There is Something Wrong With the Rain Quiz

Answer: Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival's (CCR) lead singer, John Fogerty's initial inspiration for this song arose from the band's appearance at the 1969 Woodstock festival. Whilst on stage the rain was bucketing down but the festival goers remained upbeat, some were dancing in the mud, many were taking their clothes off and some were huddled together. And still the rain kept pouring while Fogerty wondered who'd put an end to it. With this track Fogerty takes a swipe at governments and their inabilities to cure the ills of the world despite making a range of promises to get themselves into power.

This is probably best summed up by the line "Five Year Plans and New Deals, wrapped in golden chains". The track was the flip-side of their 1970 single "Travellin' Band" and appeared on their hugely successful album "Cosmo's Factory".

Answer: Bob Dylan

This is one of three protest songs that appear on Bob Dylan's 1963 album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan", the others being "Masters of War" and the anthem of the 1960s "Blowing in the Wind". On this release Dylan spends seven minutes railing against nuclear war and, in the process, produces a stunning array of apocalyptic images that seem to trip over themselves in an effort to get their message out. Years later Dylan would reveal that each line in this track was potentially the start of a new song.

Answer: Rolling Stones

For a change Mick Jagger writes about matters that don't concern the heart (or other parts of his anatomy) and produces a rare political track that zeroes in on the strife in Northern Ireland. The approach is somewhat haphazard as he poses a series of questions that are disjointed without leading to a concrete point.

However, he does install a great deal of yearning in his voice and it does manage to raise this song above the average. The track can be found on the band's 1994 album "Voodoo Lounge".

Answer: Eminem

Eminem tears into US President Donald Trump in this freestyle effort that was premiered on the BET Hip Hop Awards in October of 2017, calling him a range of things including "a kamikaze that'll probably cause a nuclear holocaust". He goes on to dictate to his fans that he's drawing a line in the sand and that they had to make a choice... he or Trump.

Answer: Live

Some have guessed that this song is about a mother passing away in the act of childbirth and the film clip that accompanies the song only adds to that illusion. Whilst there is a circle of life within the film clip, the song is a dedication to a young lady by the name of Barbara Lewis. Barbara, a friend to members of the band, was killed in a car accident.

She was also listed as an organ donor and that circle of life in the film is the life given to others by Barbara's generous act. "Lightning Crashes" appears on Live's massively successful 1994 album "Throwing Copper".

Answer: Tay Zonday

The music video for this single was released onto YouTube in April 2007 and it became one of the hottest viral hits of that summer. According to the Australian newspaper, Daily Telegraph, it was, possibly, the most listened to song in the world at that point in time. In Tay Zonday's own words the lyrics, though cheesy and somewhat cryptic, focused on racism towards African-Americans.

Answer: Bob Seger

In 1986 Bob Seger took the opportunity to preach about the dangers of drugs and drug use with this track that was lifted from his "Like a Rock" album. In an interview with Creem magazine that same year he advised "the song isn't from personal experience but from observing the experiences of those around me".

Answer: Bob Dylan

In 1975 Bob Dylan went in to bat for Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, who'd been jailed for a triple murder that Dylan felt he didn't commit. The song bought public awareness to Carter's plight and was the start of a movement that saw Carter's call for justice eventually make its way to the Supreme Court. Carter was exonerated in 1985. The song can be found on Dylan's 1976 album "Desire".

Answer: Kansas

Thumbing through a book of Native American poetry Kansas guitarist Kerry Livgren was moved by the beauty and simplicity of a single line; "for all we are is dust in the wind". This got him to thinking about man's place in the world and his desire for the needless accumulation of material possessions - at the end we all die, so what's the point? Released in 1977 as a stripped back number, this was a departure from the normally rollicking tunes that they'd produced to that point.

It would prove to be their biggest hit.

Answer: Melanie

I opened this quiz with a song inspired by the heavy rains that fell on the party at the Woodstock festival in 1969. As most of the songs, in the quiz, to this point have had some sort of an axe to grind it seems rather appropriate then that I close this quiz with another song inspired by that same downpour but, this time, one with a positive message.
Melanie (Safka) had also performed on that first day at Woodstock and when the rain cleared, many members of the audience began to light candles as a signal to others that all was well. The groundswell of light and warmth moved Melanie who saw that as the collective fire within humanity and chose to immortalize the moment with this song.

"and we all sang the songs of peace".