A Criminal Mixture in Song Trivia Quiz

Answer: Grafitti

In 1994, the American underground hip hop group The Artifacts released their debut album "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" that peaked at number 17 on the R&B/Hip Hop chart.

One of the two main singles from the album, "Wrong Side of Da Tracks" (the other one being "C'mon wit da Git Down" is a tale of growing up in a poor neighbourhood and its contribution to "tagging" and committing other minor crimes. Powerful lyrics such as "The Artifacts are from the wrong, side of da tracks" and "I load my backpack with spray paint, Girbaud couldn't spark the tagging up a train I catch the pound take a trip" outline this life of crime. Other lyrics show no empathy for committing these crimes; "I have no remorse, so check me out in The Source".

Sadly, in 2019, group member DJ Kaos died from unspecified causes and in 2022, group member Tame One died of heart failure (following the release of their third and final album "No Expiration Date").

Answer: 5 years old

Founded in 1985, Jane's Addiction played a heavy influence on the alternative rock movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their 1990 track "Been Caught Stealing" peaked at the number one spot on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and went to number 29 on the US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

The music video for the song was a tongue-in-cheek humor video that depicted a variety of people shoplifting at a local grocery store. The lyrics tell a short story of a petty criminal whose journey into the world of crime began when he was just five years old;

"I've been caught stealing, once when I was 5. I enjoy stealing". Other thieves (specifically his girlfriend) also partake in the crimes;

"My girl, she's one too, she'll go and get her a shirt, stick it under her skirt".

It is a truly humorous delve into the realms of a bohemian lifestyle as demonstrated by the lines:

"When we want something, we don't want to pay for it. We walk right through the door".

Answer: The Thunder Rolls

"The Thunder Rolls" was the fourth and final single from the Garth Brooks album "No Fences". Popular in North America, the song reached the number one spot on the Canadian Country Tracks charts as well as on Billboard's US Hot Country Songs charts for the week of May 18, 1991. Originally written in 1988 by Tanya Tucker, it was never officially recorded on an album until the "No Fences" release.

The song, along with its music video, was a powerful recording designed to discourage adultery as it could lead to serious consequences in the long run. The lyrics depict the worry that a wife has about her husband as he is late coming home in a dark, dreary, and dangerous rain storm;

"She's pacin' by the telephone
In her faded flannel gown
Askin' for a miracle
Hopin' she's not right
Prayin' it's the weather
That's kept him out all night"

When her husband arrives home, she is thankful that he's still alive, but she then realizes that he's been out having an affair with another woman:

"When he pulls into the drive
She rushes out to hold him
Thankful he's alive
But on the wind and rain
A strange new perfume blows
And the lightnin' flashes in her eyes"

The music video for the song takes a further angle on the subject and puts into perspective how domestic violence and adultery can lead to retaliation. Causing controversy, the video depicts a distraught wife, the victim of domestic abuse, shoot and kill her husband during the fourth verse of the song.

The video was banned on both The Nashville Network (TNN) as well as Country Music Television (CMT). Six days after the banning, Video Hits One (VH-1) began to air the music video. Not all had been lost however, as the video was praised by many women's shelters across North America, some even contacting Capitol Records, thanking them for raising awareness on the subject of domestic violence.

Answer: Private Dancer

While the act of prostitution has been around for Centuries, it continues to be illegal in many parts of the world today. "Private Dancer" was one of three songs from the 1983 album of the same name to hit the Top Ten on the US Billboard charts (the other two being "What's Love Got To Do With It" which peaked at number one and "Better Be Good to Me" which peaked at number five). The lyrics describe the profession as one in which faces go unseen and that money is the objective:

"Well, the men come in these places
And the men are all the same
You don't look at their faces
And you don't ask their names
You don't think of them as human
You don't think of them at all
You keep your mind on the money
Keeping your eyes on the wall"

As the song progresses, it suggests that the goal isn't so sinister, but rather a means to an end in starting a new life and family:

"I wanna make a million dollars
I wanna live out by the sea
Have a husband and some children
Yeah, I guess I want a family"

Answer: Driving while under the influence

Primus was one of many bands to push music limits within the Alternative music scene of the 1990s. Their 1991 album "Sailing the Seas of Cheese" touched on a variety of social issues that included drug abuse in the song "Those Damned Blue-Collared Tweakers", military training and war in the song "Sgt. Baker" and drinking and driving in the song "Jerry Was a Racecar Driver". The unique bass line riffs that Les Claypool performs add to the powerful meaning of the song. The album itself met with mainly positive reviews and has since gone Platinum in the United States.

The final lines of the song bring up the tragedy that is often the final consequence of drinking and driving. The key use of the word "was" suggests that Jerry succumbed to his injuries in the crash:

"Jerry was a race car driver
Twenty-two years old
One too many cold beers one night
Wrapped himself around a telephone pole, go!"

Answer: Breaking The Law

Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law" from their famous 1980 album "British Steel" peaked at the number 12 spot on the UK Singles Chart that same year. In a September 2021 PopMatters article by Adrien Begrand, it has been suggested that "Breaking the Law" has one of the most famous opening riffs in music history.

While the track does not go into the details of the crimes themselves, the lyrics correlate the relationship between a person that is down on their luck and turning to illegal activity. With no future in sight, they turn to a life of crime:

"There I was completely wasting, out of work and down
All inside, it's so frustrating as I drift from town to town
Feel as though nobody cares if I live or die
So I might as well begin to put some action in my life

Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law

So much for the golden future, I can't even start
I've had every promise broken, there's anger in my heart
You don't know what it's like, you don't have a clue
If you did, you'd find yourselves doing the same thing too"

Answer: Children of the NIght

Peaking at number 13 on the US Billboard Chart in 1990, "Children of the Night" was one of five singles from Richard Marx's "Repeat Offender" album to hit the US Top 40 (the others being "Satisfied", "Right Here Waiting", "Angelia", and "Too Late to Say Goodbye"). According to a 2018 interview with SongFacts, Marx stated that it was written in support of Los Angeles organization "Children of the Night", that work with child and teenage runaways living on the streets.

Specific lyrics outline the story of why a teen left their father:

"Left by my father with only this scar on my face
Told by my mother that no, you were just a mistake
I have tasted my own hunger
Sold my body to survive
So they'll pay to scratch the surface
But they can't touch what's inside"

Marx takes an optimistic approach throughout the song by portraying the youth as having a positive future ahead of them:

"We are the children of the night
We won't go down without a fight
Our voices strong, our futures bright
And thanks to what we've learned from you
We've grown into the children of the night"

Answer: cannibalism

"Timothy", "Knives Out", and "Mein Teil" are all songs outlining various scenarios about cannibalism. All of these songs met with controversy due to their strong subject matter and in some cases, they were even outright banned from radio.

The 1970 single "Timothy" by The Buoys, for example, became banned on many US radio stations as it became more popular because listeners began to take note of its unsettling content. The band itself thought the ban would be the "kiss of death", however, the song peaked in the Top 20 at number 17 on the Billboard Charts. The following lyrics, for example, brought this to the forefront:

"Hungry as hell no food to eat
And Joe said that he would sell his soul
For just a piece of meat
Water enough to drink for two
And Joe said to me, "I'll have a swig
And then there's some for you."

Answer: "Molly (16 Candles Down the Drain)" by Sponge

While the term "Molly" is often used as a slang word for the drug Ecstasy/MDMA, that in fact was not the subject matter of the 1995 Sponge song "Molly (16 Candles Down the Drain)". In fact, the song is also not about the 1984 film "16 Candles" starring Molly Ringwald either. Rather, the song is about a girl who fell in love with her teacher, only to be rejected by him sometime around her 16th birthday. One of three singles from the album "Rotting Pinata", it peaked at number three on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Answer: Janie's Got a Gun

Peaking at number four on the US Billboard Charts, it won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with a Vocal in 1990. Twenty five years after its release, in 2015, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith started a charity called "Janie's Fund" which has been used to provide counseling, trauma care, medical care, and housing for troubled young women. Was the song about murder? Or a tale of self defense? The lyrics have always questioned this angle:

"What did her daddy do?
What did he put you through?
They said when Janie was arrested
They found him underneath a train
But man, he had it comin', now that Janie's got a gun
She ain't never gonna be the same"