Real People Used In Song Lyrics Quiz

Answer: Leon Trotsky

The single 'No More Heroes' by The Stranglers charted in the UK in 1977. The song listed a number of real life and literary figures including Lenny Bruce, William Shakespeare and Sancho Panza. It was covered in the television series 'Ashes to Ashes' by The Violent Femmes. In 1995 the band sued Elastica for using elements of 'No More Heroes' in their single 'Waking Up'. Elastica settled out of court.

Partial lyric:

'Whatever happened to Leon Trotsky?
He got an ice pick that made his ears burn
Whatever happened to dear old Lenny?
The Great Elmyra and Sancho Panza?'

Answer: Robert de Niro

The song 'Robert de Niro's Waiting' peaked at number three in the UK Singles Chart in 1984 and was one of Bananarama's biggest hits. Quite why he was waiting, or what he was waiting for is never quite apparent in either the lyric or accompanying video where band member Sara Dallin seems to be running away from men dressed like mafia mobsters. When she gets home the doorbell rings. She opens the door to be confronted by men carrying violin cases which actually turn out to contain pizza. It ends with everybody sitting around a table eating pizza and having a good time. Awww, bless. I do so love a happy ending.

Partial lyric:

'Robert de Niro's waiting
Talking Italian'
(repeated four times. Complex stuff, eh?)

Answer: Eva Braun

In the song "(I Never Loved) Eva Braun", Bob Geldof mimics Adolph Hitler in a rather camp voice, telling an unknown person that whatever qualities she possessed, he never really loved her. Hitler speaks of his rise to power and attempts to trivialise starting World War II ("a little too ambitious, maybe") but keeps coming back to the issue of this woman who he finds irritating and just can't seem to shake off.

Partial lyric:

'I never heard all the screams
I never saw the blood and dirt and gore
That wasn't part of the dream,
Of maps and generals and uniforms.
I always liked the big parade,
I always wanted to be adored,
In '33 I knew I had it made,
But I never loved Eva Braun.'

Answer: Bette Davis

'Bette Davis Eyes' was a UK hit in 1981 for Kim Carnes, although it was originally performed by Jackie de Shannon on her album 'New Arrangement'.

The lyric is subtly altered by Carnes in her arrangement. Whereas Jackie de Shannon sung "she knows just what it takes to make a crow blush", a mis-transcription of the lyrics caused Carnes to replace the word 'crow' with 'pro'. To "make a crow blush" is an Americanism that is usually meant to indicate that one can unease somebody with very little effort. Perhaps Kim Carnes was unfamiliar with that particular term or simply didn't notice the error in the transcription.

Partial lyric:

'She's ferocious and she knows just
What it takes to make a crow blush
All the boys think she's a spy
She's got Bette Davis eyes.'

Answer: Jackie Wilson

Originally a track on Van Morrison's sixth studio album 'Saint Dominic's Preview' released in 1972, it was covered by Dexy's Midnight Runners on their 'Too Rye Aye' album in 1982 and released as a single that reached number five in the UK Single Chart.

The song was performed by Dexy's on Top of the Pops and prompted one of the BBC's more embarrassing gaffes. The graphics department got their wires crossed when told to project a whole wall image of Jackie Wilson for the band to perform the song in front of. What they actually produced, instead of the svelte, handsome, American soul singer of Afro-Caribbean origins, was the image of a short, pudgy, pasty faced Scottish professional darts player named Jocky Wilson. Oops!


Partial lyric:

'Da, da, da, da, da,
Jackie Wilson said
It was "Reet-Petite"
Kinda love you got
Knock me off my feet
Let it all hang out.'

Answer: Abraham Martin John

'Abraham, Martin and John' was written by Dick Holler in 1968 in the aftermath of the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr and Robert Kennedy. It was originally recorded by Dion but achieved great success in the UK when covered by Marvin Gaye.

The three men named in the title were Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr and John F Kennedy, men who all, in their time, fought for civil rights in America and were assassinated. Each of the three has a verse of his own. Robert Kennedy is included in the song but is not named in the title.

In the original (Dion) version of the song, the verse dedicated to Robert Kennedy is different to the other three in that his describes him walking over a hill with the three other men.

Partial lyric:

'Has anybody here seen my old friend (Abraham) (Martin) (John)
Can you tell me where he's gone
He freed a lot of people but it seems the good die young
I just looked around and he was gone.'

Answer: Rubin Carter

"Hurricane" was Dylan's fourth most successful single of the 1970s. It tells the story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter who, Dylan believed, was falsely arrested, tried and convicted for the killing of three men during an armed robbery at a New Jersey bar in 1966. Carter, at that time, was a promising young boxer who had been nicknamed "The Hurricane" and was tipped to become a world championship contender.

Criticisms of the case ranged from false arrest to allegations of racism on the part of the police, faulty evidence, corrupt eyewitness testimony and an unfair trial. There was a long campaign for Carter's release. Although the charges of murder were never quashed, Carter was freed on a petition of Habeas Corpus after spending 20 years in prison. He died in April 2014 from prostate cancer.

Partial lyric:

'Here comes the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For something that he never done
Put in a prison cell but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.

Answer: Judy Garland

'Happy Phantom' was the sixth song of Tori Amos' debut album 'Little Earthquakes' released in 1992. It peaked at number 14 in the UK album chart. During the recording of the album, her record label, Atlantic, suggested she relocate to the UK because they believed that the British music buying public would be more receptive to her allegedly 'eccentric' style of song writing. She completed the album in London.

Amos spent much of 1991 performing in bars and clubs and playing demos to music journalists, sometimes in her own flat, but she must have liked the UK lifestyle because she eventually married her British sound engineer, Mark Hawley in 1998 and now has dual UK / US nationality. Much of her latter recording work has been carried out in the studio built into her home in Cornwall.

Partial lyric:

'There's Judy Garland taking Buddha by the hand
And then these seven little men get up to dance
They say Confucius does his crossword with a pen
I'm still the angel to a girl who hates to sin.'

Answer: Chairman Mao

Two variations of the song were recorded in 1968. The first was a rather bluesy version which was included on the "White Album" and the second was a hard rock version which was used for the B side of the single of 'Hey Jude'.

The principle writer of the song was John Lennon who wanted to state his support for political change around the world, but also to express his disapproval of some of the tactics employed. Each verse ends with the statement that whatever is done, it has to be "alright", meaning that change should be managed without recourse to violence.

Lyric:

'You say you'll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well, you know
You'd better free your mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow
Don't you know know it's gonna be alright.'

Answer: Roy Rogers

"Roy Rogers" was the third song on the fourth side of Elton John's 1973 double album "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". All the songs on the album were co-written by Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin.

'GYBR' is widely regarded as John's best ever album, including songs like "Benny and the Jets", "Candle In The Wind" and "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting".

According to some sources, Bernie Taupin wrote all the lyrics for the whole album in two and a half weeks, and John wrote most of the music in three days. "Roy Rogers" fitted in with a general theme of the album which was nostalgia for a childhood that was heavily influenced by American movie culture.

Partial lyric:

'Oh, and Roy Rogers is riding tonight
Returning to our silver screens
Comic book characters never grow old
Evergreen heroes whose stories were told
Oh the great sequinned cowboy who sings of the plains
Of roundups and rustlers and home on the range
Turn on the TV, shut out the lights
Roy Rogers is riding tonight.'