Good morning and welcome to the last day of September (already!)
Here’s your hints for this week’s quiz. There’s been some excellent guesses already, so let’s go out with a bang shall we?
Please use the below format to send your answers to thelyricsquiz@gmail.com by 3pm today (NZ time). Hitting reply on this email doesn’t always work, so please make sure you send your submission to thelyricsquiz@gmail.com just to be safe.
Team/name:
1960s: [Artist] [Song]
1980s: [Artist] [Song]
1990s: [Artist] [Song]
2000s: [Artist] [Song]
2010s: [Artist] [Song]
2020s: [Artist] [Song]
Kirsti.
1960s:
I’ve built walls
A fortress, steep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship
Friendship causes pain
It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain
I am a rock
I am an island
Hint: This 1966 song was the fifth and closing track on Side 2 of this folk rock duo’s Sounds of Silence LP. It was released as a single in 1966, and subsequently included as the B-side of the 1971 A-side reissue of "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)". Song title is in the lyrics quoted.
1980s:
It's the terror of knowing what this world is about
Watching some good friends screaming, "Let me out!"
Pray tomorrow gets me higher
Pressure on people, people on streets
Hint: A collab between one of the greatest rock bands of all time and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, the bassline of this song was famously sampled by Vanilla Ice on “Ice, Ice Baby”. Song title is not mentioned in the lyrics quoted.
1990s:
Sometimes, I give myself the creeps
Sometimes, my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up
Am I just paranoid
Or am I just stoned?
Hint: This song was the second single from this American punk rock trio’s 1994 album Dookie, which brought this band (and modern punk rock) into the mainstream. It’s an autobiographical song about their vocalist/guitarist’s struggle with anxiety; before he was diagnosed with a panic disorder years afterward, he thought he was going crazy (he later revealed he wrote the song whilst on speed, which I’m going to guess didn’t help with the anxiety). Song title is not mentioned in the lyrics quoted, and describes a person who is functionally incapacitated from extreme nervousness, emotional distress, mental or physical overwork, etc.
While this is a popular time of year to reference this band (“Wake Me Up When September Ends”), as that song is about the death of the vocalist/guitarist’s father and the fact that September is a depressing month for them because of that, there will be no use of that meme here friends.
2000s:
Feelin' like I'm headed for a
Breakdown
And I don't know why
But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
I know right now you can't tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me
Hint: This American rock band hails from Florida, which is honestly news to me (for some reason I thought they were English??). Their name is two words: a place where you store matches, and the answer to 2x10 (or 4x5); you may know them from songs such as “Long Day”, “3am” and “Bent”. Song title is in the lyrics quoted.
2010s:
Oh please, don't ask me how I've been
Don't make me play pretend
Oh no, oh what's the use?
Oh please, I bet everybody here is fake happy too
Hint: One of the rare pop punk groups fronted by a woman, you may know this band from their breakthrough hit “Misery Business”, or perhaps “Crushcrushcrush”. Their name is a slight misspelling of a term beginning with P that means “a secret lover”. Song title is in the lyrics quoted.
2020s:
I can't leave my bed, but I can't sleep
I got no clean clothes and I can't eat
And I smoke too much 'til I can't breathe
I'm emotional, I'll always be
And I hate myself, but that's alright
And I love myself, but that's alright
And I tell myself that it's alright
That I dream about the day I die
Hint: The title of this song is easiest to clue even though it’s not in the lyrics quoted: it’s something that 11.4 million people in the States, 26.2 million people in the UK and something like 3.4 million people in Australia all watched nearly two weeks ago (two word title, one of which is a definite article). Amusingly, this artist’s first single, which he released in 2017, is called “King Charles”…
The artist name is slightly harder and I’m not going to be picky about the spelling: it’s one word that combines an adjective meaning “having lived or existed for only a short time” and the word for “the red liquid that circulates in the arteries and veins of humans and other vertebrate animals, carrying oxygen to and carbon dioxide from the tissues of the body”. 5 Seconds of Summer have a song that shares the same name as this artist (though not the same spelling).
