Many Rivers to Cross Trivia Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Three different versions of "Home on the Range" exist, each mentioning a different river. William and Mary Goodwin's 1904 version mentions the 'Rio Grande' and the 1910 John A. Lomax version speaks of the 'Red River'. The original version written by Dr. Brewster M. Higley, sings of a tributary of the Ohio River one may have been forgiven for thinking was in Canada. What is it called?

Answer: Beaver

"Home on the Range" was originally written as a poem in 1872 by Dr. Brewster M. Higley, originally entitled "My Western Home". It was selected as the Kansas state song in 1947. In 1934 William and Mary Goodwin claimed to have written the song in 1904, but named it "An Arizona Home". Their copyright lawsuit was eventually dismissed as a 1908 recording by John A. Lomax was discovered. Lomax published a transcription of the lyrics in his 1910 book "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads". There are major differences in the lyrics to all three versions, but generally it can be seen to be the same song.

The beaver is the national animal of Canada.

2. Taken from John Denver's 1971 song "Take Me Home, Country Roads". Which river completes the lyrics? "Almost heaven, West Virginia Blue ridge mountains, __________ river Life is old there, older than the trees Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze"

Answer: Shenandoah

"Take Me Home, Country Roads" was written and recorded by Jon Denver in 1971 and released on his album "Poems, Prayers & Promises". The song went to second place on the US Billboard Hot 100 and a third place on Canada Top Singles and US Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.

It is the official state song of West Virginia. The Shenandoah River is a tributary of the Potomac River and runs through Virginia and West Virginia.

3. "Orinoco Flow" was released in 1988 from the album "Watermark" and won two Grammy Awards. The song reached top position on the Dutch, Swiss, Irish, European Hot 100 and UK Singles charts. Who is the artist responsible for this song?

Answer: Enya

The 'Orinoco River' is a South American river traversing Colombia and Venezuela.

Enya is an Irish artist who started her career in the Celtic band Clannad and began her solo career in 1982. The two Grammy Awards she won for "Orinoco Flow" were for 'Best Music Video' and 'Best New Age Performance'. These were not the only Grammy Awards she has won and she has even been nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the song "May It Be", written for the 2001 film "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring". She recorded eight albums between 1987 and 2015, starting with an eponymous album. A species of fish named 'Leporinus enyae', found in the Orinoco River was named after her in 2017.

4. Composed in 1866 by Johann Strauss II, "The Blue Danube" known in German as "An der sch�nen blauen Donau" (By the Beautiful Blue Danube) remains a wildly popular piece of classical music to this day. Which song form was it written in usually associated with a classical ballroom dance?

Answer: Waltz

"The Blue Danube" was one of over 500 musical pieces that Strauss would compose in his illustrious career which included waltzes, polkas and quadrilles. He was known as "The Waltz King". His father, Johann Strauss I was a composer too, but Strauss junior would way surpass his father's success. Words were added to the original composition of "The Blue Danube" by poet, Joseph Heyl.

Despite only being moderately successful upon its release, the song is generally viewed as the unofficial national anthem of Austria.

5. Who is ABBA singing about in their 1976 song featuring the following lyrics? "Do you still recall the fateful night we crossed the Rio Grande? I can see it in your eyes How proud you were to fight for freedom in this land"

Answer: Fernando

ABBA released "Fernando" as a single in 1976 and it was released on their Greatest Hits album in that same year. It featured at number one on sixteen different world charts including the UK Singles and the US Billboard Adult Contemporary charts. The song was originally released in Swedish on the solo album of ABBA member Anni-Frid Lyngstad called "Frida ensam" in 1975.

The song is about two freedom fighters reminiscing about their parts in the Mexican-American War.

"Now we're old and grey Fernando
Since many years I haven't seen a rifle in your hand
Can you hear the drums Fernando?
Do you still recall the fateful night we crossed the Rio Grande?
I can see it in your eyes
How proud you were to fight for freedom in this land"

6. Which band recorded the song "Ferry Cross the Mersey" in 1964 for the album of the same name which was the soundtrack to the musical film of the same name which featured the band?

Answer: Gerry and the Pacemakers

Gerry and the Pacemakers recorded "Ferry Cross the Mersey" in 1964. It was hugely popular in the UK and US, reaching sixth position on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and eighth on the UK Singles chart. The film, starring the band members, is described on IMDb (Internet Movie Database) as a "romp through the early 1960's Liverpool Beat Scene" .

The band was originally known as Gerry Marsden and the Mars Bars, but were forced to change their name due to a complaint from the producers of the chocolate Mars Bar, the Mars Company.

7. In Bobbie Gentry's 1967 song "Ode to Billy Joe", what does she drop into the muddy waters of Tallahatchie Bridge at the end of the song a year after Billy Joe jumped from the same bridge?

Answer: Flowers

"Ode to Billie Joe" was released by Bobbie Gentry on the album of the same name. It reached top position on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart as well as the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart. This song has been covered by a number of artists such as Tammy Wynette, Sin�ad O'Connor and Buddy Rich. In the song the narrator hears from her mother that "Today, Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge". At the end of the song she sings "And me - I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge /And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge."

The Tallahatchie River is found in Mississippi and its name means "rock of waters" in the Choctaw language.

8. "Green River" is a song released by Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969. One could be forgiven for thinking the song was written about a tributary of the Colorado River which runs through Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, but lead singer John Fogerty stated in a 2012 'Rolling Stone' magazine interview that he got the title from where?

Answer: A brand of soda

Green River soda is a lime flavoured soda which was created in Chicago in 1919 and subsequently by the WIT Beverage Company.

"Green River" reached second position on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and also managed a top twenty position on the UK Singles chart. Despite being released in 1969, the song was finally certified gold meaning it had sold half a million units, by the RIAA in 1990.

"I can hear the bullfrog callin' me.
Wonder if my rope's still hangin' to the tree.
Love to kick my feet 'way down the shallow water.
Shoefly, dragonfly, get back t'your mother.
Pick up a flat rock, skip it across Green River.
Welllllll!"

9. Rio "dances on the sand, just like that river twisting through a dusty land ,and when she shines she really shows you all she can. Oh Rio, Rio dance across" which river in the 1982 Duran Duran song "Rio"?

Answer: Rio Grande

Duran Duran recorded "Rio" in 1982 for the album of the same name. It reached fifth place on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and a ninth place on the UK Singles chart. This is not the only Duran Duran album to feature the song, it appeared on a total of eight albums. Notable cover versions were done by bands like Nirvana, Green Day, Barenaked Ladies and Goldfinger as well as American DJ Moby.

"Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand
Just like that river twisting through a dusty land
And when she shines she really shows you all she can
Oh Rio, Rio dance across the Rio Grande"

10. What is the title of the Negro spiritual which was first noted around the American Civil War, the original version containing the lyrics "Jordan stream is wide and deep, Jesus on t'oder side"? Noted folk singer and songwriter Pete Seeger adapted the lyrics to "Jordan's river is deep and wide, hallelujah. Meet my mother on the other side, hallelujah. Jordan's river is chilly and cold, hallelujah. Chills the body, but not the soul, hallelujah."

Answer: Michael Row the Boat Ashore

During the American Civil War Charles Pickford Ware heard freed slaves sing this song as he was being rowed to the island of St Helena off the coast of South Carolina and wrote down the words and musical notation. Pete Seeger was to be taught the song in latter years by folk singer Tony Saletan who in turn taught it to the band The Weavers who performed it in 1955.

The Highwaymen took the song to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Easy Listening charts. This song has been recorded by the likes of Harry Belafonte, Trini Lopez and The Beach Boys.

Source: Author kino76

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor 1nn1 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

A quiz about well known rivers in songs.

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