The House That Jack Built Quiz | Grammar in Songs

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. 'This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built.' 'The House That Jack Built' is also the name of an album by Aretha Franklin, who died in 2018. What was one of the nicknames given to her?

Answer: The Queen of Soul

The late, great Aretha Franklin was crowned 'Queen of Soul' by DJ Pervis Spann onstage in 1968. Her nickname provided the name for a box set released in 1992, and re-released in 2014, entitled 'Queen of Soul: The Atlantic Recordings'. Franklin died of cancer on 13th August 2018, aged 76. ('Lady Day' was Billie Holiday's nickname, while 'the First Lady of Song' was Ella Fitzgerald's.)

2. 'This is the rat that ate the malt...' 'Rattus Norvegicus' was the debut album by which British punk band?

Answer: The Stranglers

'Rattus norvegicus' is the scientific name for the common or brown rat, and it was what gave the Stranglers the name for their 1977 debut. Two singles were released from the album, 'Peaches' - which was banned by the BBC for its explicit lyrics - and '(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)'.

(I mentioned the Damned as a wrong answer, incidentally, as they had a drummer called Rat Scabies.)

3. 'This is the cat that killed the rat...' Which 'feline' artist, real name Chan Marshall, released a covers album entitled 'Jukebox' in 2008?

Answer: Cat Power

Like PJ Harvey, Cat Power was originally the name of Chan Marshall's band, before Marshall adopted it as her stage name. She got the idea after seeing a man wearing a hat with 'Cat Diesel Power' on it. 'Jukebox' included covers of songs by Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell.

(Cat Stevens is a singer-songwriter who changed his name to Yusuf Islam. Kitty, not to be confused with metal band Kittie, is a rapper, and Cat the Dog are an English indie band.)

4. 'This is the dog that worried the cat...' A Noel Coward tribute album, '20th Century Blues', was released in 1998, with various musicians covering his songs. Which English band, whose album 'Tin Planet' came out the same year, covered 'Mad Dogs & Englishmen'?

Answer: Space

Space covered 'Mad Dogs & Englishmen' in a big band style, with a horn section. The other three bands also appeared on the album. The Divine Comedy covered 'I've Been to a Marvellous Party', the Pet Shop Boys covered 'Sail Away', and Suede covered 'Poor Little Rich Girl', with guest vocals from Raissa Khan-Panni.

5. 'This is the cow with the crumpled horn That tossed the dog...' On which Foo Fighters album would you find 'For All the Cows'?

Answer: Foo Fighters

'For All the Cows' was one of six singles released from the Foo Fighters' self-titled 1995 debut; the others included 'I'll Stick Around' and 'This is a Call'. However, it was only released in the UK, where it charted at Number 28, and the Netherlands. A live version of the song was included on the bonus edition of 'One by One'.

6. 'This is the maiden all forlorn That milked the cow with the crumpled horn...' Given how melancholy many of Garbage's lyrics are, one could certainly describe singer Shirley Manson as a 'maiden all forlorn'. The band released a song called 'Milk' in 1996, but which trip-hop artist also featured on it?

Answer: Tricky

Shirley Manson was inspired to write 'Milk' by a line in 'The Collected Works of Billy the Kid' by Michael Ondaatje, 'her throat is a kitchen'. In the song, it is 'I am red hot kitchen'. The version featuring Tricky was known as the 'Wicked' mix, while a version featuring Manson solely on vocals was the 'Siren' mix.

Tricky, real name Adrian Matthews Thaws, was a pioneer of the Bristol trip-hop scene, along with Geoff Barrow and Portishead, and Massive Attack (of which 3D is a member). Martina Topley-Bird was a long-time Tricky collaborator, before embarking on a solo career of her own.

7. 'This is the man all tattered and torn That kissed the maiden all forlorn...' 'Tattered & Torn' is a song by which American metal band, known for their hideous masks and large number of members?

Answer: Slipknot

'Tattered & Torn' appears on Slipknot's self-titled debut album proper, released in 1999. It also features on a previous release from 1996, 'Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.', although the band do not consider it a proper album, but a demo. The band's line-up consisted of nine members for most of their career, each member being given a number from 0 (DJ / keyboardist Sid Wilson) to 8 (singer Corey Taylor).

8. 'This is the priest all shaven and shorn That married the man all tattered and torn...' British metal band Judas Priest found themselves at the centre of a trial in 1990, after two American fans, James Vance and Raymond Belknap, shot themselves after allegedly listening to the band's music. The band were accused of hiding subliminal messages in their songs, thereby encouraging the men to kill themselves. What was the message supposedly hidden in 'Better by You, Better than Me'?

Answer: 'Do it'

Vance and Belknap made a suicide pact, and after a drinking and smoking session, went to a children's playground and shot themselves. They had allegedly been listening to 'Stained Class'. Belknap died instantly, aged 18; Vance survived, though he was badly disfigured, and died three years later, aged 23.

The men's fathers blamed Judas Priest for their sons' deaths, claiming that a subliminal message saying 'do it' hidden in 'Better by You, Better than Me' triggered the suicide. The recording was played normally, backwards and speeded up at the trial, which ran for over a month, and no such hidden messages could be found.

The judge ruled that it was an accidental mix-up of background lyrics, and the case was dismissed.

9. 'This is the cock that crowed in the morn That waked the priest all shaven and shorn...' Can you spot the wrong answer out of these 'bird' songs, and the artists who sang them?

Answer: Monty Python - 'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park'

'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park' is actually by American satirist and comedian Tom Lehrer. Monty Python were, however, responsible for a famous sketch involving a bird - more specifically, a dead parrot.

10. 'This is the farmer sowing the corn That kept the cock that crowed in the morning...' 'Me & the Farmer' was a single by which British indie band, whose line-up included two future members of 'The Beautiful South' and a future DJ?

Answer: The Housemartins

The two Housemartins who went on to form the Beautiful South were singer Paul Heaton, and drummer/singer Dave Hemingway. Bassist Norman Cook was involved with various dance music projects such as Pizzaman and Beats International, before starting a DJ-ing career under the name of Fatboy Slim.

Source: Author Kankurette

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The House That Jack Built Trivia Quiz

Anyone remember the old nursery rhyme about a house built by a man called Jack? Well, this quiz is based around that nursery rhyme. Each question and/or answer has a connection to a line in the rhyme.

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