quotient).
Below you will find a list of 25 songs–or more precisely, their parenthetical sections. Some of them are screamingly obvious; some of them will likely be stumpers. But none of the songs are particularly obscure: they are mostly well-known singles (including a bunch of chart-toppers). There’s a few album tracks sprinkled in, drawn from famous discs (the type that end up on greatest-albums-ever lists). The list skews in a rockish direction, but also includes pop, R&B, and hip-hop.
Give yourself a point for each song title that you can complete, and another point if you can name the artist. (There’s 25 songs, so you can score a maximum PPQ of 50 points.) I’ll put the answer key up in the comments section later in the day. Have (lots of) fun!
1. “(But I Won’t Do That)”
2. “(Can’t Live Without Your)”
3. “(Do It Right)”
4. “(Don’t Don’t Do It)”
5. “(The Ecology)”
6. “(For a Film)”
7. “(For Massenet)”
8. “(For Me)”
9. “(From the Shell)”
10. “(Gonna Be Alright)”
11. “(I’m A…)”
12. “(Nothing But)”
13. “(People It’s Bad)”
14. “(Pure Energy)”
15. “(Rock the Catskills)”
16. “(Roy)”
17. “(She’s)”
18. “(Sittin’ On)”
19. “(Three Different Ones)”
20. “(Tunnels)”
21. “(We Salute You)”
22. “(We’re Gonna)”
23. “(White Man)”
24. “(Who Loves Me)”
25. “(Wish I Could Fly Like)”
posted 10 July 2015 in Tasty Bits and tagged Parentheses, Quiz. 3 comments
July 10th, 2015 at 6:11 am
I tried to have the questions lead to one distinct answer, but it’s possible I may have missed a few alternate titles. At least I didn’t include the most frequent parenthesis in my music library: “(Live).”
July 10th, 2015 at 11:25 am
Answers!
1. Meat Loaf, “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)”
2. Nelson, “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection”
3. The S.O.S. Band, “Take Your Time (Do It Right)”
4. Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel, “White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It)”
5. Marvin Gaye, “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)”
6. Radiohead, “Exit Music (For a Film)”
7. Laurie Anderson, “O Superman (For Massenet)”
8. Aretha Franklin and George Michael, “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)”
9. Squeeze, “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)”
10. Rod Stewart, “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)”
11. Berlin, “Sex (I’m A…)”
12. Talking Heads, “(Nothing But) Flowers”
13. James Brown, “Funky President (People It’s Bad)”
14. Information Society, “What’s on Your Mind (Pure Energy)”
15. Beck, “High 5 (Rock the Catskills)”
16. Led Zeppelin, “Hats off to (Roy) Harper”
17. Stray Cats, “(She’s) Sexy + 17”
18. Otis Redding, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”
19. Pink Floyd, “Pigs (Three Different Ones)”
20. Arcade Fire, “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”
21. AC/DC, “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)”
22. Bill Haley and His Comets, “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock”
23. The Clash, “(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais”
24. Whitney Houston, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)”
25. The Kinks, “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman”
July 10th, 2015 at 1:29 pm
You could come up with an entirely parenthetical before-and-after song title with “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman (It’s not Easy)”