Wordwise Songs Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Last Time

The asterisks around the final time the word Time is written means we need to look at it; it is THE LAST TIME.

Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, 'The Last Time' was their first (of many) original songs released as a single in the UK. It reached #1 on the UK Singles chart, as well as on a number of other European charts, but only made it to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: Yesterday

The asterisks on the Day mean we are looking to describe it. It is written before the word Today, so it is the day before today, or YESTERDAY.

Credited to Lennon-McCartney, 'Yesterday' was written by Paul McCartney, and released on the album 'Help!' in 1965 (in the UK - the US had a single release, followed by its inclusion in the album 'Yesterday and Today' in 1966). The lyrical ballad has had over 2000 cover versions - but my personal favorite is the Beatles', with Paul McCartney singing and playing guitar, backed by a string quartet.

Answer: Yesterday Once More

As explained previously, Day Today can be interpreted as Yesterday. It is repeated, with the asterisks directing attention to the second one, meaning that we have YESTERDAY ONCE MORE.

'Yesterday Once More' was released on the 1973 album 'Now & Then' by the Carpenters. Brother Richard, who was a co-author of the song, played multiple keyboard instruments as well as providing backing vocals. Sister Karen played drums and sang lead vocals. The song was released as a single which made it to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Adult Contemporary ('easy listening') chart.

Answer: American Pie

USA is shorthand for the United States of America, which is AMERICAN. The number 3.14 is a decimal approximation that is commonly used for the mathematical number whose exact value can only be shown by the Greek letter pi, which sounds like PIE - hence, AMERICAN PIE. Pi is used in calculations involving circulars and circular functions. For example, the distance around the outside of a circle, its circumference, is given by multiplying its diameter by pi.

Don McLean released 'American Pie' on the 1971 album of the same name, and endless discussions as to its meaning started. Reference to The Day the Music died was obviously about the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper in 1959, a landmark day for the development of rock and roll. Clearly a vision of things going wrong, its cryptic references to events and people are tantalizing, to say the least.

Answer: Time in a Bottle

2:37 is a specific TIME, and it is written inside the letters of the word BOTTLE, giving us TIME IN A BOTTLE. It should be noted that the article 'a', as with 'the', is often left out of a wordwise clue to avoid distracting from the important symbols.

Jim Croce wrote this song after learning that his wife was pregnant, and included it on his debut album 'You Don't Mess Around with Jim' in 1971. After his death in a plane crash, the song was released as a single in 1973, and became a posthumous #1 hit.

Answer: Get Back

The word GET has been written in reverse, or backwards, giving us GET BACK.

'Get Back' was written by Paul McCartney, credited to Lennon-McCartney, and released in 1969 as the only Beatles single to include the name of another artist at their request. Billy Preston played keyboards on the track. A different version (there were a lot of takes!) was the final track of the album 'Let it Be', and the song was performed as the last song of the Beatles' final live performance, on the rooftop of Apple Studios on 30 January 1969.

Answer: Seasons in the Sun

The word SEASONS is written between, or inside, the words THE and SUN, leading us to read this as SEASONS IN THE SUN.

The Belgian songwriter Jacques Brel wrote and recorded 'Le Moribond' ('The Dying Man') in 1961. In 1963 Rod McKuen provided an English translation of the song, which is a message from a dying man to his loved ones. Terry Jacks then rewrote the lyrics to change the song from one in which the man died bitter and alone to one in which he acknowledges good and bad aspects of his relationships, but has come to terms with his life.

Answer: Time After Time

The asterisks, as usual, direct our attention to the second Time; since it follows another Time, we have TIME AFTER TIME.

Cyndi Lauper co-wrote and recorded 'Time After Time' in 1983, achieving her first #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. The inspiration for the title was a 1979 movie of the same name, but that had nothing to do with the song, for which she and Rob Hyman drew on the parlous relationships in which they were involved at the time.

Answer: Georgia on My Mind

The word Georgia is written above, or on top of, the words My Mind, giving us GEORGIA ON MY MIND.

Hoagy Carmichael co-wrote and recorded 'Georgia on my Mind' in 1930, but when Georgia native Ray Charles included it on his 1960 album 'The Genius Hits the Road' it became firmly attached to his name. In 1979 his version was designated the official State Song of Georgia.

Answer: Downtown

The word TOWN has been written vertically, so to read it you have to read DOWN from top to bottom of the letters - that makes it DOWNTOWN. (If the letters had been written in reverse, we might have been able to go Uptown.)

'Downtown' was written by Tony Hatch while on a visit to New York City, inspired by the activity of Times Square. When Petula Clark recorded it in 1964, it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the second English female singer to do so, the first having been Vera Lynn in 1952. Not only did she record versions of the song in French, Spanish and Italian (countries where she had a big following and where she used material in the local language), but it has also been covered by many other performers. Not surprising, considering what a catchy, uplifting piece it is!