Rewritten Song Titles Mentioning Geography Quiz

Answer: Slow Boat to China

The song "Slow Boat to China" is also known as "I'd Like To Get You On A Slow Boat to China" which is a bit of a mouthful. Released in 1948, it was a song made popular by Frank Loesser at that time. Quite a few other popular singers made recordings of this old number over the following years as well, including Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Fats Domino, Jimmy Buffet and Liza Minnelli. It was released again in 1986 by the group, Girls Next Door, when it managed to make its way up to number eight on the American Billboard's Hot Country Singles list.

Cathay was the old name used for northern China during the historical period of medieval Europe. It derives from the Khitays, a nomadic people from Mongolia who conquered that part of the world in the 10th century.

Answer: The Night Chicago Died

"The Night Chicago Died" reached number one on the US Hot Billboard 100 chart in 1974, the year it was released, and also number three in the United Kingdom and number two in Canada. The song relates the story of a fictional gun battle between Al Capone and the police and how the wife of one police office is in agony waiting to know if her husband survived. Fortunately it has a happy ending in that regard at least.

Chicago, USA, has several nicknames, but the "Windy City" is the most recognisable. Several reasons are given for this nickname's origins. The weather there because of its location on the shores of Lake Michigan, the 1893 World Fair and the hype surrounding it, its ongoing rivalry with Cincinnati, and politicians there all being known as windbags. Love the politicians one.

Answer: I Belong to Glasgow

"I Belong to Glasgow" was written in 1920 by Will Fyffe, who was a music hall entertainer of that era, and at a time when drinking alcohol was in a head-on battle with the temperance movements of the time. One rather suspects Fyffe had his tongue firmly implanted in his cheek when he said he got the idea from a happy drunk he met at a railway station in Glasgow. When asked by Fyffe if he belonged to Glasgow, the drunk cheerfully answered "At the moment, Glasgow belongs to me". Part of that merry reply is incorporated into the lyrics of the song. All the lyrics for the song, in fact, are awfully funny. Talk about thumbing one's nose at pursed disapproving lips.

Also known as the "Second City of the Empire", and the "Shipbuilding Capital of the World", Glasgow grew rapidly in the Industrial Revolution, attracting many hard-working lower income earners to the city looking for work. By the end of the First World War, and given the demographics of that vibrant city, Glasgow had consequently earned itself the nickname of "Red Clydeside" for being a centre of far left political activity.

Answer: A Foggy Day in London Town

Composed by George and Ira Gershwin, "A Foggy Day In London Town" appears in the 1937 movie "A Damsel in Distress", starring the great Fred Astaire, Joan Fontaine, and George Burns and Gracie Allen. Today, this song is registered as "A Foggy Day" but most people refer to it by its original title. Though sung by Fred Astaire in the film, various singers since then have performed this song just the tiniest bit better (Fred was a better dancer than a singer). These include Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Doris Day, Shirley Bassey, Petula Clark, David Bowie and Michael Bublé.

"The Great Wen" was a very insulting nickname given to London during the 1820s by William Hobbett (1763-1835), a very fiery journalist, farmer, pamphleteer and would-be politician, who, by the end of his career, bitterly despised everything that conservative Britain represented. He coined that very colourful nickname for London because he detested its rapid growth, describing it as a "pathological swelling on the face of the nation". A wen, just to jog your memories, is a sebaceous cyst.

Answer: The Last Time I Saw Paris

"The Last Time I Saw Paris" was written in 1940 by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, not for the film of the same name, but for the 1941 film "Lady Be Good". It was made popular in that movie by Ann Sothern. However when it soon after also became the theme song for the movie, "The Last Time I Saw Paris" (1941), it won an Oscar for Best Original Song. This unfair win so upset Jerome Kern that he pestered the Motion Picture Academy to have the rules changed so that the winning song from any movie had to be written specifically for that movie. Rather honourable, don't you agree?

Paris was given its famous nickname "the City of Light" for two reasons. The first was because of the major role it played during the era of Enlightenment when, led by France, the European world took a giant step forward into the modern age in areas such as reasoning, progress, philosophy, tolerance and government. The second reason behind the bright nickname for Paris is far more down to earth. From the later 1800s, it was one of the world's first cities to begin using street lighting (gas), thereby not only making its streets much safer at night, but also bringing that beautiful city alive in the evening hours.

Answer: Tulips from Amsterdam

The 1958 song "Tulips from Amsterdam" was first written in 1953 by German singer and songwriter Klaus Gunter Neumann, but his music publisher turned up his nose at it. Several years later, the lyrics were rewritten by another songwriter, who then asked another composer to rewrite the tune. Lord bless us, they may as well have given it a new name as well. However, when it was eventually translated into English in 1957, it was recorded by Max Bygraves on an album in 1967. The following year it was released as a single, and made its way up the charts in the United Kingdom to number three. This is funny: Its original German lyrics, which were also translated into Dutch, were both recorded by a Flemish Belgian singer called Jean Walter, with both version becoming hits on the European mainland. This song should be used as the theme song for the United Nations.

Several cities that feature canals threading their way around their sites are referred to as the Venice of the North, of which a few are Birmingham, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Saint Petersburg, but as far as this nickname goes, Amsterdam seems to be the forerunner. In fact, there are 100 kilometres of these waterways all throughout this lovely city, which has led it to be so likened to the equally lovely city of Venice in Italy.

Answer: The Battle of New Orleans

Written by Johnny Driftwood in 1959, and recorded by several other artists as well, it would be Johnny Horton's version of "The Battle of New Orleans" that shot right to the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 in that year. In fact, Billboard marked it as the top overall song for 1959. Believe it or not, the composer of the lyrics of this great old number was a school principal. He wanted to get his students interested and excited about history - and it worked. He went on to record other historical "rock" songs after the success of New Orleans. The melody itself was based on an old American folk fiddle song, so as you see, it was an historical song in more ways than one.

Two theories have been put forward for the origins of "The Big Easy" as a nickname for New Orleans. The first is that musicians found it very easy to obtain work there in the early part of the 20th century, which was not the case elsewhere. The other forerunner for the nickname is rather comical. During the era of Prohibition (1920-1933) in the United States, the government and law enforcing agencies of the freedom loving city of New Orleans found it impossible to control the sale of alcohol there. The city in fact was described by one exasperated columnist at that time as "one giant speak-easy".

Answer: Arrivederci Roma

The music for "Arrivederci Roma" was written by Italian actor and singer-songwriter, Renato Rascel in 1955, with playwright and actor Pietro Garinei contributing the lyrics. Written for the soundtrack of the 1958 movie, "Seven Hills of Rome", this song became immediately popular as a single in mainland Europe. When a version with re-written lyrics was released in English speaking countries that year, the song proved to be a hit all round, and has endured as a popular number ever since, with its part cha-cha beat tending to set toes tapping everywhere, regardless of language.

Though Rome is not the oldest city in the world, it is indeed a very ancient one, evolving constantly over the centuries since it was first founded almost 3,000 years ago. It earned its nickname as the "Eternal City" because ancient Romans believed that their beloved city would go on forever, no matter how many other kingdoms and empires rose and collapsed elsewhere in the world.

Answer: Blue Hawaii

Surprisingly "Blue Hawaii" wasn't written for the 1961 film of the same name which starred Elvis Presley. Instead, it was written in 1937 by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger for the 1937 film "Waikiki Wedding" which starred another famous singer, Bing Crosby. It was released as a "single" later by Crosby on the B-side of his more famous song "Sweet Leilani". It was Elvis Presley's 1961 version, though, that proved the most popular. That isn't surprising really, as it was the finale to the love story that wove its way right throughout that film. Its release as a single stayed at number one on the US Billboard 200 music charts for an amazing twenty weeks.

North Hawaii was once known as the Sandwich Lands, when it was given that name in 1778 by Captain Cook during his first visit to the islands. Southern Hawaii later became known as the Sandwich Islands, a name that most people associate as the old name for the whole of Hawaii today. Cook named the islands after John Montagu, England's 4th Earl of Sandwich. That choice of name has always struck me as rather unfortunate considering the manner of Cook's death on those very same islands during his last voyage there in 1779. Donging him on the head with a club, and then stabbing him to death, the islanders disembowelled Cook's body, cleaned his bones and then baked what was left. Some of his remains were returned to his crew, but not all. Though it is believed these were retained by the islanders as religious icons, let's hope that the islanders didn't have "Cooked" meat sandwiches for lunch that fateful day.

Answer: New York New York

Gracious, there were nine different songs called "New York New York" released in the 20th century. It's a "helluva town" indeed (lyrics from the famous 1944 version by Frank Sinatra). This question, however deals with the equally famous version by Liza Minnelli from the 1977 film of the same name. But, believe it or not, in 1979, its most popular version of all was also recorded by Frank Sinatra. It's not at all surprising that this is the case, though. With a huge big band backing behind him, energising rhythm, excellent lyrics, and one classy singer, this song was always going to be a winner right along the line.

Several theories have been put forward over the years as to the origins of the nickname "The Big Apple" for the city of New York, but after intensive research by members of the Missouri University of Science and Technology, it has recently been established that the name derives from the sport of horse racing of all things. In the 1920s, the word apple was used to refer to race courses and the prizes on offer for the various sprints. From that horsey beginning, the name evolved to mean the city of New York itself. From big apple to big prize to big city. That's a rather uninspiring origin really. Did you know that manure from horses is sometimes referred to as road apples? That's rather more interesting. An apple a day keeps the Vet away.