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Quiz about He Was A Friend of Mine  JFK in music
Quiz about He Was A Friend of Mine  JFK in music

He Was A Friend of Mine: JFK in music Quiz


Although his reign lasted fewer than 1,000 days, few US Presidents have had as much said or written about them than John F. Kennedy. Here are questions about songs referencing his death.

A multiple-choice quiz by darksplash. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
darksplash
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
364,545
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
469
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Question 1 of 10
1. "He Was A Friend Of Mine" was a traditional American folk song. After the death of John F Kennedy, it was re-written in his honour:
"He was a friend of mine, he was a friend of mine
His killing had no purpose, no reason or rhyme
He was a friend of mine.." Which band was behind this new version?
Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. "Oh, the bullets of the false revenge have struck us once again
As the angry seas have struck upon the sand
And it seemed as though a friendless world had lost itself a friend
That was the President and that was the man..." which singer of political folk songs lamented the death of Kennedy and predicted that his glory would shine as brightly as that of another murdered President, Lincoln?
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. "In the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden as the walls were tightening
As the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin' rain
Dissolved into the bells of the lightning
Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsaked
Tolling for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing..." These are the lyrics of a song that the writer denied was about Kennedy, but were based on a poem he wrote that was clearly about the President. Who was the writer?
Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. "I remember where I was that day, I was upstate in a bar
The team from the university was playing football on TV
Then the screen want dead and the announcer said:
' There's been a tragedy
There's are unconfirmed reports the president's been shot
And he may be dead or dying.' Which rocker who had a wild side to him wrote and sang "The Day John Kennedy Died"?
Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. "Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul and fate..." Which British band imagined the death of Kennedy in a long line of acts by Lucifer and asked if there was "Sympathy For The Devil"?
Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. "JFK blown away, what else do I have to say?..." Which American songwriter included the death of Kennedy in the long line of momentous events he had seen in his own life? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. It took seconds of your time to take his life
It took seconds
It took seconds of your time to take his life
It took seconds..." sang a British electronic band who had previously asked if anyone wanted them. The answer, apparently, was yes as that song topped the charts in the US and the UK. Who were they?
Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. "Last week I had the strangest dream
Where everything was exactly how it seemed
Where there was never any mystery of who shot John F. Kennedy
It was just a man with something to prove
Slightly bored and severely confused
He steadied his rifle with his target in the center
And became famous on that day in November.." The opening lyrics of this song seem to suggest that the writer accepted the initial conclusions of the Warren Commission that Lee Harvey Oswald was acting alone on the day JFK died. Who delivered the notion?
Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. "Well they shot him in the back seat of a Lincoln limousine
Was a great brave leader by the name of Kennedy
He fought for right and freedom tried to keep this nation clean
But they shot him in the back seat of a Lincoln limousine..." Which rock and roller who first had a hit long before JFK took office sang this song in homage to that deadly day in Dallas?
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. In 1968, Dion had a hit with a song that referenced the assassination of John F Kennedy with those of two other political leaders. Who were they? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. "He Was A Friend Of Mine" was a traditional American folk song. After the death of John F Kennedy, it was re-written in his honour: "He was a friend of mine, he was a friend of mine His killing had no purpose, no reason or rhyme He was a friend of mine.." Which band was behind this new version?

Answer: The Byrds

"He was in Dallas town, he was in Dallas town
From a sixth floor window a gunner shot him down
He was in Dallas town

"He never knew my name, he never knew my name
Though I never met him I knew him just the same
Oh he was a friend of mine

Leader of a nation for such a precious time
He was a friend of mine"

Hailing out of 1960s California, The Byrds gave the era's folk music a fresh new sound. They were noted for rocking up songs such as Pete Seeger's "Turn, Turn, Turn" and Bob Dylan's "Mr Tamboruine Man", taking both to the top of the US charts.
2. "Oh, the bullets of the false revenge have struck us once again As the angry seas have struck upon the sand And it seemed as though a friendless world had lost itself a friend That was the President and that was the man..." which singer of political folk songs lamented the death of Kennedy and predicted that his glory would shine as brightly as that of another murdered President, Lincoln?

Answer: Phil Ochs

"Oh, I still can see him smiling there and waving at the crowd
As he drove through the music of the band
And never even knowing no more time would be allowed
Not for the President and not for the man.."
Phil Ochs wrote at least two songs about the death of John Kennedy, including "That Was The President And That Was The Man". In another he juxtaposed the death of Kennedy with the death of Christ in "The Crucifixion".
Ochs was a passionate political folksinger for whom JFK was a hero and a catalyst to cure the many ills of American life. Flying from New York to Washington for a memorial concert, Ochs began to sing 'The Crucifixion' on the plane. According to the documentary "Robert F. Kennedy: A Memoir", Bobby Kennedy, who was also on the plane, began to cry because he realised the song was about his brother.
3. "In the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched With faces hidden as the walls were tightening As the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin' rain Dissolved into the bells of the lightning Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsaked Tolling for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing..." These are the lyrics of a song that the writer denied was about Kennedy, but were based on a poem he wrote that was clearly about the President. Who was the writer?

Answer: Bob Dylan

Rolling Stone magazine noted that thee months after Kennedy died, Dylan visited Dallas. He released "Chimes of Freedom" that same year, 1964, and while he maintained it was not about Kennedy it closely followed the lines of poems he wrote that clearly were about JFK.
4. "I remember where I was that day, I was upstate in a bar The team from the university was playing football on TV Then the screen want dead and the announcer said: ' There's been a tragedy There's are unconfirmed reports the president's been shot And he may be dead or dying.' Which rocker who had a wild side to him wrote and sang "The Day John Kennedy Died"?

Answer: Lou Reed

Lou Reed was born in New York in 1942 and died in the city in 2013. He had success as part of a band called the Velvet Underground. "Walk On The Wild Side" was one of his best known solo releases - even though it reached only Number 16 in the charts when first released.

In 1997, "Perfect Day" reached Number One in the UK when it was released as a single to mark the 'Children In Need' telethon. (Lou Reed had just a cameo role in his own song, lines from which were shared out among many other musicians.)
5. "Please allow me to introduce myself I'm a man of wealth and taste I've been around for a long, long year Stole many a man's soul and fate..." Which British band imagined the death of Kennedy in a long line of acts by Lucifer and asked if there was "Sympathy For The Devil"?

Answer: The Rolling Stones

"I shouted out
"Who killed Kennedy?"
Well after all
It was you and me.."

Mick Jagger wrote the song five years after the death of Kennedy.
6. "JFK blown away, what else do I have to say?..." Which American songwriter included the death of Kennedy in the long line of momentous events he had seen in his own life?

Answer: Billy Joel

"Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion,
Lawrence of Arabia", British Beatlemania,
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson,
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex,
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say?

We didn't start the fire,
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire,
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it..."
The song appeared on Joel's "Storm Front" album and was a US Number One hit in 1989.
7. It took seconds of your time to take his life It took seconds It took seconds of your time to take his life It took seconds..." sang a British electronic band who had previously asked if anyone wanted them. The answer, apparently, was yes as that song topped the charts in the US and the UK. Who were they?

Answer: The Human League

"All day, hiding from the sun
Waiting for the golden one
Waiting for your fame
After the parade has gone

Outside was a happy place
Every face had a smile
Like the golden face
For a second

Your knuckles white
As your fingers curl
The shot that was heard
Around the world for a second.."

For a brief time in the late 1970s and early 1980d. the British band were one of the best electronic music outfits around. They scored a UK and US Number One hit with "Don't You Want Me",
"Seconds" appeared on the album "Dare" in 1991.
8. "Last week I had the strangest dream Where everything was exactly how it seemed Where there was never any mystery of who shot John F. Kennedy It was just a man with something to prove Slightly bored and severely confused He steadied his rifle with his target in the center And became famous on that day in November.." The opening lyrics of this song seem to suggest that the writer accepted the initial conclusions of the Warren Commission that Lee Harvey Oswald was acting alone on the day JFK died. Who delivered the notion?

Answer: The Postal Service

"Don't wake me I plan on sleeping
(now we can swim any day in November)
Don't wake me I plan on sleeping in
Don't wake me I plan on sleeping
Don't wake me I plan on sleeping in". The song goes on to suggest that even the opening verse was just a dream and the realty may have been different.

Despite having a US Number One dance album "Give Up" in 2003, the short -two-year - lifespan of The Postal Service passed mainstream pop lovers by.
9. "Well they shot him in the back seat of a Lincoln limousine Was a great brave leader by the name of Kennedy He fought for right and freedom tried to keep this nation clean But they shot him in the back seat of a Lincoln limousine..." Which rock and roller who first had a hit long before JFK took office sang this song in homage to that deadly day in Dallas?

Answer: Jerry Lee Lewis

"Well they shot him out in Texas where the long horn cattle roam
Oh Lord it would have been better if he had stayed at home
This nation is a great place but one fact still remains
That they shot our President in the back seat of a limousine..."
The song appeared on "Memphis Beat", an album released in 1966.
"Colourful" is just one word to describe the life of Jerry Lee Lewis. "Influential" is perhaps one he would prefer. "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and "Great Balls of Fire" were his two big Number One hits in the 1950s.
10. In 1968, Dion had a hit with a song that referenced the assassination of John F Kennedy with those of two other political leaders. Who were they?

Answer: Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln

The first verse of "Abraham, Martin and John" comprises the lyrics "Has anyone here seen my old friend Abraham?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
Oh, he freed a lot of people
but it seems the good die young, yeah.
I just looked around and he was gone...", referring to Abraham Lincoln. Succeeding verses add in the names John (Kennedy) Martin (Luther King) and Bobby (Kennedy).
It was a Number Four US hit for Dion, and has been widely covered since.
Source: Author darksplash

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