You Must Remember This... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Breakfast at Tiffanys

'Moon River' was composed by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini in 1961 and was performed by Audrey Hepburn (Holly Golightly) in 'Breakfast at Tiffanys'. Audrey wasn't a singer and so the song was written specifically for her, in a range she could manage.

However (as later reported by Henry Mancini) the head of production at Paramount Pictures at the time, Martin Rankin, watched a preview of the film and announced they needed to remove the song as it wasn't working. The normally placid Hepburn apparently firmly told the producer that she would remove it 'over her dead body'. Audrey got her way, and in the movie she famously pulls out a guitar, sits down on her fire escape, and softly sings the melodic strains of 'Moon River.'

The writers won the Academy Award in 1961 for Best Song, and in 1962 the song won the Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Here are some lyrics:
'Moon river, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style some day
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way'

Answer: The Sound of Music

If you remember, the song 'Edelweiss' was sung in the 1965 movie 'The Sound of Music' by Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer). He sang it as a goodbye to his beloved homeland of Austria and used the national flower of the country as a symbol of his loyalty.

Many people think that this song is either the Austrian national anthem or a folk song from Austria, but in fact it was composed for the 1959 Broadway production of 'The Sound of Music' by Rodgers and Hammerstein. It was both one of the last additions to the musical and also the last song that Hammerstein ever wrote. He was suffering from stomach cancer when he wrote it and sadly died nine months after the Broadway musical opened, and five years before the film 'The Sound of Music' was made.

Here are some lyrics:
'Edelweiss, Edelweiss/
Every morning you greet me/
Small and white, clean and bright/
You look happy to meet me/
Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow/
Bloom and grow forever/
Edelweiss, Edelweiss/
Bless my homeland forever.'

Answer: Flashdance

Rather interestingly, the idea for the original song 'Maniac' came to one of its writers - Dennis Matkosky - while he was watching a news report about a serial killer. He and the other writer and vocalist, Michael Sembello, wrote some rather gruesome lyrics to the song as a result of this. However, when 'Flashdance' director, Adrian Lyne, began to grow attached to a demo of the song he'd been given, his music supervisor, Phil Ramone, stepped in, saying more appropriate lyrics had to be used. He cited that after all, 'Flashdance' was about a passionate dancer, not a deranged killer. (This seemed reasonable since some of the original lyrics were: He's a maniac, maniac that's for sure/ He will kill your cat and nail him to the door'!)

Ramone then worked with Sembello to produce the revised track. It is Michael Sembello you can hear singing 'Maniac' in the 1983 move 'Flashdance'. (Just as an aside, you might not be aware of this because it was apparently a well-kept secret, but the dance scenes in the movie were performed by a body-double called Marine Jahan. Jennifer Beals reportedly did not dance in the film.)

Here are some lyrics (in the film version):
'It can cut you like a knife, if the gift becomes the fire/
On a wire between will and what will be/
She's a maniac, maniac on the floor/
And she's dancing like she's never danced before.'

Answer: Casablanca

'As Time Goes By' was not specifically written for the movie 'Casablanca', instead it was a jazz song written by an American songwriter, Herman Hupfeld, in 1931. It did however gain most of its fame when it was featured in the Warner Bros. film 'Casablanca' which was released in 1942. (If you remember it is sung by piano-player Sam [Dooley Wilson] in a gin-joint in the movie).

The song was voted number two on the AFI's '100 Years, 100 Songs' special, which was released in 2004 and commemorated the best songs in film over the previous 100 years. You might also have noticed that the song has been used as the signature tune of Warner Bros. since 1998. It often features on the production logos at the beginning of Warner Bros. films.

Here are some lyrics:
'You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by. '

Answer: Ghost

Many people think of The Righteous Brothers when think of they 'Unchained Melody,' which is completely fair, being as their 1965 version was used in the 1990 movie 'Ghost', starring Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg. (Not many who saw the movie will forget the infamous pottery-wheel scene, which is where we hear 'Unchained Melody').

However, 'Unchained Melody' was written by Alex North and Hy Zaret for a 1955 movie named 'Unchained,' which starred a former football player by the name of Elroy 'Crazy Legs' Hirsch. The movie took place in a prison and the song, which was sung in the movie by Todd Duncan, an American baritone opera singer, was written to reflect the mood of the prisoners as they waited for time to slowly pass by.

Incidentally, Elvis Presley sang this song a couple of months before his death, and apparently gave a fantastic rendition of the song. Many said it was the last great moment of Elvis' career.

Let's have some lyrics:
'Woah, my love, my darling/
I've hungered for your touch/
A long, lonely time/
And time goes by so slowly/
And time can do so much/
Are you still mine?'

Answer: The Graduate

'Mrs. Robinson' is a song written by Simon and Garfunkel for the 1967 film, 'The Graduate', starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. The story behind the song is that director, Mike Nichols, apparently became somewhat obsessed with Simon and Garfunkel's music prior to making 'The Graduate'. After two weeks of listening to their music non-stop, he approached Columbia Records, basically to ask them if Simon and Garfunkel could make a piece of music for his next film.

They agreed, and after the song-writing duo presented a couple of pieces that Nichols rejected, Simon and Garfunkel presented a song they had been working on called 'Mrs Roosevelt.' (This was a shout-out apparently to Eleanor Roosevelt who was well known as being an activist at the time). The song was, according to the duo, though, 'A trifle song we were about to throw out.' Nichols immediately loved it, and it was subsequently finished and retitled 'Mrs Robinson'. The song was released as a single in 1968 and went on to gain two Grammy Awards in 1969.

Incidentally in the late 60s, 'Mrs. Robinson' became a term people used to describe an older woman pursuing someone younger - similar to a modern-day 'cougar'.

Lets have some lyrics:
'And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson/
Jesus loves you more than you will know/
Whoa, whoa, whoa/
God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson/
Heaven holds a place for those who pray/
Hey, hey, hey/
Hey, hey, hey'.

Answer: Beaches

Well, if there's ever a sob-song, this is it! 'Wind Beneath My Wings' famously features in the 1988 movie 'Beaches'. The song was written by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley in 1982. Amazingly, it apparently took the pair a full year to find anyone who wanted to record it. Finally Roger Whittaker took it on and then several artists followed his lead, including Sheena Easton, Lou Rawls, Lee Greenwood and Gladys Knight and the Pips.

Then, in 1988, along came the movie 'Beaches' and with it a dramatic scene towards the end of the film where Bette Midler (the main character) sings 'Wind Beneath My Wings' while her friend, Hillary (played by Barbara Hershey) heartbreakingly dies. After this, it became one of the most performed songs of all time. In 1990, the song won both the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, and for Song of the Year. Not overly surprisingly, it is big favourite at funerals in English-speaking countries.

Let's have a look at some of the lyrics:
'It must have been cold there in my shadow/
To never have sunlight on your face/
You were content to let me shine, that's your way/
You always walked a step behind/
So I was the one with all the glory/
While you were the one with all the strength/
A beautiful face without a name for so long/
A beautiful smile to hide the pain.'

Answer: M*A*S*H

'Suicide is Painless' was actually written for 'M*A*S*H' and featured in both the 1970 movie and the 1972-1983 TV series. The film starred Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Robert Altman, Gary Burghoff, Robert Duvall, Tom Skerritt and Sally Kellerman (Hot Lips Hoolihan).

The music for the song was written by Johnny Mandel, while Michael Altman wrote the lyrics (sort of - please read on). The director of the movie apparently had two stipulations for the writing of the song. The first was that it had to be called 'Suicide is Painless' and the second was it had to be (quote) 'the stupidest song ever written'. The then-45-year old Michael Altman didn't believe he could write anything 'stupid enough', so he gave it to his 15 year old son, who apparently wrote the lyrics in some five minutes.

In the film, the song is performed by the characters and the title sequence is sung by The Ron Hicklin Singers. An instrumental version was made for the TV series which plays over the opening and closing credits. The TV series starred Alan Alda, Gary Burghoff, Loretta Swit, Mike Farrell and Jamie Farr, among others.

Here are some of the (stupid?) lyrics:
'Through early morning fog I see/
Visions of the things to be/
The pains that are withheld for me/
I realize and I can see/
That suicide is painless/
It brings on many changes/
And I can take or leave it/
If I please.'

Answer: 8 Mile

The lyrics to 'Lose Yourself' were written by American rapper Eminem (Marshall Mathers) for the 2002 film, '8 Mile'. The song was also composed and produced by Eminem along with longtime collaborator, Jeff Bass. The lyrics essentially sum up the background of B-Rabbit - Eminem's character in the movie. (In fact, the first verse of the song pretty much sums up a lot of the plot of the movie).

The single was released in October 2002. 'Lose Yourself' was extremely successful, and in fact, was the first song of Eminem's that made it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. It stayed there for 12 weeks straight. It also topped the charts in over 20 other countries including the UK, Australia and most of Europe. The song went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2003 - an impressive feat in that it was the first hip-hop song ever to receive the award. And finally, it was the most streamed piece of music on Spotify in the 2000s.

Let's look at some of the lyrics:
'His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy/
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti/
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready/
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgettin'/
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud/
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out/
He's chokin', how, everybody's jokin' now/
The clocks run out, times up, over, blaow/
Snap back to reality, ope there goes gravity.'

Answer: The Spy Who Loved Me

'Nobody Does It Better' was made specifically for the 1977 movie 'The Spy Who Loved Me' and was the first Bond song since 'Dr No' that didn't match the title of the film. (Although the lyrics do mention the film's title.)

The music was composed by American Marvin Hamlisch, while the lyrics were by American lyricist, Carole Bayer Sager. The song was sung by Carly Simon (of 'You're So Vain' fame). She was apparently asked to sing the song because the lyricist, Carole Sager, thought the the lyrics to 'Nobody Does It Better' were 'incredibly vain', so Carly Simon would fit the bill nicely.

The song charted well and received several nominations for Grammys, Oscars and Golden Globes, but narrowly missed out on winning any. However, in 2021, 'USA Today' voted 'Nobody Does it Better' as the greatest of the James Bond Theme Songs, while Thom Yorke of Radiohead called it the 'sexiest song ever written'.

Let's have a look at some lyrics:
'Nobody does it better/
Makes me feel sad for the rest/
Nobody does it half as good as you/
Baby, you're the best/
I wasn't lookin' but somehow you found me/
I tried to hide from your love light/
But like heaven above me/
The spy who loved me/
Is keepin' all my secrets safe tonight.'