Byrd Songs Trivia Quiz

Answer: be wandering

"Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship,
My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip,
My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels
To be wanderin'.
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way,
I promise to go under it.

(chorus)

Though you might hear laughin', spinnin', swingin' madly across the sun,
It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escapin' on the run
And but for the sky there are no fences facin'.
And if you hear vague traces of skippin' reels of rhyme
To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind,
I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're
Seein' that he's chasing.

(chorus)

Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind,
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow.
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,
Let me forget about today until tomorrow.

(chorus)"

Recorded in January 1965 and released the following June, "Mr Tambourine Man" shook the foundations of music and ushered in the era of folk rock.

Answer: black limousines

"Eight miles high and when you touch down
You'll find that it's stranger than known
Signs in the street that say where you're going
Are somewhere just being their own

Nowhere is there warmth to be found
Among those afraid of losing their ground
Rain gray town known for it's sound
In places small faces unbound

Round the squares huddled in storms
Some laughing some just shapeless forms
Sidewalk scenes and black limousines
Some living some standing alone"

Recorded on 22 December 1965, this song heralded the psychedelic scene; many thought it was about drug use, but it (apparently - see wikipedia!) is about a tour of England and the flight there.

Answer: The Bible

"To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to build up,a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late"

Always contemporary, the lyrics come from Ecclesiastes 3:

3.1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
3.2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3.3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
3.4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
and so forth... the words are timeless

Goethe was one of many authors, composers, poets, filmmakers and others over several centuries to tell the story of Faust, who sold his soul to the Devil.

Dante's Divine Comedy is the depiction of the protagonist's travels through the three realms of the dead, hell (inferno), purgatory and paradise.

Thomas Gray is a much underappreciated poet whose "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" is a classic.

Answer: electric guitar

"So you want to be a rock 'n' roll star?
Then listen now to what I say
Just get an electric guitar
Then take some time
and learn how to play
And with your hair swung right
And your pants too tight
It's gonna be all right
Then it's time to go downtown
Where the agent man won't let you down
Sell your soul to the company
Who are waiting there to sell plastic ware
And in a week or two
If you make the charts
The girls'll tear you apart

The price you paid for your riches and fame
Was it all a strange game?
You're a little insane
The money, the fame, the public acclaim
Don't forget what you are
You're a rock 'n' roll star!"

The song was recorded on their "Younger Than Yesterday" album, released in 1967, and again on the "Untitled" album released in 1970.

Answer: rolling down the road

"If your memory serves you well
We were going to meet again and wait
So I'm going to unpack all my things
And sit before it gets too late
No man alive will comfort you
With another tale to tell
But you know that we shall meet again
If your memory serves you well
This wheel's on fire
Rolling down the road
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode

If your memory serves you well
I was going to confiscate your lace
and wrap it up in a sailor's knot
And hide it in your case
If I knew for sure that it was yours
But it was oh so hard to tell
But you knew that we would meet again
If your memory serves you well
This wheel's on fire
Rolling down the road
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode

If your memory serves you well
You'll remember you're the one
That called on them to call on him
To get your favors done
And after every plan had failed
And there was nothing more to tell
You knew that we would meet again
If your memory serves you well
This wheel's on fire
Rolling down the road
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode"

The first track on the "Dr Byrds and Mr Hyde" album was written by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko. This might seem heresy to most Byrds lovers, but an even better version was recorded by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity. (I just know I'm going to get a LOT of mail now!)

Answer: vagabond

"You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last.
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast.
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun,
Crying like a fire in the sun.
Look out the saints are comin' through
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense.
Take what you have gathered from coincidence.
The empty-handed painter from your street
Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets.
This sky, too, is folding under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home.
Your empty-handed armies, they are going home.
The lover who just walked out your door
Has taken all his blankets from the floor.
The carpet, too, is moving under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

Leave your stepping stones behind, there's something that calls for you.
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you.
The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore.
Strike another match, go start anew
And it's all over now, Baby Blue."

Bob Dylan recorded this song on his "Bringing It All Back Home" album, and the song has also been extensively covered.

Answer: stranger

"I am a pilgrim and a stranger
Travelling through this wearisome land
Ive got a home in that yonder city, good Lord
And its not, not made by hand

I've got a mother, sister and a brother
Who have gone this way before
I am determined to go and see them, good Lord
For they're on that other shore

I'm going down to the river of Jordan
Just to bathe my wearisome soul
If I can just touch the hem of His garment, good Lord
Then I know he'd take me home

I am a pilgrim and a stranger
Travelling through this wearisome land
Ive got a home in that yonder city, good Lord
And its not, not made by hand"

Like many groups of the time, The Byrds came up from the folk scene, where it was common for groups to sing traditional songs.

Answer: none - it's an instrumental

The track was released on the "Farther Along" album in 1971. The Byrds had rid themselves of Terry Melcher following the bad reviews of their prior album, Byrdmaniax, and produced this album themselves.

Answer: Ku Klux Klan

"He's a drug store truck drivin' man
He's a head of the ku klux klan
When summer rolls around
He'll be lucky if he's not in town

Well he's got him a house on the hill
He plays country records till you've had your fill
He's a fireman's friend, he's an all night dj
But he sure does think different from the records he plays

(chorus)

Well he don't like the young folks I know
He told me one night on his radio show
He's got him a medal he won in the war
Weighs five hundred pounds and sleeps on his floor

(chorus)

He's been like a father to me
He's the only dj you can hear after three
I'm an all night musician in a rock n roll band
And why he don't like me, I can't understand

(chorus)"

Released on the "Dr Byrds & Mr Hyde" album in 1969, this track was the "B" side for the single "Bad Night at the Whiskey".

Answer: your kin

"I ain't lookin' to compete with you
Beat or cheat or mistreat you
Simplify you, classify you
Deny, defy, or crucify you
All I really want to do
Is baby be friends with you

No, I ain't lookin' to fight with you
Frighten you or tighten you
Drag you down or drain you down
Chain you down or bring you down
All I really want to do
Is baby be friends with you

I don't want to fake you out
Take or shake or forsake you out
I ain't lookin for you to feel like me
See like me or be like me

I don't want to meet your kin
Make you spin or do you in
Or select you or dissect you
Or inspect you or reject you
All I really want to do
Is baby be friends with you"

From The Byrds' debut album, "Mr Tambourine Man", this cover of the Bob Dylan song was released as a single and just made the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.