We had 61 comments on the song contest from yesterday, with readers asked to guess the name and artists of songs containing the words in bold below. Next to each word I’ve put the song I had in mind, all of which were at least minor rock and roll hits. The links go to the song so you can check for yourself:
Which songs have these words in them? (Note: the word must be exact; for instances, you can’t use a song that has the word “owls” as an answer for “owl”.
pineapple. “Savoy Truffle” by the Beatles.
barley (you must name TWO different songs mentioning the grain). “Fields of Gold” by Sting and “Kiss me” by Sixpence none the Richer.
french fries “Under the Boardwalk” by the Drifters
omelettes “California” by Joni Mitchell
mushroom “White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane
owl “Wildfire” by Michael Martin Murphey
decal “Be True to Your School” by the Beach Boys
Bonus word (for a cat drawing).
Jew “Me and Mr. Jones” by Amy Winehouse, a song featured at least twice on this site!
Several people came close, but the best answer was by reader Max Russell, who posted the following answers. Having looked up the songs unfamiliar to me (“Agadoo”, “They Don’t Care About Us”): I judge this to be the WINNER. Mr. Russell can contact me to receive his book, along with an autograph and a cat drawing.
‘Pineapple’ – Black Lace: Agadoo
‘Barley’ – Sting: Fields of Gold & Sixpence None the Richer: Kiss Me
‘Mushroom’ – Jefferson Airplane: White Rabbit
‘Omelettes’ – Joni Mitchell: California
‘Owl’ – Elton John: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
‘Decal’ – Beach Boys: Be True to Your School
‘Jew’ – Michael Jackson: They Don’t Care About Us
And now, let’s hear of the winners, an underappreciated song that reminds me of D. H. Lawrence (The Rainbow has a scene with lovers disporting themselves in a cornfield): “Kiss Me”, by Sixpence None the Richer.
The lead singer is Leigh Nash, and the band was a Christian one, with the group’s name coming from the most popular work of theology ever: Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis.
Ha! I immediately thought of three, then couldn’t think of any others. Two of mine are completely different.
Barley: John Barleycorn Must Die, Traffic
Mushroom: White Rabbit.
Jew: They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore, Kinky Friedman and His Texas Jewboys.
“Barleycorn” wouldn’t have won, as the word has to be “barley” by itself. And “Jews” is not the same as “Jew”, though Kinky may also have the word “Jew” in that song.
Geez, you’re a tough grader, Professor. Traffic did not have “barley” by itself and Kinky only had Jew in the plural.
“Agadoo” is not a song you want to discover.
There was an “adult” version, in which, from the picture of a wood screw on the sleeve, I infer had different (but rhyming) lyrics.
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PS. Confirmed by Wikipedia.
The Spitting Image ‘mock song’ of Agadoo is the one I remember more of the lyrics from. Strangely, I can’t recall the actual title – “Hold a Chicken in the Air” or something like that.
That’s pretty much the lyric. The title is, “The Chicken Song”.
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Another novel with a cornfield love scene is Toni Morrison’s “Beloved”
Sixpence none the richer. I should have known…of course, I am guitar player and guitar players never listen to anyone but themselves.
Another song for “barley”: “The Perfect Nanny” song, by the kids, Jane and Michael, from Mary Poppins:
“Love us as a son and daughter and never smell of barley water.”
By a strange coincidence, and for no reason I can think of, the tune of Fields of Gold was going through my head when I woke up this morning. Here’s Sting’s beautifully mellow, lushly orchestrated original:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeKE2Z-9HVM
And here’s Eva Cassidy’s cool, elegant cover version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDuye_qB-2o
Completely different, I can’t decide which I prefer. I like them both.
cr