Quiz: Beatles Songs - 8 Questions to Test Your Knowledge

[George Jones]

If the quiz is too easy, I hope, at least, that it's interesting. One anwer per person.

1. According to the Walrus, Who was the Walrus? Back up your answer.

2. Which John song was inspired by an easy high rider?

3. Inspiration for the title of a song that Paul wrote as a piano exercise for himself?

4. Where did Paul find the music for "Scrambled Eggs"?

5. Rosemary's sister was the subject of Which John song?

6. John's lead role in the band slid to new highs on which George song?

7. Which John song is based, roughly, on Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata played backwards?

8. Name Paul's ode (as opposed to pde) to pot.

 

[rcgldr]

1.

John is the one singing in "I am the Walrus", but there is also the lyric "The walrus was Paul", Glass Onion, from the White Album, also sung by John (at least it sounds like him), so take your pick.

Edit: also "I am the Walrus" was included in the awful TV program, "Mystery Tour", don't remember if their masks corresponded to the instruments being played (Paul would have been playing bass guitar, ...)

 

[George Jones]

1.

"The walrus was Paul", Glass Onion from the White Album. Not sure who was singing though (sounded like John). Not sure who was singing in "I am the Walrus".

Right. John sang lead on both songs, hence "According to the Walrus..."

Edit

Expanding on this a bit, John was having a bit of fun with the "Paul is dead." rumours when he sang "Here's another clue for you all, the walrus was Paul."

 

[Gokul43201]

Nice questions, George !

Are we limited to one answer per person? (I'd bow to anyone that got more than 3 correct)

Meanwhile, I'll go with #7, the easy one - Because (good to see the word "roughly" in there; it's only the chords that are from the backwards Sonanta)

 

[George Jones]

Nice questions, George !

Thanks.

Are we limited to one answer per person? (I'd bow to anyone that got more than 3 correct)

One answer per person.

Meanwhile, I'll go with #7, the easy one - Because (good to see the word "roughly" in there; it's only the chords that are from the backwards Sonanta)

Correct.

I can't "hear" music the way some people, e.g., my older brother Joe, can. I once told Joe (no music playing at the time) that I had read that the chords of Because are based on the chords of Moonlight Sonnata played backwards. He thought for a few seconds and replied "Yeah, you're right".

 

[rcgldr]

Expanding on this a bit, John was having a bit of fun with the "Paul is dead." rumours when he sang "Here's another clue for you all, the walrus was Paul."

I remember there was some song where Ringo states at the end of the song, "I'm very bored", which was misunderstood to be "I buried Paul". The other supposed clue was Paul being the only one barefoot on the cover of Abbey Road, which would have required Paul knowing he was going to die relatively soon after that picture was taken.

 

[Gokul43201]

I think too much gets read out of Walrus. John has repeatedly mentioned that he just decided to have fun and make up some crazy lyrics with no real meaning. That it seems to be filled with ominous words when backmasked only adds to all the chatter.

This is not to say that the Walrus wasn't from Lewis Carroll, or that the Eggman wasn't possibly a reference to Paul. But I don't think there was anything deeper to it.

PS : Can't say I understand #6. When you say "slid" do you mean "rose"?

 

[Evo]

5. Rosemary's sister was the subject of Which John song?

Dear Prudence.

 

[George Jones]

PS : Can't say I understand #6. When you say "slid" do you mean "rose"?

Because there is so much stuff "out there" on the Beatles, I thought that I had to do something to introduce a challenge, so my wordings for some of the questions are quite nasty.

 

[George Jones]

5. Rosemary's sister was the subject of Which John song?

Dear Prudence.

Excellent.

Mia Farrow was Rosemary in the horror film Rosemary's Baby, and John wrote this song about/for Mia Farrow's sister, who went on the same retreat in India as the Beatles.

 

[JamesU]

The other supposed clue was Paul being the only one barefoot on the cover of Abbey Road, which would have required Paul knowing he was going to die relatively soon after that picture was taken.

No it wouldn't, Paul's "death" took place long before Abbey Road

 

[Math Is Hard]

4. Where did Paul find the music for "Scrambled Eggs"?

I believe that's the same tune as "Yesterday". Is that the answer? I remember he wrote the music before the words so he just made up some silly "breakfast lyrics".

 

[George Jones]

4. Where did Paul find the music for "Scrambled Eggs"?

I believe that's the same tune as "Yesterday". Is that the answer? I remember he wrote the music before the words so he just made up some silly "breakfast lyrics".

Hmmm ... question 4. doesn't ask for the name of a song.

 

[heartless]

Not fair! Goerge, can't you just make it multiple choice questions?

 

[George Jones]

Okay, questions 1, 5, and 7 have been answered.

Here are slight rewordings of questions 2 and 6:

2. Which John song was inspired by a high Easy Rider?

6. On which George song did John play a slide guitar lead?

 

[Math Is Hard]

Hmmm ... question 4. doesn't ask for the name of a song.

OK, George, I had to break down and Google it, but if I had only thought about it just a little bit harder I might could have gotten it on my own. Rats! I'm pretty sure I have heard this story, but just forgotten it. As it turns out, (and as you well know), the source of the melody was one of McCartney's dreams.

I woke up with a lovely tune in my head," Paul McCartney recalled to his biographer, Barry Miles. "I thought, 'That's great. I wonder what that is?'" He got up that morning in May 1965, went to the piano, and began playing the melody that would become "Yesterday." At first, lacking lyrics, he improvised with " Scrambled eggs, oh my baby, how I love your legs." While he really liked the tune, he had some reservations: "Because I'd dreamed it, I couldn't believe I'd written it." Today, with more than 1,600 covers, the song holds the Guinness world record for most recorded versions

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/060515/15dreams.b3.htm

 

[rcgldr]

> 6. On which George song did John play a slide guitar lead?

Come on guys (and gals), George didn't write that many songs while still a member of the Beatles, and this was a very popular song.

 

[Evo]

> 6. On which George song did John play a slide guitar lead?

Come on guys (and gals), George didn't write that many songs while still a member of the Beatles, and this was a very popular song.

I know the answer, but I already answered a question.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Quetion # 9

number nine...number nine...number nine...In Revolution 9 a snippet of a piece of music by Beethvoven can be briefly, but distinctly, heard. What piece is it? (It's not the "Moonlight Sonata")...number nine...number nine...number nine...

 

[George Jones]

OK, George, I had to break down and Google it, but if I had only thought about it just a little bit harder I might could have gotten it on my own. Rats! I'm pretty sure I have heard this story, but just forgotten it. As it turns out, (and as you well know), the source of the melody was one of McCartney's dreams.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/060515/15dreams.b3.htm

Another one bites the dust - oops, that's Queen (including their almost astrophysicist lead guitarist), not the Beatles.

If you knew Scrambled Eggs without Google, you must be at least a little interested in the Beatles.

 

[George Jones]

Before opening the remaining questions (2, 3, 6, 8, and zoobieshoe's #9 #9 ...) to everyone, I think a little advice from John Lennon is appropriate.

Google, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google
There's nothing you can do that can't be done
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy
There's nothing you can make that can't be made
No one you can save that can't be saved
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be in time
It's easy
All you need is Google, all you need is Google
All you need is Google, Google, Google is all you need
Google, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google, Google
All you need is Google, all you need is Google
All you need is Google, Google, Google is all you need
There's nothing you can know that isn't known
Nothing you can see that isn't shown
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be
It's easy
All you need is Google, all you need is Google
All you need is Google, Google, Google is all you need
All you need is Google (all together now)
All you need is Google (everybody)
All you need is Google, Google, Google is all you need

 

[Gokul43201]

So is it now open to all?

I remember a little bit about scrambled eggs. I think Paul "heard" the music during an acid (or somesuch) trip...and he came out of it, and played it exactly how he remembered. But he was immediately worried about whether it was his own concoction or may have been something he had heard somewhere else and he'd end up plagiarizing someone else's work! I think it was a while before he could be convinced that it was original.

Tum ta da-da dum...

 

[Gokul43201]

> 6. On which George song did John play a slide guitar lead?

Come on guys (and gals), George didn't write that many songs while still a member of the Beatles, and this was a very popular song.

Since Jeff's virtually given this away, I don't think it would be too much of a spoiler to throw in this video I just found (I was looking to a video of my guess and got lucky).

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6HJ2zDu_11w&search=for you blue

After you (George) clarified that the "slid" was intentional, I still didn't get it, 'cause I was thinking of Harrison playing slide to a John song (which happened a lot in their later years).

 

[George Jones]

Okay, okay - quiz is open to all.

 

[Gokul43201]

Paul's ode to pot ? The first thing that came to mind was Pipes of Peace. But that's not a Beatles track, nor do I think it's actully about pot. So it's got to be something from the last three or four albums, and going a bold step further, I might conjecture it's from Sgt Peppers...unless this is a cryptic clue and you're referring to I Wanna Hold Your Hand. But going back to Sgt Pepper's, the best guess I can make is With a Little Help from My Friends, for the line in the chorus.

Zooby's Quetion : I haven't got a clue (there were all kinds of different pieces snuck in there), but I'm going for the most likely wrong "duh" guess: Symphony No. 9

 

[George Jones]

unless this is a cryptic clue and you're referring to I Wanna Hold Your Hand.

Nope, not a cryptic clue. A couple hours after I posted the quiz, I realized that the question should have been Paul's ode to Mary Jane. This would have been nicely ambiguous, since Paul had a girlfriend named Jane Asher.

Thanks for the great video.

 

[Gokul43201]

Nope, not a cryptic clue. A couple hours after I posted the quiz, I realized that the question should have been Paul's ode to Mary Jane. This would have been nicely ambiguous, since Paul had a girlfriend named Jane Asher.

I think more people know about the slang terminology (at least after Tom Petty) than about Jane Asher.

PS : I added a line to my last post (at the end of the first paragraph), perhaps at the same time you were writing your response.

 

[George Jones]

the best guess I can make is With a Little Help from My Friends, for the line in the chorus.

Sorry. Once you know what the song is about, the title and lyrics of the song take on a whole new meaning!

Maybe not a a smash hit, but much better known than Dear Prudence and the answers to other 2 unanswered questions.

All remaining answers are obtainable via Google - two fairly easily, one with a bit non-Beatles knowledge and a bit of work.

 

[JamesU]

Being a good musician is not based on what kind of a person you are, it's based on how good your music is...and his was great

 

[Tuneman]

he was pretty not good, the others were lightyears ahead of him, too bad he got all the credit.

edit: zep>beatles

 

[George Jones]

edit: zep>beatles

Barry Manilow > Zep

 

[George Jones]

Hint: 2 of the remaining answers are off Revolver and one is from the White Album.

 

[George Jones]

laughing at your own jokes is cool dude, way 2 go

Hey, I happen to like Barry Manilow, although I like Led Zep II.

 

[SpaceTiger]

just so when my other post gets removed by the nazi mods, I wanted to say how ovverated lennon was, and how sick I am of hearing how great of a musician he is cause his lyrics were so great.

Who said that? John was a great musician because his lyrics, music, and presence were so great. Led Zeppelin was also great, though in a completely different way. As you grow older and more experienced with music, you'll learn to better distinguish between personal taste and artistic/musical quality.

 

[SpaceTiger]

8. Name Paul's ode (as opposed to pde) to pot.

Got to get you into my life...hoo hoo hoo! <John in falsetto> dee dee dee dee</>

 

[SpaceTiger]

2. Which John song was inspired by an easy high rider?

She saaaaaaaaid, I know what it's like to be dead. Didn't she Mr. Fonda?

 

[SpaceTiger]

3. Inspiration for the title of a song that Paul wrote as a piano exercise for himself?

Not sure about this one, but I'd say Martha My Dear. I've heard claims that it was inspired by his dog, Martha, and also his muse. I'd go with the latter.

 

[George Jones]

Not sure about this one, but I'd say Martha My Dear. I've heard claims that it was inspired by his dog, Martha, and also his muse. I'd go with the latter.

Right on. Maybe dog and muse.

Paul: "When I taught myself piano I liked to see how far I could go, and this started life almost as a piece you'd learn as a piano lesson. It's quite hard for me to play, it's a two-handed thing, like a little set piece. In fact I remember one or two people being surprised that I'd played it because it's slightly above my level of competence really, but I wrote it as that, something a bit more complex for me to play. Then while I was blocking out words - you just mouth out sounds and some things come -I found the words 'Martha my dear'.

So I made up another fantasy song. I remember George Harrison once said to me, 'I could never write songs like that. You just make 'em up, they don't mean anything to you.' I think on a deep level they do mean something to me but on a surface level they are often fantasy like Desmond and Molly or Martha my dear. I mean, I'm not really speaking to Martha, it's a communication of some sort of affection but in a slightly abstract way - 'You silly girl, look what you've done,' all that sort of stuff. These songs grow. Whereas it would appear to anybody else to be a song to a girl called Martha, it's actually a dog, and our relationship was platonic, believe me."

 

[SpaceTiger]

Yeah, Paul had a gift for the inane -- that probably bolstered his popular appeal. It really is a beautiful piano bit, though. The idea of it being about his muse really appeals to me and I like to listen to it that way. The whole dog theme just sounds really lame, so maybe it was partially in retrospect that it took on that meaning.

 

[SpaceTiger]

I remember there was some song where Ringo states at the end of the song, "I'm very bored", which was misunderstood to be "I buried Paul".

Actually, it was John at the end of Strawberry Fields saying "cranberry sauce". You can hear it more clearly on one of the anthology versions.

The other supposed clue was Paul being the only one barefoot on the cover of Abbey Road, which would have required Paul knowing he was going to die relatively soon after that picture was taken.

In the Paul Is Dead myth, the supposed car crash occurred in 1966, three years before the making of Abbey Road, so it would have been Paul's lookalike that was barefoot.

 

[George Jones]

Got to get you into my life...hoo hoo hoo! <John in falsetto> dee dee dee dee</>

She saaaaaaaaid, I know what it's like to be dead. Didn't she Mr. Fonda?

Sorry - didn't see your other two answers. Right and Right.

Peter Fonda (who starred in the movie Easy Rider), while on an acid trip, said "I know what it's like to be dead." which inspired John's song She Said, She Said.

Paul's song Got to Get You Into My Life is an ode to pot.

EDIT (SpaceTiger): Just to be on the safe side of copyright laws, we should avoid posting complete lyrics to songs. I actually got into trouble for this once myself.

 

[SpaceTiger]

I remember a little bit about scrambled eggs. I think Paul "heard" the music during an acid (or somesuch) trip...and he came out of it, and played it exactly how he remembered.

I'm pretty sure MIH is right on this one, Paul made a big thing of it on the anthology. He heard the song in a dream and then spent the next year or so playing it to people so that he could make sure it wasn't plagiarized. It's for this reason that, when I'm writing, I never outright dismiss a song that sounds familiar. It could mean that it has been done, but it could also mean that it's so good as to resonate quickly in the mind.

 

[George Jones]

Results


1. According to the Walrus, Who was the Walrus? Back up your answer.

According to John (in the song Glass Onion), the Walrus was Paul. (Jeff Reid)


2. Which John song was inspired by an easy high rider?

She Said, She Said. (Space Tiger)


3. Inspiration for the title of a song that Paul wrote as a piano exercise for himself?

His english sheepdog Martha. (Space Tiger)

4. Where did Paul find the music for "Scrambled Eggs"?

Paul found the melody for Yesterday in a dream. (Math Is Hard)


5. Rosemary's sister was the subject of Which John song?

Dear Prudence. (Evo)


6. John's lead role in the band slid to new highs on which George song?

For You, Blue. (Jeff/Evo/Gokul43201).


7. Which John song is based, roughly, on Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata played backwards?

Because (Gokul43201)


8. Name Paul's ode (as opposed to pde) to pot.

Got to Get You Into My Life. (Space Tiger)

 

[Math Is Hard]

That was a great quiz! I learned a lot!

 

[George Jones]

Harrison playing slide to a John song (which happened a lot in their later years).

Post Beatles, George became an amazing and much in demand slide player. George played some great slide on John's Imagine album, including on How Do You Sleep.

George's mate Eric often commented on George's abilities on slide.

 

[Wishbone]

wait, post beatles he became amazing? you obviously don't know much about him then, he was an amazing guitarist, and the best musician out of all of them. Undoubtably with the guitar, lennon and mccartney aren't great guitarists by any stretch of the imagination. Harrison was a virutoso. Lennon really was much less of a musician than people give him credit for.

 

[SpaceTiger]

wait, post beatles he became amazing?

I think he was referring to George's slide guitar playing.

you obviously don't know much about him then, he was an amazing guitarist, and the best musician out of all of them.

I would say with a good bit of confidence that Paul was the best "musician" out of the bunch. He was a competent (to put it mildly) bassist, drummer, guitarist, and pianist during his time with the Beatles. However, I think both John and George were better "artists".

George's guitar parts were good for the purpose that they served, but I think even he would admit that his technical abilities were nothing compared to, for example, his friend, Eric Clapton.

Lennon really was much less of a musician than people give him credit for

I'm not sure what people usually give him credit for, but I would agree that John's instrumental abilities were the least developed of the four. However, his vocal performances were by far the best and his songwriting skills were certainly on par with Paul's.

 

[Evo]

However, his vocal performances were by far the best and his songwriting skills were certainly on par with Paul's.

I love John's vocals. There was a terrible fight between Paul and John, because Paul wrote almost all the lyrics and music for their early songs, and John contributed very little, but John insisted in getting equal credit. It was a huge thing back in the late 60's.

 

[Gokul43201]

Great quiz George.

And I bow to thee, Tigris Astronomis.

 

[Astronuc]

I had the album Let it Be, and I ejoyed Revolution from the album Hey Jude.

The Beatles were OK, but at that time, I was more into Iron Butterfly, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Yardbirds, Traffic, Pink Floyd, EL&P, Deep Purple, The Who, Yes, Spirit, Doors, QSM, Santana, Greatful Dead, Wishbone Ash, Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, Robin Trower, and many others.