Roy Orbison One-liners Trivia Quiz

Answer: Leah

Orbison had a way of weaving a narrative into his songs, and a sound and voice range that gave emotion to the story. This shows strongly in this song, which turns out to be a dream about his lost love. The listener can only guess at what really happened.

This quiz came about primarily because "Leah" has become an earworm, and maybe this will give it a rest...

Answer: Pretty Woman

The story behind the song - Orbison's co-writer Bill Dees and he were working on a song when Roy's wife Claudette came in and said she was going to Nashville. Roy asked if she had money. Dees commented that a pretty woman never needs any money. Forty minutes later, the song was written.

Answer: Ooby Dooby

This particular rockabilly song came from Roy's time as a member of the Teen Kings, obviously as a teenager.

Answer: Crying

Much as an actor will pull up a memory of a sad time to bring him or her to the tears required in a particular scene, Orbison noted that he brought up the memory of an old flame. The opportunity to get back together came, and he chose to let it go. His regret brought the emotion needed for this song.

Answer: Blue Bayou

Even Engelbert Humperdinck sang this one... All kidding aside, this is what a ballad sounds like. Linda Ronstadt took it to number two in 1977 and held it on the charts for 19 weeks. Orbison's version peaked at number 29 in 1961.

Answer: You Got It

Sadly, Orbison never got to see it peak at number seven and stay on the charts for 20 weeks. He passed away from a heart attack in December, 1988.

Answer: Love Hurts

Years ago I bought an Everly Brothers album with this sweetly sung ballad. A few years back I found Nazareth's growly sandpapery version, emotional. More recently I happened across Orbison's cover. Interestingly all three versions, in three different styles, all prove "love hurts"...!

Song was written by Boudleaux Bryant. With his wife Felice, the pair wrote several Everly Brothers hits, and probably the all-time number one country anthem, "Rocky Top".

Answer: In Dreams

Roy Orbison was on tour with the Beatles, replacing guitarist Duane Eddy in the UK. Orbison was unfamiliar with the Beatles, so he chose to be the first act. After he was being called back for a FIFTEENTH encore, John Lennon and Paul McCartney held him back from re-entering the stage. This song was the last in his set.

This song does not follow the usual flow found in rock songs - verse-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus, but more verse following verse following verse. The closest comparison would be Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".

Oh, and yes, the song came to him in a dream. When he woke the next morning, he wrote the song in twenty minutes!

Answer: It's Over

Lyrics are filled with sweet, beautiful, delicate descriptions of the world around the singer, which keep being cruelly broken into with the admonition "It's over".

Co-written with Bill Dees, it was composed of three different songs.

In 1964, Roy Orbison was the only American artist to reach number one in the UK with both "Pretty Woman" and "It's Over".

Answer: Claudette

For those familiar with 50s musicians, you probably recognize the song as the co-number one flip side of "All I Have to Do Is Dream" by the Everly Brothers. In fact, Orbison wrote the song for his wife, Claudette!

In one of the great tragedies of his life, Claudette was killed instantly when a pickup truck pulled out in front of them as they were headed home on their motorcycles.