MetaChat - The 80s Lyrics Quiz

Final Score: 66

posted by Wolfdog 26 September | 12:35

My final score was 82: Pop Junkie. I missed a few very obvious ones that had me slapping my forehead.

posted by LeeJay 26 September | 12:38

I'm going to hijack this thread slightly and propose some "2 word" lyric puzzle in the vein of Skot's post over at izzlepfaff:

1. crying icicles
2. glory night
3. morning driving
4. playfully watching
5. being cloned
6. Finland station
7. Indiana boys
8. slow torch
9. star shoe
10. streetwise Hercules
11. tab collars
12. Vancouver's lights
13. Waring blender

posted by Wolfdog 26 September | 12:40

77.5, Pop Junkie. Can't believe I missed a couple of those. Also, missed a couple due to poor spelling.

posted by Capn 26 September | 12:49

11--Hot funk cool punk

posted by box 26 September | 12:55

7. Last Dance with Mary Jane by Tom Petty

posted by LeeJay 26 September | 12:59

101.5. And thanks shitty 80s lyics, for occupying the part of my brain that could have been designated "French" or "card counting".

posted by melissa may 26 September | 13:02

2--that Scorpions song about the fall of communism

posted by box 26 September | 13:05

5. Twilight Zone - Golden Earring
13. Poor Poor Pitiful Me - Warren Zevon

posted by jonmc 26 September | 13:07

Final Score: 55.5

Guess I shouldn't have been passin' the dutchie.

posted by danostuporstar 26 September | 13:10

Go melissa may! Is 101.5 a perfect score? I too wish that I had more room in the noggin but I know if I did I'd just fill it up with more useless junk like who was in the original KIDS Incorporated cast and Golden Girls plotlines.

posted by LeeJay 26 September | 13:11

Nah, it's not perfect -- I missed Jessie's Girl by spelling it Jesse, and whatnot. I've no idea what the max points are because test dude assigns them randomly. I got 10 points for knowing a lyric from a 70s Eagles song, so I think we're in the land of loose scoring here.

(And indeed, the noggin she is full of the crap that is useless, and I don't suppose it would be otherwise even if it weren't for Billy Ocean.)

posted by melissa may 26 September | 13:17

I got 83.5, but #92 is missing a word, so the entire quiz is moot.

What is this other game? My proxy won't let me see the rules, only the fun.

posted by Hugh Janus 26 September | 13:17

I ran out of patience, so my score isn't worth mentioning, but my god, it's amazing what the brain retains.

I know so much useless stuff. Unless you count a quiz like this useful.

posted by Specklet 26 September | 13:22

Just come up with a song that contains the given two-word phrase. If I've done my job well then there should be only one solution for each phrase (and ideally, that phrase should act as a pretty precise trigger for summoning up the song).

Ex. "mama's porch" - I can't hear those two words without thinking of Summer of '69.

posted by Wolfdog 26 September | 13:24

Also, I got 116.

posted by box 26 September | 13:24

Hugh Janus - An excerpt from Izzle Pfaff! explaining the rules of the second game:

Is it possible that there are certain irreducible phrases that can conjure up whole pop songs? Could only two words, say, bring up a whole song? And would it be so for other, possibly non-loony people?

So I set about a totally nonscientific, totally bullshit endeavor: I tried to imagine mere two-word phrases or phraselets that could possibly evoke an entire pop song. I of course avoided titles: How hard would it be to figure out something like "California Girls"? I also avoided pop chorus phrases that were terribly obvious or clearly rhymed with the titles, like say "graveyard smash."

So what I tried to do was to think of unique two-word phrases that could only refer to one specific pop song. And then I wondered how people would deal with it, given that I was by definition working out of context (though I altered no grammar, syntax or anything; I also did not obfuscate things, I hope, by ramming together words that didn't belong with one another). I just tried to think of certain two-word phrases (and hopefully without many articles) that seemed to embody, typify, or just clearly identify certain well-known songs.

posted by LeeJay 26 September | 13:24

And that's not a perfect score.

posted by box 26 September | 13:24

152. The eighties are my life. How scary is that? : )

(And that isn't a perfect score either)

posted by sisterhavana 26 September | 13:33

Our band could be your life.

posted by danostuporstar 26 September | 13:43

I'm atrocious at both this, and even worse at that 'two word' one.

It seems I knew a lot of the "hard" ones, but then missed a bunch of the gimmes.

posted by mosch 26 September | 13:44

1. follow leaders
2. different today
3. original self
4. inconceivable unbelievable
5. lonesome whippoorwill
6. diesel down
7. dungeon dragon
8. fabulous fantastic
9. bulldog bark
10. daddy's rifle

posted by box 26 September | 13:51

7 Scenario!

posted by Hugh Janus 26 September | 13:52

99.

Not too bad, I missed some obvious ones though.
But why am I a god for knowing "warm smell of colitas"? How hard is that?

sisterhavana, I bow before your mad 80s song lyric skillz

posted by gaspode 26 September | 13:57

I got 114. And my brain simply will not supply answers for the two-word quiz.

posted by goatdog 26 September | 13:58

1. Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan
5. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Hank Williams
6. Me And Bobbie McGee - Janis Joplin
10. Powderfinger - Neil Young

The rest will come to me.

posted by jonmc 26 September | 13:59

Good luck, Jon--a lot of the others are rap songs. But maybe I've said too much.

posted by box 26 September | 14:56

The earworms... they're eating. my. brain.

Gaaahhhhh.

posted by mudpuppie 26 September | 15:19

73 - there were so many stupid ones I missed because I've always sang the lyrics wrong. That's pretty unfair.

posted by muddgirl 26 September | 15:42

Oh, and is 'Finland station' from 99 Luftballoons? I can't remember any of the words, but it seems to go with the plot.

posted by box 26 September | 15:48

>is 'Finland station' from 99 Luftballoons?
Nope.

posted by Wolfdog 26 September | 15:50

Okay, is 'streetwise Hercules' from 'Holding Out for a Hero,' which is I believe on the Footloose soundtrack?

posted by box 26 September | 15:55

Yes, one of two Jim Steinman lyrics in my list.

posted by Wolfdog 26 September | 16:02

That took a long time. 175 points.

posted by weretable and the undead chairs 26 September | 16:35

I used to call in and win stuff from a radio station that played songs from the eighties. They would play the song and then they wanted the title/artist. Sometimes I would get so frustrated because I would know and they would give up on anyone guessing it before I could get through. Won six CDs once when they played Too Shy by Kajagoogoo. good times.

posted by weretable and the undead chairs 26 September | 16:38

weretable and the undead chairs, that is one impressive score. As a matter of fact, there are quite a few retro lyrical masters in this thread.

posted by LeeJay 26 September | 16:47

hush-hush!

posted by Capn 26 September | 16:52

Keep it down, capn.

posted by mudpuppie 26 September | 17:17

155.5

I saw this a few years ago, but I think the admin changes the questons every now and again. I don't know what this 'lay a whisper' thing is, but I *so* should have gotten 'Elvira' by the Oak Ridge Boys.

Nice score, btw, weretable!

posted by Frisbee Girl 26 September | 17:46

"From Lake Geneva to the Finland Station."
--West End Girls by the Pet Shop Boys.

Now I'm off to take the quiz.

posted by jrossi4r 26 September | 17:56

I loved Roxette.

Lay a whisper on my pillow
Leave the winter on the ground
I wake up lonely
There's an air of silence
In the bedroom
And all around
Touch me now
I close my eyes
And dream away

It must have been love
But it's over now
It must have been good
But I lost it somehow
It must have been love
But it's over now
From the moment we touched
till the time had run out

posted by weretable and the undead chairs 26 September | 18:01

There were a couple of errors on the quiz, btw.

posted by weretable and the undead chairs 26 September | 18:02

I *so* should have gotten 'Elvira' by the Oak Ridge Boys.

Me too! I cannot believe I missed that one.

posted by LeeJay 26 September | 18:03

Try on the ones that I didn't see someone else answering:

1. crying icicles

Meatloaf song... someone else tell me which one, I can hear him singing in my head but not which song it is.

3. morning driving

Roundabout?

4. playfully watching

Logical Song

8. slow torch

Runaway Train! Gawd, I love that song.

9. star shoe

????

10. streetwise Hercules

Holding out for a Hero

12. Vancouver's lights

Life is a Highway

posted by weretable and the undead chairs 26 September | 18:20

Nevermind on the Bonne Tyler song, looks like box already got it. I know none of the others (probably since I almost never listen to rap?) from box's list except for part of jonmc's answers.

posted by weretable and the undead chairs 26 September | 18:22

thanks, weretable, it all makes sense now: that song drove me nuts. =)

posted by Frisbee Girl 26 September | 18:24

w&tuc: we're not worthy!
I also have a soft spot for Roxette.
And ABBA.

posted by Wolfdog 26 September | 18:38

I'm a little surprised that nobody's gotten my #9 yet. Here's another pair of words from the same song:

threw eight

posted by box 26 September | 18:38

I wasn't saying there's anything wrong with Roxette as a band, but that particular song + time + circumstances were relentless in a not so fun way.

posted by Frisbee Girl 26 September | 18:45

Why, oh why does Frisbee Girl hate Sweden?!

posted by Wolfdog 26 September | 19:18

no clue on 9. is 8 lucious jackson?

posted by weretable and the undead chairs 26 September | 19:33

It's.

too.

long.

posted by Doohickie 26 September | 22:24

I lost interest. And when I scored it, the comments with every answer are really annoying.

But to keep the record straight, I'm not insulting the quiz creator.

posted by Doohickie 26 September | 22:25

Doohickie! =)

posted by Frisbee Girl 26 September | 22:32

Weretable: uh, maybe? Luscious Jackson isn't what I intended.

Another pair of words from 9: bartender's glass

posted by box 27 September | 00:15

Actually the two words are flipped for the LJ song. *just googled it* I saw what I think you are refering to in the google search though, something I certainly would not have guessed since I had never heard the song. *shrugs*

posted by weretable and the undead chairs 27 September | 00:34

Now I'm wondering what you saw on Google. (Here's a (tinyurl) link to the lyrics of the song in question.)

(All my songs are either too easy or too hard. Sigh.)

posted by box 27 September | 01:11

Yeah, that is what I saw on Google.

posted by weretable and the undead chairs 27 September | 08:53

26 September 2005