Too Cruel River Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pair of Clydes

Shires, Clydesdales and Cleveland Bays are all breeds of heavy horse which were used by farmers before the unromantic tractor became the norm. But for this song it is "those matching Clydes were quite a team." One of the two songs on the album written by other people, in this case by Canadian singer-songwriter Gary Fjellgaar.

Answer: Paratroops

The relevant lyric here is "So there's my best mate in Afghanistan. Fighting with the Paras taking on the Taliban". A little later the lyrics continue, "He says it's just like walking through Flanders fields. Now the opium farmers have doubled their yields." The song is best summed up in Steve's notes with the CD, "Such bitter irony that the flower that brings such comfort and relief is also a source of so much misery."

Answer: Are We All Right

The sleeve notes also say that "Look, it seemed like a good idea at the time." and "If this turns out to be the song that buys the yacht then the ironies of the music business will finally defeat me." Personally I think it is quite good and the originally readily discernible when listening to it. I can't comment on how true the lyrics are to the English version though.
The three wrong options are all real songs by Show of Hands.

Answer: Two alibis (a spare comes in handy)

Our two 'heroes' have a flat tyre while rustling. A policeman inconveniently stops and offers to help. So one of the crooks goes to phone for help except he phones 999 and tells the emergency services that he's stuck at the scene of a crime about a mile away from the breakdown.

The police radio bursts into life and the police officer is called away. The (anti-)heroes quickly get the wheel changed and dump the stolen cargo, very glad transportation and hanging are no longer the order of the day. " 'Cos somewhere some copper is just hopping mad.

Some farmer is counting more sheep than he had. And we're in the pub with our pints really glad. We weren't born in 1803".

Answer: Raining Again

The first reference is "It's just like living in the Shire round here. A ring on your finger, disappear", which is a clear reference to the ring possessed by Bilbo and then Frodo. The second reference is "Out to the East turns the London eye. It seeks me out and I can't hide" which is comparable to the eye of Sauron.

The third reference is at the end of the song, "It's a middle earth trap but we won't complain." (Capitalisation as per the booklet accompanying the CD.) Of the wrong options, all of them are written by Steve Knightley but none of them appear on 'Cruel River'.

Answer: The Sea

"It's the sea you hear roaring not the haven or the docks." A love giving advice to someone who appears to desperately need it. "If you're not running from your devils you're taking them to bed" is another line which describes the singers 'honey' succinctly.

Answer: Summer

The preceding line to the one quoted in the question is; "One warm summer's night I thought I saw her face". Another song about lost love.
"Into my life a bright light shone. But it's dark again Now she's gone."
This song was written by Steve Knightley in collaboration with Matt Clifford.

Answer: Scene

"Now you just say oh Romeo yeah you know I used to have a scene with him." This song is in the minority (on this album) as it isn't written by Steve Knightley but by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame.

Answer: Beneath the bridge

"Below the tor, beneath the bridge. In her arms they caught me." A story of a girl falling in love with someone her family didn't approve of and ending with her death in the river. A cruel fate in a cruel river.

Answer: Last crusade

The song, "Crooked Man '07" is ever so slightly a comment on Tony Blair's foreign policy in the Middle East. The songwriter can't be described as being in favour of it.
The relevant section of the lyrics to this question is "They preach and they pray. Watch the clock count down their days. Raise a glass to the last crusade. They pack their bags plan their escape."