Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Comedy Is Easy, Lyrics Are Hard

UPDATE: As to not make people go insane looking for the answers to the lyrics that have not been identified, I thought I would add the answers, but encoded by ROT13.

This will do a couple things -- first, give you a hint as to what the unidentified song is, and second, give you the ability to decode the song/artist if you really want to know what it is.

There's a ROT13 decoder at the top right of my blog now.


samuraifrog posted a boatload of lyrics to guess, and I got one.

I was unable to get any on the quiz of becca's (who answered an impossible number of the questions on le frog's quiz).

So, I thought I would give this a whirl.

The Rules
Put your iTunes (or whatever) on random. Post lyrics from the first songs that play. Post it on your blog & let everyone guess the song & artist. Looking the lyrics up on any search engine is cheating!

1) Gur Cvkvrf - Avzebq'f Fba
One night upon my motorcycle through the desert sped
And smashed my body so that all my friends thought I was dead
My sister held me close and whispered to my bleeding head
"You are the son of a mother fucker"

2) Ybhqba Jnvajevtug VVV - Crbcyr Va Ybir
Movie stars smooching in an old movie
Kid turns away, and says it's yucky
The kid knows something that the grownups don't
When the kid grows up after that, the kid won't

3) Donovan - There Is A Mountain (johnny yen)
Caterpillar sheds his skin
To find the butterfly within

4) Ebola Uvgpupbpx - Genzf Bs Byq Ybaqba
On a clear night you can see
Where the rails used to be
Oh it seems like ancient myth
They once ran to Hammersmith

5) Pnegre Snzvyl - Lbh Qravrq Lbhe Ybir
That was the day when you went away
You broke my heart in the month of May
That little ring I gave to you
Was to show you dear my love was true

6) Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah (samuraifrog)
Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?

7) Jnyxre Oebguref - Avgr Syvtugf
There's no hold
The moving has come through
The danger brushing you
Turns its face into the heat and runs the tunnels
It's so cold
The dark dug up by dogs
The stitches torn and broke
The raw meat fist you choke
Has hit the bloodlite

8) The Who - Christmas (samuraifrog)
Did you ever see the faces
Of the children, they get so excited.
Waking up on Christmas morning
Hours before the winter sun's ignited.

9) The Ramones - Rock 'N Roll High School (samuraifrog)
I just wanna have some kicks
I just wanna get some chicks

10) The Human League - Don't You Want Me (tim)
I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
That much is true

11) Phegvf Znlsvryq - V Cyna Gb Fgnl N Oryvrire
I met a friend of mine the other day
He said he couldn't stay
Because the world was going to end
At the end of May
Well, May done passed
And everbody still sittin' here on their ass
With some talk
They're now waiting for The Judgment Day

12) George Jones - The Race Is On (mob)
I feel tears wellin' up cold and deep inside
Like my heart's sprung a big break
And the stab of loneliness, sharp and painful
That I may never shake
You might say that I was taking it hard
When she wrote me off with a call
But don't you wager that I'll hide in sorrow
When I may break right down and bawl

13) Fynqr - Bar Jnl Ubgry
They asked me to sleep on the floor
The people were running galore
They asked for the time to make a number of changes and I let them

14) They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse In Your Soul (samuraifrog)
There's a picture opposite me
Of my primitive ancestry
Which stood on rocky shores and kept the beaches shipwreck free
Though I respect that a lot
I'd be fired if that were my job
After killing Jason off and countless screaming Argonauts

15) Zbzhf - Nqnz Terra
If my name were Howard
I'd dress up in a cumberbund and fez
If my name were Howard
I'd puff all night on funny cigarettes

If my name were Howard
I'd be terrified of getting sucked buck naked down the drain
Into a damp, dark world of flesh-eating spiders
If my name were Howard
I'd have thought of South Park and be rich as Midas

16) Gur Fuvaf - Erq Enoovgf
And I can't go into this no more,
It puts too many thorns on my mind,
And the necessary balloon lies a corpse on the floor,
We've pissed on far too many sprites,
And they're all standing up for their rights.

17) The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird (samuraifrog)
Don't you know about the bird?
Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word

18) Rick James - Superfreak (tim)
She's a very kinky girl
The kind you don't take home to mother

19) Qr Yn Fbhy - Rlr Xabj
May I cut this dance to introduce myself as
The chosen one to speak
Let me lay my hand across yours
And aim a kiss upon your cheek
The name's Plug Two
And from the soul I bring you
The daisy of your choice
May it be filled with the pleasure principle
In circumference to my voice

20) Harry Belafonte - Jamaica Farewell (samuraifrog)
But I'm sad to say I'm on my way
Won't be back for many a day
My heart is down, my head is turning around
I had to leave a little girl in Kingston town


timdrussell said...

10 and 18 are easy, at least for me. 10 is "Don't You Want Me" by The Human League. 18 is "Superfreak" by Rick James. The rest, man... no clue.

SamuraiFrog said...

6. "Hallelujah" by whomever. Leonard Cohen originally. (There are a ton of versions, but my favorite is the John Cale one.)

8. "Christmas" by The Who from Tommy.

9. "Rock 'n' Roll High School" by the Ramones. Rif Randell forever!

14. "Birdhouse in Your Soul" by They Might Be Giants (my favorite lyrics from that song, too)

17. "Surfin' Bird" by The Trashmen. Nice.

20. "Jamaica Farewell" by Harry Belafonte. Beautiful way to close.

You're right; without the music, many of the words only seem familiar, but not identifiable.

Splotchy said...

tim, it's tougher than it seems, isn't it? I know you know at least a few more songs on the list (#1, for example), but the quiz is just difficult.

samuraifrog, it was actually the original Leonard Cohen version that came up, but I agree that the John Cale version is the best.

I love those TMBG lyrics. How can you not love a song that name-checks Jason and the Argonauts??

Johnny Yen said...

#3 is Donovan's "First There Is a Mountain."

Splotchy said...

Right-o, Mr. Yen!

And it's possibly the happiest song ever written.

Mob said...

12. The Race Is On - The version I'm familiar with is by George Jones, but I don't know if he's the original artist.

Splotchy said...

Nicely done, mob!

The George Jones version of the song is the one that I have.

Becca said...

Grrr all the ones I know have been guessed! Too late to the party. Isn't Hallelujah a great song! One of my absolute favorites.

Splotchy said...

becca, thanks for looking anyways.

And Hallelujah for Hallelujah.

BeckEye said...

Jeez, I'm pretty good with lyrics but these are hard! None are even ringing bells.