Great Lyrics from Classic Songs Quiz

Answer: The Beatles

The song is 'A Day in the Life', which was the final track on The Beatles' classic 'Sergeant Pepper' album. It was ranked number 28 on 'Rolling Stone' magazine's list of the "Greatest Songs of All Time". The lyric in question was written by John Lennon as part of the final verse: "I heard the news today oh boy; Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire; And though the holes were rather small, They had to count them all; Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall..."

Answer: Robbie Williams

Remarkably, Robbie Williams' 1997 single "Angels" peaked at number four in the UK Singles Chart and reached only number 53 on the US Billboard Top 100. It was, though, voted as "the best song of the past 25 years" by the British public at the 2005 BRIT Awards.

It was co-written by Williams and Guy Chambers based on a partly written original song by the uncredited Irish songwriter Ray Heffernan. The chorus of the song begins "And through it all, she offers me protection; A lot of love and affection, whether I'm right or wrong..."

Answer: David Bowie

Released just days before the Apollo 11 launch and moon landing, David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' reached number five in the UK singles chart in 1969. It re-appeared as the opening track of Bowie's second album of the same name in 1972. Re-released as a single in 1973, it reached number 15 on the Billboard Chart and was thus Bowie's first US hit single. It later reached number one in the UK in November 1975.
The first verse is "This is Ground Control to Major Tom, you've really made the grade; And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear; Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare."

Answer: Queen

Written by Freddie Mercury, Queen's classic single 'Bohemian Rhapsody' first appeared as the penultimate track on the 1975 album 'A Night at the Opera'. It subsequently became the first song ever to reach the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart twice: it spent nine weeks at number one when first released in 1975, and returned for another five-week stint when it was re-released following Freddie Mercury's death in 1991.

It peaked at number two in the US Billboard 100 Chart in 1992 after it had featured in the film 'Wayne's World'. The third verse, just prior to the first big guitar solo, is: "Too late, my time has come; Sent shivers down my spine, body's achin' all the time. Goodbye everybody, I've got to go. Gotta leave you all be-hind and face the truth. Mama, oo -ooh, I don't want to die; I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all."

Answer: Don McLean

'American Pie' first appeared on folk-rock singer Don McLean's 1971 album of the same name. The single spent a month at number one on the US Billboard 100 chart in 1972, although it peaked at number two in the UK. The 1999 Madonna cover version of the song did, however, top the UK Singles Chart.
The third verse begins "Now for ten years, we've been on our own and moss grows fat on a rolling stone; But that's not how it used to be. 'Cause when the jester sang for the King and Queen, in a coat he borrowed from James Dean, and a voice that came from you and me..."

Answer: Joni Mitchell

This is the second verse of 'Big Yellow Taxi', which first appeared on Joni Mitchell's 1970 album 'Ladies of the Canyon'. The single reached the Top 20 in Canada, Australia and the UK, but peaked at number 67 in the US. When re-released as a live version in 1975, it made it into the Top 30 in the US.

The lyrics have been affected by inflation over the years -- in the 1995 Amy Grant cover version, the cost to the people had become "twenty-five bucks".

Answer: Simon & Garfunkel

Written by Paul Simon, 'America' first appeared on the 1968 Simon & Garfunkel album 'Bookends'. One of the few rock songs with blank verse lyrics, the song tells the story of two lovers 'looking for America' as they travel from Saginaw, Michigan to New York City.
The second verse is "Cathy, I said, as we boarded the Greyhound in Pittsburgh; Michigan seems like a dream to me now. It took me four days to hitch-hike from Saginaw. I've gone to look for Am-er-i-ca."

Answer: Pink Floyd

Written by Roger Waters, 'Brain Damage' was the penultimate track on Pink Floyd's classic 1973 album 'Dark Side of the Moon'. This was the only track on the album on which Waters sang the lead vocal.
The final verse of the song is: "And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear; You shout and no one seems to hear. And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes, I'll see you on the dark side of the moon."

Answer: Meat Loaf

Written by Jim Steinman, 'Bat Out of Hell' was the opening track on Meat Loaf's 1977 album that became one of the bestselling albums of all time. The song was also released as a single in 1979, the fourth from the album.
The opening verse is: "The sirens are screaming and the fires are howling,
way down in the valley tonight. There's a man in the shadows with a gun in his eye and a blade shining oh so bright. There's evil in the air and there's thunder in the sky, and a killer's on the bloodshot streets. Oh and down in the tunnel where the deadly are rising, Oh I swear I saw a young boy down in the gutter. He was starting to foam in the heat."

Answer: Aerosmith

Written by Diane Warren for the 1998 film 'Armageddon', "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" provided Aerosmith with their first Billboard 100 number one single after 28 years recording together. The single peaked at number four in the UK Singles Chart, which also represented the group's best ever showing there.
The opening verse is: "I could stay awake just to hear you breathin', watch you smile while you are sleepin', while you're far away dreamin'. I could spend my life in this sweet surrender; I could stay lost in this moment, forever... Every moment spent with you, is a moment I treasure."