Song by Song: "Brown Eyed Girl" Quiz

Answer: 1967

The song was a single from Van Morrison's 1967 debut album "Blowin' Your Mind." Rolling Stone magazine declared it "one of the 40 Essential Albums of 1967." According to Johnny Rogan's 2006 book "Van Morrison: No Surrender," Van Morrison never considered it a true album because he felt record producer Bert Berns released it without his consent. Van Morrison disliked the psychedelic cover design. Being young and naïve and relatively new to the music world, he didn't read his contract carefully, and he surrendered almost all control of the material he recorded for Bang Records.

Answer: Down in the hollow

"Hey, where did we go?
Days when the rains came
Down in the hollow
Playing a new game..."

In "The Words and Music of Van Morrison," Erik Hage speaks of the "pastoral landscapes" that dominate much of Van Morrison's music and attributes them to the influence of the Romantic poets on his writing.

Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" remained for sixteen weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and peaked at number ten.

Answer: in the green grass behind the stadium

"Cast my memory back there, Lord
Sometimes I'm overcome thinking 'bout
Making love in the green grass
Behind the stadium with you
My brown-eyed girl
You, my brown-eyed girl."

This line "making love in the green grass" was thought too risqué to play on some radio stations.

The soul group El Chicano, dubbed as "The Mexican Everly Brothers," recorded a cover of "Brown Eyed Girl" on their 1972 "Celebration" album. Their version peaked at 45 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: misty morning fog

"In the misty morning fog with
Our hearts a thumpin' and you
My brown-eyed girl
You, my brown-eyed girl."

BMI awarded Van Morrison a Million-Air certificate in 2005 after "Brown Eyed Girl" reached seven million radio and television airplays in the United States. By 2011, it had reached ten million U.S. radio air plays.

"Brown Eyed Girl" is included on "The Best of Van Morrison," which was compiled in 1990.

Answer: A rainbow's wall

"Whatever happened
To Tuesday and so slow?
Going down the old mine
With a transistor radio
Standing in the sunlight laughing
Hiding behind a rainbow's wall."

Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Brown Eyed Girl" number 110 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time." The magazine reports that after his hit with this song, "Morrison turned his back on mainstream pop." Instead, his "next album, the masterful 'Astral Weeks,' was a personal acoustic song cycle that sold practically nothing."

Answer: The waterfall

"Slipping and sliding
All along the waterfall, with you
My brown-eyed girl
You, my brown-eyed girl."

"Brown Eyed Girl" has appeared on the soundtrack of "Sleeping With the Enemy" (1991), "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989), and "The Big Chill" (1983), among other films. When former president Bill Clinton donated a signed iPod to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina, he included "Brown Eyed Girl" on the iPod as one of his ten favorite songs.

Answer: Brown Skinned Girl

"The cheery sha-la-la chorus of 'Brown Eyed Girl,'" reports Rollin Stone, "originally titled 'Brown Skinned Girl,' brought Morrison to the top of the pop charts, even though he didn't much like the record and recently said he doesn't even consider it one of his best 300 songs."

"Remarking on the original title," reports Maureen Coleman in the "Belfast Telegraph" on October 7, 2011, Van Morrison said, "That was just a mistake. It was a kind of Jamaican song... Calypso. It just slipped my mind. I changed the title."

Answer: grown

"I saw you just the other day
My, how you have grown
Cast my memory back there, Lord
Sometimes I'm overcome thinking 'bout..."

VH1 listed "Brown Eyed Girl" as the number 49 "Greatest Rock Song" in 2000. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in January of 2007 and is one of "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll." Iain Matthews covered "Brown Eyed Girl" on his 1976 album "Go for Broke." His version hit number 22 on the singles charts in the Netherlands.

Answer: The Sweet Inspirations

The group was founded by Emily "Cissy" Houston, who was not only the mother of Whitney Houston but also the aunt of Dionne Warwick. The group supplied backing vocals for numerous popular musicians, including Van Morrison, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Petula Clark, Helen Reddy, and Dusty Springfield.

They also put out several of their own albums, beginning with their self-titled debut album in 1967.

Answer: Goodbye Baby

"Ro Ro Rosey" was released as a separate single from the album with "Chick-A-Boom" on the B-Side. "Midnight Special" was also released as a single with "Spanish Rose" on the B-Side. "Goodbye Baby," however, was on the B-side of "Brown Eyed Girl." The single was released in June of 1967.

Jimmy Buffet recorded a cover of "Brown Eyed Girl" for his 1983 album "One Particular Harbour." His version peaked at number 13 on the adult contemporary charts in the U.S.