Good afternoon friends
Gosh, this *was* a hard quiz.
In further sad news, I got to have NEITHER of the burgers I had scheduled for today. Truly, the world is a harsh place.
The most commonly correctly identified song this week was “Shiny” from Moana; Beyoncé and Missy Elliot’s collab on “Signs” caused the most confusion, though that was largely from the title.
As promised, here’s some articles from The Rolling Stone about the history of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” - the first from 2000, the second updating it in 2019 when the live action Lion King was coming out. Honestly fascinating, and I reckon reading about interesting bits of music are a pretty good way to spend a rainy Friday afternoon.
(For those of us lucky enough to be WFH today with a cat in the house, you can try your hand at cat palmistry (pawlmisty??) I’m personally just waiting for mine to fall asleep so I can look at her paws…).
Your leaderboard for this week:
🥇 on 12/12: Team BSA, Megan and The Chamberlains, DC Lyfers, Vercisca, All the world’s a song, and Statistically Unsound
🥈 on 11/12: Kathleen Turner Overdrive, Team Impoverished, Bex K, and The Weevils
🥉 on 10/12: Adam J-J
Have an excellent weekend, and I hope you all get to have at least one burger. See you on Monday with a sunny beach of a quiz 🏖…
Kirsti.
Aries: “Aries”, Gorillaz
'Cause I feel so isolated without you
I can't play a happy tune on my own
So stay by my side
High or low tide
High tide, high tide, high tide, high tide
High tide, high tide, high tide, high tide, high
And it feels like I'm falling in, again
Hint: This 2020s song, named for the star sign, is from an English virtual band fronted by the bloke from Blur. Other songs of theirs you might know are “Clint Eastwood” and “Feel Good Inc”.
Taurus: “Bulls on Parade”, Rage Against the Machine
They rally 'round the family with a pocket full of shells
Weapons, not food, not homes, not shoes
Not need, just feed the war, cannibal animal
I walk the corner to the rubble, that used to be a library
Line up to the mind cemetery now
Hint: This 1990s song by a band with anger in their name deals with the U.S. military and its aggressive tactics. The title refers to the animal from this star sign and the concept of marching as a presentation format. Other songs of theirs you may know are “Killing in the Name” and “Testify”.
Gemini: “Babylon”, SZA and Kendrick Lamar
I have nothing to lose
My dark side been well in-tuned
A Gemini gon' show them faces
And this here just one of my moods, Babylon
Was it worth it? Would you do it again?
Aren't you tired of always making amends?
I know you hate me now (here)
I bet you hate me now (here)
Bring on the thorny crown (here)
Crucify me
Hint: Fittingly for this star sign, this 2010s song is a duet, and I need both artists to get full points - they also collaborated together on “All the Stars” for the Black Panther soundtrack. She is an American R&B singer known professionally by three initials; other songs of hers you may know are “Good Days”, “I Hate U”, Rihanna's song “Consideration” and Doja Cat's “Kiss Me More”. He’s an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer, often cited as one of the most influential rappers of his generation. Other songs of his you might know are “Alright” and “HUMBLE.”, or you might know the title of his 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly. The title of this song is a city mentioned in the lyrics quoted.
Cancer: “Shiny”, Moana
I was a drab little crab once
Now I know I can be happy as a clam
Because I'm beautiful, baby
Did your granny say, "Listen to your heart"?
"Be who you are on the inside"?
I need three words to tear her argument apart
Your granny lied
I'd rather be shiny
Hint: This song was sung by an evil, glittery crab in Disney’s 2016 film about a Polynesian girl accompanied by the demigod Maui on an epic quest to see how far she’ll go. You’re welcome.
Leo: “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, The Tokens
In the jungle, the mighty jungle
The lion sleeps tonight
Hint: Long before The Lion King, this song existed. I’ll link to the full history in the answers this afternoon, but for the purposes of this quiz: This song made it’s English language debut in the 1960s, first recorded by a band whose name means “things serving as a visible or tangible representation of a fact, quality, feeling, etc.” or “something done for the sake of appearances or as a symbolic gesture”.
Virgo: “Signs”, Beyoncé and Missy Elliot
Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, oh
Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius
I love all y'all
Hey, I wish he was a Virgo, the same sign as me
Hint: This duet is between two American legends of song. One you may recognise from songs such as “Crazy in Love”, “Single Ladies” and “Formation”; the other for her supa dupa fly songs “Get Ur Freak On”, “Work It” and “One Minute Man”.
