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Donovan Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Donovan Quizzes, Trivia

Donovan Trivia

Donovan Trivia Quizzes

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3 Donovan quizzes and 30 Donovan trivia questions.
1.
  Donovan Comes, Singing Songs of Love   top quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Donovan Leitch. What can you remember of the music from this flower of the mid/late sixties psychedelic garden?
Average, 10 Qns, agony, Jul 03 24
Average
agony editor
Jul 03 24
188 plays
2.
  Donovan: They Call Him Mellow Yellow    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
During the 1960s, folk and psychedelic music were at their peak. Musician Donovan fell into both of these genres of music. What is your knowledge of this sixties singer?
Average, 10 Qns, apathy100, Oct 21 17
Average
apathy100 gold member
250 plays
3.
  Donovan Lyrics    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Welcome to the phenomenon of Donovan! Donovan Leitch came onto the music scene in 1965 and continues to write and perform today. This quiz is meant to test your knowledge of his music. Select the song that contains the lyrics.....groovy!
Average, 10 Qns, cndrh, Oct 21 17
Average
cndrh
284 plays

Donovan Trivia Questions
1. Donovan was born in the Maryhill area in the largest city of what region found in the United Kingdom?

From Quiz Donovan: They Call Him Mellow Yellow

Answer: Scotland

Donovan, born Donovan Philips Leitch, was born and raised in the Maryhill district of Glasgow, Scotland on May 10, 1946. The area is notable as it has been where other famous actors and musicians such as Sean Biggerstaff, Robert Carlyle, and Maggie Bell were born and resided as well. Initially discovered as a coal mining area, it never profited favorably and even in present times, Maryhill area is below what is considered the "normal" standard of living in the United Kingdom. One of the popular features of the Maryhill area is the Forth and Clyde Canal that opened in 1790. It was closed in 1963, but during millennial celebrations in 2000, it was proposed that the canal be revitalized. As a result, the Falkirk Wheel (a boat lifting device) was built in 2002 and is a tourist attraction to those visiting the city.

2. Here's an earlier tune of his, "To feel you all around me, and to take your hand along the sand." What song are these lyrics from?

From Quiz Donovan Lyrics

Answer: Catch The Wind

This song can be found on Donovan's first album "What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid" album.

3. "Susan on the west coast" was waiting for what?

From Quiz Donovan Comes, Singing Songs of Love

Answer: to hear from Andy in Vietnam fighting

1969's "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" was on the way to becoming a small US hit, until some DJ flipped the record and played the B side. "Atlantis" became a much bigger hit.

4. As a child, Donovan contracted what infectious disease that later had a vaccine developed by Jonas Salk in the 1950's?

From Quiz Donovan: They Call Him Mellow Yellow

Answer: Polio

At the age of three, Donovan contracted polio and left him with a permanent limp growing up. In an August 1, 2016 interview with Adrian Monti of "The Express", Donovan stated that his contraction of the disease is what influenced his musical career: "I spent a lot of time in bed as a child after having polio while my dad read poetry to me. It made me interested in words, writing and being creative. If I hadn't had that experience maybe I wouldn't have gone on to write and sing my own songs for the past half a century. I feel strongly that having a disability in one area makes you explore others instead. That was the case for me after having polio."

5. Recorded in 1966, "Everybody's hustlin' just to have a little scene. When I say we'll be cool, I think that you know what I mean." What song are these lyrics from?

From Quiz Donovan Lyrics

Answer: Sunshine Superman

This song can be found on Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" album and features Jimmy Page on guitar.

6. What lesser known song gives us these lyrics? "Do I see your buckets full Buckets full of shells Could it be you that I see Buckets full of shells From your day by the sea"

From Quiz Donovan Comes, Singing Songs of Love

Answer: Song of the Naturalist's Wife

"Song of the Naturalist's Wife" was on the "For Little Ones" record of 1967's double album "Gift from a Flower to a Garden". As a younger baby boomer, I had the privilege of growing up listening to my older siblings' music, and this one was a formative album for me, especially that second record. Donovan was clearly enjoying himself playing with language and sound.

7. During Donovan's early years as a recording artist, his style and sound were often compared to what famous American folk and blues singer of the 1960's?

From Quiz Donovan: They Call Him Mellow Yellow

Answer: Bob Dylan

During the spring of 1965, Bob Dylan toured the United Kingdom playing at venues in various cities including Sheffield, Liverpool, and London. It was during this time that various members of the music press and other musicians were comparing the sound of Donovan to that of Dylan. Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones was once quoted as saying: "We've been watching Donovan too. He isn't too bad a singer but his stuff sounds like Dylan's. His 'Catch The Wind' sounds like 'Chimes of Freedom'. He's got a song, 'Hey Tangerine Eyes' and it sounds like Dylan's 'Mr. Tambourine Man'."

8. "Born-a high forever to fly. Wind-a velocity nil. Born-a high forever to fly. If you want your cup, I will fill." Name the song that contains these lyrics.

From Quiz Donovan Lyrics

Answer: Mellow Yellow

This song can be found on Donovan's "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" album as well as his "Mellow Yellow" album. This song features another Led Zeppelin member, John Paul Jones, on bass.

9. "Way down below the ocean Where I wanna be, she may be" Which song with a lengthy spoken introduction was this?

From Quiz Donovan Comes, Singing Songs of Love

Answer: Atlantis

As with several other Donovan recordings, contract complications led to "Atlantis" being released in different ways and at different times in different places. It was a hit in much of Europe and eventually in the US, but didn't do more than all right in the UK. As mentioned in Qu 2, it was the B side to the single in the US, because it really didn't look like much of a radio hit. It must have fit with the zeitgeist, though, because a lot of people loved it. Personally, I find it just a bit much.

10. This hypnotic and calypso-based song was recorded in 1967, "Oh Juanita, oh Juanita, oh Juanita, I call your name. Oh, the snow will be a blinding sight to see as it lies on yonder hillside." What's the song?

From Quiz Donovan Lyrics

Answer: There Is A Mountain

This song can be found on Donovan's "Mellow Yellow" album and is based on a Buddhist saying.

11. "To feel you all around me And to take your hand, along the sand Ah, but I may as well try and _____" What might I may as well try and do?

From Quiz Donovan Comes, Singing Songs of Love

Answer: catch the wind

"Catch the Wind" was Donovan's first hit song, getting into the top ten in the UK and doing all right in the US (number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100). As so often with his music, rights issues complicated availability - the version on the "Greatest Hits" album is not the same as the single. The cover of this song by the Canadian band Irish Descendants is breathtakingly beautiful.

12. By 1966, Donovan had managed to shake all of his comparisons to other singers and released his only number one single on the US Billboard Charts. What song became his only number one US hit?

From Quiz Donovan: They Call Him Mellow Yellow

Answer: Sunshine Superman

"Sunshine Superman" was the only Donovan song to peak at number one in the United States the week of September 3rd. From the album of the same name, it was part of a three year collaboration with famous English record producer Mickey Most. Music historians often consider "Sunshine Superman" to be one of the first successful recordings within a musical genre that has become known as "psychedelia". The song features popular musician Jimmy Page of The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin on the electric guitar when he was performing as a session artist.

13. "Thrown like a star in my vast sleep. I'm opening my eyes to take a peep. To find that I was by the sea, gazing with tranquility." What song contains these lyrics?

From Quiz Donovan Lyrics

Answer: Hurdy Gurdy Man

This song can be found on Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" album. This tune was inspired by the sounds Donovan heard while visiting the Maharishi along with the Beatles.

14. "I'm just mad about saffron saffron's mad about me" Which song is this?

From Quiz Donovan Comes, Singing Songs of Love

Answer: Mellow Yellow

Fifty some odd years later, "Mellow Yellow" is probably the one Donovan song that those who weren't even born when he was on the charts have heard of. It was a good sized hit in 1967, and, no, the rumour that it was about getting high from smoking banana skins is not true (and neither is the rumour; don't try it). The actual inspiration for the song, according to Donovan in various interviews in "Rolling Stone" and "NME", refers to the "electrical banana", but that's all I'm going to tell you here.

15. This popular hit was his sweet hymn to childhood, "I'm thinking of what it would be like if she loved me. You know just lately this happy song, it came along, and I had to somehow try and tell you..." Name the song!

From Quiz Donovan Lyrics

Answer: Jennifer Juniper

This song can be found on Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" album and is said to be written about Jenny Boyd, sister of Patti Boyd.

16. Which song from the "For the Littles" disc of "A Gift from a Flower to a Garden" references an old nursery rhyme? "One brings sorrow and one brings joy"

From Quiz Donovan Comes, Singing Songs of Love

Answer: The Magpie

"The magpie is a most illustrious bird Dwells in a diamond tree One brings sorrow and one brings joy Sorrow and joy for me" The nursery rhyme dates from at least the mid 18th century, and there are a lot of versions. The basis of them all is counting magpies or some other corvids to tell the future: "One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret, Never to be told" or "One for sorrow, Two for mirth. Three for a funeral, Four for a birth. Five for heaven. Six for hell. Seven for the Devil, his own self" I live in a city where the black billed magpie is so common as to have become our mascot - at any given time you can pretty much count on being able to see enough to tell any future with!

17. "Better get into what you gotta get into. Better get into it now, no slacking please. United Nations ain't really united. And the organization ain't really organized." Name the song please.

From Quiz Donovan Lyrics

Answer: Riki Tiki Tavi

This song can be found on Donovan's "Open Road" album. This one was about a story in "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling.

18. In 1969, what song was released as the b-side to "To Susan on the West Coast, Waiting" and was Donovan's last top ten hit on the US Billboard Charts in the 1960s?

From Quiz Donovan: They Call Him Mellow Yellow

Answer: Atlantis

There are two versions of the song "Atlantis"; one from the 1968 album "Barabajagal" and one that was released for the 2001 Disney animated film "Atlantis: The Lost Empire". The 1968 version peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Charts becoming the final top ten hit for Donovan in either the United Kingdom or the United States. The 2001 version was re-recorded with the German band No Angels and was included as part of the closing credits of the film. The 2001 version would enter the top five in both Austria and Germany.

19. This grooovy tune is said to have been written for Mama Cass Elliott, "He will bring happiness in a pipe. He'll ride away on his silver bike. And apart from that, he'll be so kind....in consenting to blow your mind." What song is it from?

From Quiz Donovan Lyrics

Answer: The Fat Angel

This song can be found on Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" album. This song also contains a reference to the Jefferson Airplane.

20. "When I look over my shoulder What do you think I see? Some other cat lookin' over His shoulder at me And he's strange, sure, he's strange You've got to pick up every stitch" What song is this lyric from?

From Quiz Donovan Comes, Singing Songs of Love

Answer: Season of the Witch

From the "Sunshine Superman" album, probably written in collaboration with Shawn Phillips, this song highlights a different aspect of the counterculture - paranoia and unease. In an interview many years later with "Mojo" magazine, Donovan says "There was a feeling, even then, that all was not perfect in the Garden of Eden. Dealers were moving into bohemia and hard drugs were on the fringes." His arrest for possession of marijuana came around this time, and by 1967 he was advising his fans against drug use.

21. What was the last song released by Donovan that made the Top 40 in either the United Kingdom or the United States?

From Quiz Donovan: They Call Him Mellow Yellow

Answer: Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)

Also known as "Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)", the song "Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)" peaked at number twelve on the UK Singles Charts and at #36 on the US Billboard Charts. Along with the songs "Trudi" and "Stromberg Twins", popular English rock band The Jeff Beck Group provided the instrumental backing for the song.

22. And finally, which Donovan created character is missing from these lyrics? "_____ came down from Birmingham very hastily, and from Borstal he had ran. He made it down to Torquay. Good boy _____?"

From Quiz Donovan Lyrics

Answer: Mad John

This song can be found on Donovan's "Wear Your Love Like Heaven" album.

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Last Updated Oct 25 2025 5:53 AM
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