Songs with a Year in the Title Quiz

Answer: Tom Waits

Tom Waits wrote the song and recorded it for his 1973 debut album, "Closing Time." On the Eagles' version Glenn Frey and Don Henley share the lead vocals. Sarah McLachlan also recorded a nice version of it that was included in the soundtrack to the movie "Boys on the Side" starring Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore, Mary-Louise Parker, and Matthew McConaughey.

"Well my time went so quickly, I went lickety-splickly out to my old '55
As I drove away slowly, feeling so holy, God knows, I was feeling alive.
Now the sun's coming up, I'm riding with Lady Luck, freeway cars and trucks,
Stars beginning to fade, and I lead the parade
Just a-wishing I'd stayed a little longer,
Oh, Lord, let me tell you that the feeling's getting stronger."

Answer: "You ain't gonna have no jobs or holidays, everything's inside your head, you never have to leave your bed."

It's a downer of a song lyrically, but its counterpunch is a very catchy uptempo beat and chorus. It was the biggest hit song of the year, staying at Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six weeks.

Answer: Prince, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Foreigner

The song was actually a last second addition to their album, "A Hangover You Don't Deserve." It came across the desk after they had completed recording of the album in 2004, but they liked it so they went back in to record it and include it on the album.

As mentioned, the lyrics describe a woman who after losing hope, returned to her heyday, the '80s when she was at her peak:
"Debbie just hit the wall
She never had it all
One Prozac a day
Husband's a CPA
Her dreams went out the door
When she turned twenty four
Only been with one man
What happened to her plan?"

Answer: (Have You Seen My Wife, Mr. Jones?)

Written by Barry and brother Robin Gibb, that subtitle is also a line from the lyrics' chorus:
"Have you seen my wife Mr. Jones?
Do you know what it's like on the outside?
Don't go talking too loud you'll cause a landslide, Mr. Jones."

There was no actual mining disaster that they wrote this song about. They were inspired to write when a power outage occurred and Barry and Robin were sitting in the dark on a staircase at Polydor Records.

Answer: Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

I suspect that many songs with a year in the title are nostalgic look-backs at that year and indeed with this song frontman Billy Corgan wrote "1979" about coming of age, passaging into adulthood.

This song reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 easily performing better on the charts than any other song of theirs. It also grabbed the attention of the Awards givers in the industry, getting nominated for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the Grammys.

Answer: It isn't revealed

"Oh, what a night
You know I didn't even know her name
But I was never gonna be the same
What a lady, what a night."

This was the fifth and final song of the Four season to chart Number One on the Billboard Hot 100. Do you remember what the other four were? Over 11 years prior to "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" those four other Number One hits were "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Sherry", "Walk Like a Man", and "Rag Doll."

Answer: "1984" by George Orwell

Bowie wrote "1984" with the intention of making it the theme to a musical adaptation of the George Orwell novel; unfortunately, the author's estate would not authorize the project. But that turned out just fine, as the song fits in perfectly with the dystopian theme of "Diamond Dogs" which also included the songs "Big Brother" and "We Are The Dead" which were also intended for the musical.

"Someday they won't let you, so now you must agree
The times they are a-telling, and the changing isn't free
You've read it in the tea leaves, and the tracks are on TV
Beware the savage jaw
Of 1984."

Answer: Reckless

"Summer of '69" peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album "Reckless" went to number six on the Billboard 200. The band Bowling For Soup (remember them, way back in Question 3 of this quiz) recorded a cover of this song for their album, "Let's Do It For Johnny!"

Answer: "1999" by Prince

Prince's " charted on Billboard in 1999 the first time this phenomenon has ever happened. Pearl Jam's "4/20/02" appeared two years after 2002, on their 2004 album "Lost Dogs" making it impossible to have charted in 2002. Similarly Mary Chapin Carpenter's "4 June 1989" was written much later than 1989, appearing on her 2010 album, "The Age Of Miracles." David Bowie's "1984" could have charted in 1984 since it appeared ten years earlier in 1974, but unlike George Orwell's novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" which DID see a resurgence in sales decades after its 1949 debut, Bowie's song saw no such climb back to the charts.

Answer: Turnstiles

In a career chock full of genius and wonderful albums, "Turnstiles" still for me is his best, and one of my top ten favorite albums in the world, along with "Born To Run", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Brain Salad Surgery", "A New World Record" and several others.

Billy Joel wrote this apocalyptic vision of the future never dreaming it could happen, but then the unthinkable did happen. September 11, 2001. And looking back on some of the lyrics now it's easy to see why the song had become a staple at benefit concerts:
"Seen the lights go out Broadway
I saw the Empire State laid low"
and
"I saw the ruins at my feet"
and
"The flames were everywhere"
and
"I saw the mighty skyline fall
The boats were waiting at the battery."

It's hard even now as I type this to not choke up. Silly me. A great song from a great composer. He is a proud New Yorker who wrote the song back in the '70s when the city was in dire straits and the Federal government under Gerald Ford refused economic help. Billy Joel recalled West Coasters' comments along the lines of "Good, I hate New York" and "I hope it goes down the tubes." So that's when he stood up and said, "I'm going back." And that musical genius became even more than that. Thank you for the music Billy, and your support.