They 2 Died in the Lyrics Quiz | Emotion in Songs

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In 1966, young socialite Tara Browne was killed when he didn't see that the traffic lights had changed and collided with a lorry. His father was Baron Oranmore, a member of the British House of Lords. This death, with some details changed, was chronicled in the lyrics of a song from the Beatles' "Sergeant Pepper" album. Which song was this?

Answer: A Day in the Life

"He blew his mind out in a car
He didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They'd seen his face before
Nobody was really sure if he was from the House of Lords."

The lyrics were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with Lennon having the original inspiration for the song. It was nominated for a Grammy at the 1968 awards ceremony. Although the song didn't win, the album itself received four Grammys.

2. "Life... Isn't ever-y-thing" Elton John's "Song for Guy" is named after a messenger boy at Elton's record company who was killed in a motorcycle accident. What is unusual about Elton's composition?

Answer: It was written BEFORE the accident happened.

"Song for Guy" appears on Elton's 1978 "A Single Man" album. He composed the music and one line lyric on the day that Guy Burchett was killed. The title was obviously added afterward. It reached Number 4 in the UK and peaked just outside the Billboard Hot 100.

In the single's sleeve notes, Elton wrote:
"...As I was writing this song one Sunday, I imagined myself floating into space and looking down at my own body. I was imagining myself dying. Morbidly obsessed with these thoughts, I wrote this song about death. The next day I was told that Guy, our 17 year-old messenger boy, had been tragically killed on his motorcycle the day before. Guy died on the day I wrote this song." (Source: Wikipedia)

3. In which of Eminem's songs does a crazed fan die with his girlfriend after their car plunges into a river?

Answer: Stan

"Some dude was drunk and drove his car over a bridge
And had his girlfriend in the trunk, and she was pregnant with his kid.
And in the car they found a tape, but they didn't say who it was to.
Come to think about, his name was ... it was you!"

"Stan" is built around the Dido song, "Thank You" and features her vocals. The song tells the story of a fan who becomes increasingly outraged that Eminem doesn't appear to be replying to his letters. It reached Number 1 in the UK and Number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video cast Devon Sawa as Stan, with Dido playing his girlfriend and Eminem appearing as himself.

A live version of the song, performed with Elton John, appeared on "Curtain Call", Eminem's first greatest hits album.

4. Don McLean has always been coy about the meaning behind the words of "American Pie" but at least one thing is reasonably clear. Inspiration for the song was the death of Buddy Holly, "the day the music died". In the lyrics, McLean couldn't remember if he'd cried when he did what?

Answer: Read about his widowed bride

"But February made me shiver with every paper I'd deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep; I couldn't take one more step.
I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside the day the music died."

Pretty much the only thing that McLean has acknowledged, in respect of the song, is that he read of Buddy Holly's death whilst delivering newspapers. The meaning of the other lyrics has, therefore, led to much conjecture. If you want to explore the symbolism further, then head for the quizzes in the Don McLean section of this site.

"American Pie" reached Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Number 2 in the UK.

5. In which Jan and Dean song does a Corvette Sting Ray race a Jaguar XKE with fatal consequences?

Answer: Dead Man's Curve

"Well, the last thing I remember, Doc, I started to swerve
And then I saw the Jag slide into the curve.
I know I'll never forget that horrible sight,
I guess I found out for myself that everyone was right"

The "Dead Man's Curve" to which the lyrics refer is a portion of Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. The song reached Number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964.

6. "Tell ___________ I love her" When Tommy was killed in a stockcar race, his dying words were to tell which girl that he loved her?

Answer: Laura

"No one knows what happened that day, how his car overturned in flames,
But as they pulled him from the twisted wreck, with his dying breath, they heard him say...
Tell Laura I love her, Tell Laura I need her,
Tell Laura not to cry. My love for her will never die."

The song, recorded by Ray Peterson, reached Number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. In the same year, Ricky Valance took it to Number 1 in the UK despite a ban imposed by the BBC. Peterson's version was scheduled for release in the UK, but the pressed discs were destroyed by the powers that be at Decca Records on the grounds of poor taste.

"Tell Laura I Love Her" has also followed "Leader of the Pack" in forming the inspiration for a stage musical of the same name. (Source: Wikipedia)

7. Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" was rewritten for Princess Diana's funeral in 1997. The original lyrics developed out of writer Bernie Taupin's teenage pre-occupation with which screen legend?

Answer: Marilyn Monroe

"Goodbye Norma Jean
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
They crawled out of the woodwork
And they whispered into your brain
They set you on the treadmill
And they made you change your name"

The song is about Norma Jeane Mortenson aka Norma Jeane Baker, whose name was changed to Marilyn Monroe. Curiously, three different versions of the song have charted for Elton in the UK. The original, taken from the "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" album, reached Number 11 in 1974. It wasn't released in the US. A live version was issued in 1987, reaching Number 5 in the UK and Number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Finally, the 1997 version reached Number 1 in both countries.

In the rewritten lyrics, dedicated to Princess Diana and sung at her funeral, the words became:
"Goodbye England's rose;
may you ever grow in our hearts.
You were the grace that placed itself
where lives were torn apart.
You called out to our country,
and you whispered to those in pain.
Now you belong to heaven,
and the stars spell out your name."

8. Many of us shed a few tears when we realised that which of Eric Clapton's songs was written about the death of his four-year-old son?

Answer: Tears in Heaven

"Beyond the door,
There's peace I'm sure,
And I know there'll be no more
Tears in heaven."

Conor Clapton died after falling out of a 53rd floor window in New York. The song was co-written with Will Jennings, whilst they were composing for the film "Rush".

The song reached Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1992 and Number 5 in the UK. It won a "Song of the Year" Grammy the following year.

9. Here's Don McLean again. The song "Vincent" refers to which painter who, sadly, took his own life?

Answer: Van Gogh

"For they could not love you, but still your love was true
And when no hope was left in sight, on that starry starry night
You took your life as lovers often do,
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you."

"Starry night" in the lyric refers to the Vincent Van Gogh painting of the same name.
"Vincent" reached Number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Number 1 in the UK. It is a little-known but fascinating fact that Van Gogh spent time in the UK as a Methodist preacher.

10. Please look away now anyone who is squeamish. One of the low points of the genre of death records came in 1965 with the Jimmy Cross song, "I Want My Baby Back". It includes one of the most tasteless lyrics ever written but was, incredibly, a minor hit in the USA. I finished my first quiz with a question about the Shangri-Las' hit "Leader of the Pack", and this song takes that record as its inspiration. The singer narrates a motorcycle accident in which he and his girlfriend are involved. Now, complete the following lyric: "Well, when I come to, I looked around and there was the leader and there was the pack and over there was my baby ___________________________"

Answer: And over there was my baby, and way over there was my baby

To be fair to Cross, this was a song parodying the genre. It reached Number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100. The lyrics close with the singer digging in a graveyard and that is as far as decency will allow me to go.

Source: Author glendathecat

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

They 2 Died in the Lyrics Trivia Quiz

This is a sequel to my first quiz about people who "die, have died or are about to die" in the lyrics of a song. Enjoy!

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