A slice of 'Country Life' Quiz | Music

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In the title song "Country Life", how did the narrator's brother lose two fingers?

Answer: Chainsaw bite

A reminder that life in the country is not all sweetness and light. But as Steve Knightley has been known to point out at concerts, it is only a song: he doesn't really have a brother with fingers missing from an unfortunate incident with a chainsaw.

2. Who claims to have to have sung a folk song once "but he never inhaled"?

Answer: Terry

Terry is the subject of the song 'Red Diesel'. Terry is an ambiguous character who "keeps all his records in his head and would rather be paid in cash or kind" and "in a uniform he's a hero, on the terraces he's scum". Red diesel in the UK is a low tax fuel intended to be used by the agricultural industry with an additive colouring it red to ease identification.

There is a song entitled 'Tommy' on the album, written by Kelly Joe Phelps (it is the only track on the album not written by or arranged by Steve Knightley). Steve and Phil are the forenames of the members of Show of Hands.

3. In "Be Lucky" the singer is given the secrets of success by a gypsy. But what is the singer advised to do if he wants to be king?

Answer: Be cruel

The advice given from the gypsy caravan, (and others during the song) include making friends or money, being smart or lucky, breaking the mould or the rules. I'm not convinced that this information is worth crossing a palm with silver to obtain.

4. The plot of the song "Suntrap" is of an emigrant who is finally fed up of endless sun and the 'same blue sky' and has decided it is time to go home. In particular, what is the singer surprised to find himself missing?

Answer: Autumn storms

"Never thought I'd long for Autumn storms." The singer admits he misses the same things that caused him to leave, and no longer knows why he did leave. So now, just like the 'Prodigal Son,' he's returning home.

5. The song "Hard Shoulder" tells of two people who have been friends since they were at school, writing songs and playing music together and then parting company. The narrator of this song hears about his former friend singing in pubs along the coast and goes to listen. What is his former 'partner in music' doing that upsets the narrator most?

Answer: Boy band covers

"Forget the stuff we wrote together. No compromise, you used to boast. But hearing you play all that boy band cover trash. Now that's what really hurts the most." The precise detail of the relationship between the dramatic personas in this song is not fully explained. What is clear is that they had a parting of the ways when the car broke down, ("We were an hour the wrong side of the Avon.

When the old van gave up the fight. Pulled your bags off the back seat. Left me there, walked into the night").

The song's narrator at this point is waiting on the 'hard shoulder' for assistance. The song ends with the singer inviting his friend back, offering him a 'hard shoulder' to lean on.

6. In the song "I Promise You" the singer promises many things, including 'blue skies', 'rolling moors', 'barefoot sunrise' and 'hope reborn'. The downside is that we must first put up with something else; what must we bear?

Answer: Winter

A song to interpret as you wish. The simplest interpretation is that the song is the promise of Spring, a rebirth at the turning of the year.

7. Which British hero is the subject and title of the song from which the lyrics, "Until from Plymouth Hoe the beating of my drum. From leaden slumber will summon me.", are taken?

Answer: Drake

"Drake's Drum" was the property of Sir Francis Drake. It hangs in Buckland Abbey in Devon. Before he died Sir Francis swore that if England was in need, and the drum was beaten, he would return to defend the country. It is also claimed that the drum has been heard to beat in times of war, including on HMS Royal Oak upon the surrender of the German fleet at the end of the first world war.

Other occasions when it is alleged to have been heard include the departure of the Mayflower and during the miracle of Dunkirk.

8. The title of the next song under consideration is an alliteration. The woman being sung about is asking, telling even, the singer to do something to make it easier for her to leave?

Answer: Smile

"Smile She Said" is the name of the song. At first the song is reminiscing about smiles in the couple's past, "In the faraway days before all the lies". Further into the song the woman is quoted as saying "It's so hard to leave when you're looking so sad", but by the end of the last verse the singer finds he can look back on the relationship and finally smile.

9. In a song that is traditional in origin, sailors are going back to sea having spent all their money. To whom are the sailors saying goodbye many times to?

Answer: Nancy

The song is called "Adieu, sweet lovely Nancy" which is also the first line. The second line is "Ten thousand times adieu" which is a lot of goodbyes. The other three names do all feature in recordings by Show of Hands. "Sally free and easy" was written by Cyril Tawney and is about a jilted sailor. "Mary from Dungloe" is another traditional song; both of these may be found on the album 'Cold Frontier' (and other places). "Lamorna Cove" is a track from the instrumental album 'The Path' which follows the 'South West Coastal Path', a long distance footpath in the southwest of England, with each tune being inspired by a place on the route.

10. The title song "Country Life" is about the realities of modern life in the countryside, as opposed to ideals seen through rose-tinted spectacles by those who pass through. What is described as "the final nail"?

Answer: Foot and Mouth

Although all of the options appear in the lyrics, "agri-barons, CAP in hand, strip our green and pleasant land", "And the red brick cottage where I was born is the empty shell of a holiday home. Most of the year there's no-one there. The village is dead and they don't care." The relevant part for this question is "If you want cheap food now here's the deal. Family farms are brought to heel. Hammer blows of size and scale. Foot and mouth the final nail." Some people seem to see the countryside as a museum, fixed and immutable, not as a way of life which is affected by the actions and decisions of others.

Source: Author paper_aero

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor CellarDoor before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

A slice of 'Country Life' Trivia Quiz

In 2003 the folk-rock duo Show of Hands released the album 'Country Life'. Take this quiz and let Show of Hands cut you a slice of country life.

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