My iPod is Syncing these Titanic Songs (Part 2) Quiz

Answer: Alexander's Ragtime Band

All of those are Irving Berlin songs, but the only one used in the movie is "Alexander's Ragtime Band". The ship's band is playing the song as we hear it in the background during the festivities. The movie production used the music of a chamber music ensemble called I Salonisti. They portrayed the band in the film, and also played the music that was used in the soundtrack. The quintet formed in 1981 and the members are Piotr Plawner, violin; André Thomet, piano; Béla Szedlák, bass; Ferenc Szedlák, cello; and Lorenz Hasler, violin.

Answer: "Be British" by Ernest Gray

The only song and artist among those that are real are "Be British" and Ernest Gray. The song was actually written by Laurence Wright and Paul Pelham, and Ernest Gray was the first to record and perform it. The song honored the courage of those that upheld the policy of "women and children first" when loading the lifeboats as the Titanic was sinking. "Be British" was inspired by the bravery and resilience of those passengers, and Mr. Gray hoped to encourage the British people to take pride in their national spirit, as he sang in a style described as "stolid".

"Be British! Be British! Be British!
And shout it out loud
For the world is a better place when you're feeling proud."

The song was recorded on a 78 RPM shellac disc, under the Edison Bell Winner label, as part of a fund-raising effort to assist the victim's families.

Answer: "The Sinking of the Titanic" and "It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down"

"The Sinking" and "Godspeed Titanic" are from the 1997 Broadway musical "Titanic." "Famous Last Words" by Chemical Romance is a 2007 song about a fictitious sinking ship. "The Bonnie Ship the Diamond" (not Titanic) is a 1956 song by The Whiskeyhill Singers. "Sinking in an Ocean of Tears" is a 1976 song by Stephen Bishop. "Ladies of the Titanic" is not a song but a 2011 book by several authors, all writing about various real women tied to the story of the ship.

"The Sinking of the Titanic" was released as a single by tenor Vernon Dalhart accompanied by guitar and harmonica in 1925. Dalhart recorded "It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down" under various titles, including "The Sinking of the Titanic," but with slightly different lyrics. Some of Dalhart's other disaster-themed songs include the train disaster song "The Wreck of the Old 97", "West Virginia Mine Disaster", "The Mississippi Flood," and "Sinking of the Submarine S-51".

Answer: Falco

With lyrics in German, the Austrian musician Falco's 1992 "Titanic" song has a new wave electronica Synthpop style, a much different genre than most songs about the Titanic. The subject matter was also unusual for a Titanic song, focusing on the decadence and mystery aboard the ship. The song was written by Rob Bolland, Ferdi Bolland, with lyrics by Falco, on his album, "Nachtflug."

The song's, "Sieht man um sich, was passiert, Wohin es geht oder auch nicht, Hilft nur eines Schampus Kaviar, Noblesse im Gesicht. Let's deca-dance in jedem Fall Die Smokingträger überall - Denn nobel geht die Welt zugrund' Ob dieser oder jener Stund."

translates to

"Looking around at what is happening,
Where it is going or not,
Only one thing helps:
Champagne, caviar, nobility on the face.
Let's deca-dance in any case,
The tuxedo wearers everywhere -
For the world goes to ruin nobly,
Whether this hour or that hour."

Answer: Dance Band On The Titanic

Harry Chapin, master storyteller in song, wrote "Dance Band On The Titanic" capturing the scene that many remember from the movie:

"The dance band on the Titanic
Played on till the ship went down
They kept on playing as the water rushed in
hey were playing when the ship went down."

It was his seventh studio album which was a double album on vinyl, and featured a host of other singers and musicians including his own brother Tom Chapin and the legendary drummer Steve Gadd. Hitting close to home, The Times of London voted it Album of the Year in 1977.

Answer: That rich folks had Cadillacs

The satiric song is on Mr. Brockett's 1969 album "Remember the Wind and the Rain." It's amusing enough that he calls the ship the USS Titanic, when it was not a United States ship at all but rather, was a British ship of the White Star line, and was properly called the RMS Titanic.

In the lyrics Jaime Brockett mentions

"They're jumpin' up n' down
They're laughin'.
They're drinkin' booze.
They're tradin' wives n' Cadillacs n' diamonds..."

and indeed there were Cadillacs back in 1912 as the company was founded in 1902, so that's not an anachronism.

But the year is mentioned as being 1913 a few times ("He said "ticket on the next flight out?!? This is nineteen hundred n' thirteen), and of course that's wrong, as the Titanic sunk on April 15, 1912.

The lyrics also mention: "He says "well I got me two changes of BVDs. I got me my guitar. I got me my address book, a... pair of socks, 4 masked marvel comic books, a tennis racquet and four hundred n' ninety-seven n' a half feet o' rope." But Marvel Comics weren't founded until 1939.

The lyrics also include: "... here she is folks - the USS Titanic! She's lined up beside two hundred n' fifty parkin' meters n' the Captain's gettin' done ready to split 'cause he run outta dimes." But parking meters didn't exist until 1935.

Answer: Brian Eno

Brian Eno is a producer, composer, and musician who helped pioneer the ambient music genre; the other three producers were more closely associated with folk music. Mr. Bryars began composing the song in 1969 for that art exhibition, but continued working on it for three more years into 1972. The melancholy sounding piece features orchestral strings along with ambient elements, and is his most famous work, and was first recorded in 1975, produced by Brian Eno and released under his label, Obscure Records.

Answer: John Jacob Astor

Austrian composer Gustav Mahler, American board game developer Milton Bradley, and journalist/publisher Joseph Pulitzer were not passengers aboard the Titanic, as they had each passed away the year before, in 1911.

Written for piano and vocals, there are five verses and a chorus, one of the verses covering the sinking:

"When the stormy winds are blowing
Where the strife for life did rage
Where their friends were they were going
But the Iceberg made their grave
Where the ship was doomed and sinking"

And other verses cite the heroic actions of John Jacob Astor:

"There was John Jacob Astor,
What a brave man was he
When he tried to save all female sex,
The young and all, great and small.
Then got drowned in the sea."

Mr. Lynch does mention Captain Smith and claims in lyric that he was trying to break a speed record:

"Commander's name was Captain Smith
A Seaman bold was he
Though he tried to break all record
Where she now lies in the sea."

Answer: The Carpathia

All of those are rescue ships that came to the aid of various sinking ships in the 20th century, but it was The Carpathia that was first on the scene of the Titanic disaster.

"It was early Monday morning, just about the break of day
Captain Smith called for help from the Carpathia,
and it was many miles away."

Richard "Rabbit" Brown, an American blues musician recorded the song on March 11, 1927, as part of a session that included six other songs for Victor Records. Mr. Rabbit accompanied his folk/blues singing style with his guitar playing as he sang his story-telling tune.

"The Carpathia received the wireless: "S.O.S. In distress
Come at once, we are sinking. Make no delay and do your best."

Answer: Come Josephine in My Flying Machine

First published in 1910, "Come Josephine In My Flying Machine" was written by Fred Fisher (music), and Alfred Bryan (lyrics).

During that scene, Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) gently croons "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine" into Rose's (Kate Winslet) ear as he holds onto her when they stand together on the front of the Titanic looking out into the sea. It is just before they kiss for the first time. There was another scene where Jack and Rose sang that song, but it was deleted from the movie. It was during the party scene they attended in the third-class section of the ship.

However, near the end of the film, the song would be sung again, this time by Rose who is floating on the door in the freezing water. She sings bits of the song softly as she awaits rescue.