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80s Behind the Lyrics VI Trivia Quiz

Behind the Music? No, it's Behind the Lyrics where you learn about the words, names, and phrases that song writers slip into the lyrics. See what you really know about your favorite 80's songs.

A multiple-choice quiz by umpire63. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
umpire63

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
136,731

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
1386

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Sting loves the mythical and metaphysical (if you took my BtL V quiz, you would know that!). In "Wrapped Around Your Finger," the Police sing, "Mephistopheles is not your name/ But I know what you're up to just the same." Mephistopheles is another name for Satan (though some say he is one of Satan's demons). Who wrote the quintessential play about Mephistopheles? Hint

Johann Goethe

Alexander Dumas

William Shakespeare

Victor Hugo

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Question 2 of 10

2. Frank Zappa spoofed California living in the 80's with his hit "Valley Girl," but who played the male lead in the 1983 movie of the same name? Hint

Simon LeBon

Andrew McCarthy

Nicolas Cage

Sean Penn

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Question 3 of 10

3. Bananarama sings, "Goddess on the mountaintop/ Burning like a silver flame/ The summit of beauty and love/ And Venus was her name." Well, Venus was her Roman name, but what was her Greek name? Hint

Artemis

Aphrodite

Hera

Thetis

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Question 4 of 10

4. The Church sang, "I got no time for private consultation/Under the Milky Way tonight." Yet if they were to consult an astronomer, they would know that the galaxy nearest the Milky Way is ____________________. Hint

Large Magellanic Cloud

Andromeda

Small Magellanic Cloud

Sagittarius Dwarf

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Question 5 of 10

5. Eddie Money (the former policeman turned rocker) sings, "Take me home tonight/ Listen honey/ Just like Ronnie says/ Be my little baby." Who is Ronnie's famous ex-husband? Hint

Phil Spector

Mick Jagger

Eddie Money

She doesn't have an ex-husband

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Question 6 of 10

6. The Clash mentions a country song in their "Train in Vain." Who sang the country classic alluded to in the lyrics, "Say you stand by your man/ Tell me something I don't understand/ You said you love me and that's a fact/ Then you left me, said you felt trapped." Hint

Patsy Cline

Tanya Tucker

Loretta Lynn

Tammy Wynette

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Question 7 of 10

7. John Parr rode the coattails of the Brat Pack and had a hit with "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" from the movie of the same name. "Gonna be your man in motion, all I need is a pair of wheels/ Take me where my future's lyin', St. Elmo's Fire." Of whom is St. Elmo the patron saint?
Hint

Soldiers

Blacksmiths

Scientists

Sailors

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Question 8 of 10

8. John Lennon, the master of allusion, sang in a 1982 hit, "Everybody's runnin' and no one makes a move/ Everyone's a winner and nothing left to lose/ There's a little yellow idol to the north of Katmandu." Who wrote the poem about the little yellow idol? Hint

Robert Browning

Robert Frost

J. Milton Hayes

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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Question 9 of 10

9. Bob Seger's "Shame on the Moon" contains the lyrics, "But once inside a woman's heart/ A man must keep his head/ Heaven opens up the door/ Where angels fear to tread." Who wrote the original line about angels fearing to tread? Hint

Christopher Marlowe

William Shakespeare

Alexander Pope

Ben Jonson

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Question 10 of 10

10. The Clash sings, "Esta undecision me molesta/ Si no me quieres, librame." Of course, that's not in English. What do these lines mean in The Clash's native tongue? Hint

Well come on and let me know/ Should I stay or should I go

This indecision's bugging me/ If you don't want me, set me free

Shahin don't like it/ Rock the Casbah

By chance or escaping from misery/ By suddeness or in answer to pain

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Johann Goethe

Goethe wrote "Faust" in which the good Dr. Faustus trades his soul for magical knowledge. In the end, Dr. Faustus learns that all knowledge and power cannot gain happiness, but inexplicably, Goethe has the angels distract Meohistopheles, and they carry him to heaven.

2. Frank Zappa spoofed California living in the 80's with his hit "Valley Girl," but who played the male lead in the 1983 movie of the same name?

Answer: Nicolas Cage

In his first starring role, Cage played a punker who falls in love with a rich valley girl. "It's like GRODY.../ GRODY TO THE MAX/ I'm sure/It's like totally nauseating." If you watch the flick, check out Cage's chest hair; it's shaved into a triangle. Talk about Grody! Fer sure!

3. Bananarama sings, "Goddess on the mountaintop/ Burning like a silver flame/ The summit of beauty and love/ And Venus was her name." Well, Venus was her Roman name, but what was her Greek name?

Answer: Aphrodite

Aphrodite was the goddess of love in Greek mythology. She was married Hephaestus, the blacksmith of the gods and the ugliest among the Olympians. Hera was Zeus's jealous wife. Thetis is the mother of Achilles. Artemis is goddess of the moon and the hunt.

Answer: Sagittarius Dwarf

Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy and is very like our own, but Sagittarius Dwarf--discovered in 1994--is much closer. So is the Large Magellanic Cloud for that matter.

5. Eddie Money (the former policeman turned rocker) sings, "Take me home tonight/ Listen honey/ Just like Ronnie says/ Be my little baby." Who is Ronnie's famous ex-husband?

Answer: Phil Spector

Ronnie Spector--who was married to recording genius Phil Spector--sang backup on Money's single "Take Me Home Tonight." She was a huge success with the Ronettes before she married Spector. Phil Spector was a member of the Teddy Bears before he became a record producer.

He is credited with inventing the "Wall of Sound" technique that built sounds to a crescendo, and he was a millionaire at the age of 21.

Answer: Tammy Wynette

"Stand By Your Man" by Tammy Wynette was voted the Top Country Song of all time by Country Music Television (CMT). "Give him two arms to cling to."

Answer: Sailors

St. Elmo (originally St. Erasmus) was the patron saint of sailors. Saint Elmo's fire is a glowing electrical phenomenon that often surrounds sailing masts. When sailors saw the blue electrical light, they believed it was a sign of Elmo's protection, hence the name.

Answer: J. Milton Hayes

Hayes wrote the poem "The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God" in 1911, and it was very popular at the time. The first stanza reads, "There's a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Katmandu,/ There's a little marble cross below the town;/ There's a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew,/ And the Yellow God forever gazes down." This poem is also the inspiration for the old video game Dizzy (Spectrum).

Answer: Alexander Pope

"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." From Pope's "Essay on Criticism," first published in 1711. The phrase has been used millions of times since. Pope should be raking in huge royalties!

10. The Clash sings, "Esta undecision me molesta/ Si no me quieres, librame." Of course, that's not in English. What do these lines mean in The Clash's native tongue?

Answer: This indecision's bugging me/ If you don't want me, set me free

From "Should I Stay or Should I Go." Actually, they sing the line in English then repeat it in Spanish. Great song from the great album "Combat Rock" (1982).

Source: Author umpire63

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ltc717 before going online.
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