Songs Featuring Creatures #2 Quiz | Science and Nature in Songs

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "Spring is here, Spring is here. Life is skittles and life is beer.." I'm sure that all you wonderful quizzers out there easily recognise the beginning of Tom Lehrer's great song 'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park'. However, another furry creature is also involved in Lehrer's avicide. What animal?

Answer: Squirrel

"So if Sunday you're free,
Why don't you come with me,
And we'll poison the pigeons in the park.
And maybe we'll do
In a squirrel or two,
While we're poisoning pigeons in the park."

Yes, as well as avicide (the killing of birds), Tom Lehrer also advocates sciurinicide (a word I have just concocted from sciurine - of squirrels). Did you know that squirel's sweat glands are found in their feet? So you'd know if an excited squirrel had been in your house because of the wet footprints...

2. What animal did the singer, whose real name was Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, take to number 9 in the UK charts in 1968?

Answer: Tiger

The singer was of course Lulu, whose song 'I'm a Tiger' has the chorus
"I'm a tiger, I'm a tiger, I'm a tiger, I'm a tiger
I'm a tiger, I'm a tiger, I'm a tiger, I'm a tiger"
just in case you were in any doubt. All the wrong answers come from some aspect of Lulu's career. She released her version of 'Nellie the Elephant' in 1990 without troubling the charts, and 'Run Rudolph, Run' in 2007. 'Gonks Go Beat', released in 1965, was a film starring Kenneth Connor, that is described in Amazon as 'A way-out fantasy musical with hot music from Lulu And The Luvvers, The Nashville Teens, The Graham Bond Organisation and more.' Lulu precociously shot into the UK charts at the age of 15 with the song 'Shout'. She was still going strong in 2008 as an actress and singer.

3. Tom Paxton wrote a satirical song about an episode during Jimmy Carter's presidency. What was the title?

Answer: I Don't Want a Bunny-Wunny

On 20 April 1979, while fishing, President Carter's boat was attacked by an exhausted and/or deranged swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus). At first the story was met with disbelief, then a picture, taken by a White House photographer was released - and the ridicule began.
"I don't want a bunny wunny in my little wow boat
In my little wow boat in the pond
For the bunny might be cwazy and he'll bite me in the thwoat
In my little wow boat in the pond"
The wrong answers are my take on other incidents in the Carter presidency.

4. According to the Ann Rule book, "Small Sacrifices", what animal was being sung about by Duran Duran when Diane Downs shot her children?

Answer: Wolf

On 19 May 1984 Diane Downs shot her three children Christie, Cheryl and Danny, killing Cheryl, crippling Danny and severely wounding Christie. According to evidence revealed during the trial, "Hungry Like the Wolf", by British group Duran Duran may have been playing on the car stereo during the horrendous assault. Diane Downs was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years.

5. The film was originally conceived for Warren Beatty. The song, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, was nominated for an Oscar in 1965, but lost out to "The Shadow of Your Smile". What furry creature are we talking about here?

Answer: Pussycat

"What's New, Pussycat" was apparently named for Warren Beatty's habitual (then) greeting. It starred Peter O'Toole as an insatiable playboy and is very much of its time. The song (sung by Tom Jones as the title tune) has also been recorded by Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, Anita Kerr and The Four Seasons.

6. This song could have been recorded in 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, or 1999. It might be rereleased in 2011. It was actually a hit for Al Stewart in 1976. Which animal's year is this?

Answer: Cat

"Year of the Cat". The wrong answers are also Chinese horoscope years - and 1976 was actually the 'Year of the Dragon'. In Chinese horoscopes, 'Rabbit' is interchangeable with 'Cat'. The lyrics are stunningly beautiful (in my opinion)

"On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre
Contemplating a crime

She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
Like a watercolour in the rain
Don't bother asking for explanations
She'll just tell you that she came
In the year of the cat"

7. One of the earliest anti-pollution songs, released in 1972, this was about which 'demented' animals?

Answer: Horses

"Crazy Horses" by the Osmonds. Written by Alan, Wayne and Merrill Osmond, this was an extremely rocky song that was a radical departure from the Osmonds' usual style. It has been recorded many times by such diverse bands as The Alex Harvey Band and Utah Saints.

"There's a message floatin' in the air
Come from crazy horses ridin' everywhere
It's a warning, it's in every tongue
Gotta stop them crazy horses on the run

What a show, there they go smokin' up the sky, yeah
Crazy horses all got riders and they're you and I"

8. "The Indians send signals From the rocks above the pass The cowboys take positions In the bushes and the grass The squaw is with the Corporal She is tied against the tree She doesn't mind the language It's the beating she don't need" Sung (unusually) by Chris Difford, what animals are the song featuring these lyrics about?

Answer: Cats

"Cool for Cats" is by the British group Squeeze. It was sung by the band's (brilliant) lyricist, Chris Difford, one of only two times he sang lead on a Squeeze single. The title comes from an early UK TV rock and roll series. I am indebted to Wikipedia for telling me that one of the female backing singers was Michelle Collins (later to find fame in as an actress in 'Eastenders' and 'Two Thousand Acres of Sky').

9. Which animals did the Manic Street Preachers want to send away?

Answer: Tigers

This was the title of Welsh group Manic Street Preachers eighth album and was apparently taken from a phrase coined by Tony Hancock (the great English comic) about drinking alcohol.

"Oh so send away the tigers
Because we're lonely and we're desperate
Oh so send away the tigers
Because they're creeping up and dangerous"

10. Although the breed is never mentioned, what breed was the "funny-looking dog with a big black nose" featured in the 1966 The Royal Guardsmen hit?

Answer: Beagle

"In the nick of time, a hero arose
A funny-looking dog with a big black nose
He flew into the sky to seek revenge
But the Baron shot him down - "Curses, foiled again!""

This is from Snoopy Vs The Red Baron". According to Wikipedia, as of 2008, they have a new song entitled "Snoopy vs. Osama". Beagles get everywhere!

Source: Author Quiz_Beagle

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Songs Featuring Creatures #2 Trivia Quiz

My last quiz on songs featuring creatures seemed mildly popular, and there are many more out there. I hope you enjoy it!

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