Country Quizzin’ – March ‘09, Final Week
March 25, 2009
UPDATED
Well, I have to assume this one was way too hard. I wonder whether it would be alright for y’all to offer some honest feedback on Country Quizzin’ as a recurring feature, since we’re starting a new month next week – should I keep it going? Take a month off? Come up with fresher quiz ideas? Don’t worry none about hurting my feelings!
Anyhoo, here are this week’s top 3 scores:
8/10 – pselby
7/10 – Jordan Stacey
3.5/10 – Scott
And please join me in congratulating this month’s winner:
1. pselby
2. Jordan Stacey
3. Occasional Hope, Michael
One of the things that has always fascinated me about country music is the sophistication of its best storytelling styles. Country is often called “simple” by people trying to make a point about its compositional nature, but a closer look at some of the literary devices at work in certain songs is enough to make the English-class nerd inside you shriek with joy.
One of my favorite literary things that happens in country music – and not as much in other genres – is that inanimate things like objects and places become triggers for or symbols of characters’ emotions, and thus sort of seem to become characters themselves, at least for that moment in the song. Sometimes this happens directly – like, a character will talk directly to the object – or sometimes the object will just be portrayed with sort of human-ish characteristics. Y’all know what I’m talking about here: songs that employ personification.
I’ve picked out ten of them for your final quiz in March, and I should mention that most of the songs happen to be classics. As always, don’t cheat. Not as always, you have until 10:30 pm EST to finish, and the answers and your comments will become visible at 11 pm EST, along with final March rankings and the revelation of this month’s winner. Excitement!
For each incidence of personification, please name the song being described and the artist to whom it is most commonly attributed. Sassy remarks about how some of these might not actually be good examples of personification could help your score.
1. In this number, a super-lonely woman seems to find minor consolation when she wonders wryly whether a certain piece of plant life is sharing in her misery.
Patsy Cline, “Walkin’ After Midnight”
2. Here, the narrator sets up a cool distinction between his woman and her heart, swearing that no matter how well she manages to fool the rest of herself, her heart will continue to haunt her day and night for her wrongdoings.
Hank Williams, “Your Cheatin’ Heart”
3. A man goes about talking to different portions of his house about the recent departure of his woman. The sad fact that he has no one else to talk to speaks loudly here.
Faron Young, “Hello Walls”
4. A fairly recent album cut by a well-liked mainstream artist, it finds a man having a conversation with the only thing his recently departed partner left behind: a piece of jewelry.
Gary Allan, “Ring”
5. In this scathing number, a man staying in a famous prison speaks directly to it, sneering about how he hates every inch of the place and hopes it burns in Hell.
Johnny Cash, “San Quentin”
6. This one is definitely a slight stretch as an instance of personification, but we’ll see. The song doesn’t actually explicitly attribute a number of human attributes to its titular train, but the keen focus it puts on details of the train’s journeys makes it feel like its own character all the same. Hint: I’ve featured this song in a previous quiz. I’ll accept any artist you can provide for this song.
“Wabash Cannonball”
7. A man away at war sings fondly to his hometown (again, directly) and thinks of the girl he had to leave there, concluding that he just wants to get back alive so he can see them both again.
Glen Campbell, “Galveston”
8. A woman addresses the United States itself to express her extreme sadness at her man being away at war just to fight for its sake, even as she recognizes the importance of him doing so.
Loretta Lynn, “Dear Uncle Sam”
9. A man who won’t come to terms with his lover’s recent departure calls upon the heavens to cast light upon her once again, presumably so he can locate her.
Bill Monroe, “Blue Moon of Kentucky”
10. This heartbreaking modern bluegrass song is told from the perspective of a lighthouse who watches a human tragedy unfold and is powerless to change anything about it.
Nickel Creek, “The Lighthouse’s Tale”
Category: Country Quizzin'
Tags: Bill Monroe, Faron Young, Gary Allan, Glen Campbell, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Nickel Creek, Patsy Cline
21 Comments so far
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[...] week’s edition of “Country Quizzin’” is all about songs that employ personification. Answers and final March rankings will be revealed later [...]
No! This is the one where I lose 1st place…I’ve been rereading the questions for about an hour now trying to figure some of them out…and I know I’ll know the songs when I see the answers.
01.
02.
03. Faron Young “Hello Walls”
04. Gary Allan “Ring”
05. Johnny Cash “San Quentin”
06.
07. Glen Campbell “Galveston”
08. Loretta Lynn “Dear Uncle Sam”
09.
10. Nickel Creek “The Lighthouse’s Tale”
6. “Long Black Train” by Josh Turner? That’s definitely not right…
10. “The Lighthouse’s Tale” by Nickel Creek
I’m not feeling very sassy, but I’m glad I love Nickel Creek or I would have gotten a zero…
3. Hello Walls — Faron Young
5. Folsom Prison Blues — Johnny Cash
6. City of New Orleans — Willie Nelson
Boy, this is a tough one. I’m glad being ineligible gives me a good excuse not to even attempt it this time.
I’d guess it’s too late to add one…I’ve been sitting here reading them since I sent mine…can I add Patsy Cline Walking After midnight for #1?
Hmmmm… I’m not sure if I’m sassy enough to save me this week. This is a tough one!
1. Dolly Parton – Yellow Roses
2. Reba & Vince – The Heart Won’t Lie
3. Randy Travis – Before You Kill Us All
4. I dunno. Does Dierks Bentley have a song called “The Ring”?
5. Johnny Cash – San Quentin?
6. Dolly Parton – Heartbreak Express?
7. John Michael Montgomery – Letters from Home
8. Dolly Parton – ???
9. ???
10. ???
Thanks again! I’m sure I’ll be kicking myself at 11 PM EST.
Definitely the hardest of the lot.
1. I think I’ll know this once the answers are up.
2. ?
3. Hello Walls – Faron Young
4. I guess it’s her wedding ring, but I can’t pin down the song offhand.
5. Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash
6. City Of New Orleans? – Willie Nelson
7. I’m sure I know this one…
8. But not this.
9. ?
10. Is this something by Nickel Creek? I don’t know the song title – something like The Lighthouse’s Tale?
1. Are The Roses Not Blooming – the Judds?
2. Your Cheating Heart – Hank Williams
3. Hello Walls – Faron Young
4. I guess it’s about her wedding ring, but I can’t think of the song
5. Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash
6. City Of New Orleans – Willie Nelson
7. I think I know this one
8. But not this
9. ?
10. The Lighthouse’s Tale – Nickel Creek
Sorry about double post above; it didn’t seem to go through the first time. My second set of answers are the final ones.
2. Your Cheatin Heart– hank Williams
3. Hello Walls–Faron Young
7. Galveston–Glen Campbell
9. Moon, Pretty Moon–The Statler Brothers
Man, this was a TOUGH one!
1. Patsy Cline – Walking After Midnight
2. Hank Williams – Your Cheatin’ Heart (or Patty Loveless – Blame It On Your Heart)
3. Faron Young – Hello Walls
4. I don’t think either of these are what you are looking for, but I’ll throw them out there: George Strait – Give It Away or George & Tammy – Golden Ring
5. Johnny Cash – San Quentin
6. Roy Acuff – Wabash Cannonball or Charlie Louvin – Wreck of The Old 97
7. Glen Campbell – Galveston
8. Loretta Lynn – Dear Uncle Sam (Disclosure: I remembered that she did a song like that, but couldn’t remember title; looked at my CD box set of “Honky Tonk Girl” for title)
9. Brooks & Dunn – Neon Moon?
10. Nickel Creek – The Lighthouse’s Tale
haha yea I looked at the questions this morning and I didn’t even attempt to answer them because none of them rang a bell! Although, the Patsy Cline song was on the tip of my tongue…I knew it was something about a willow and it just wasn’t coming to me.
But congrats to pselby!!
Personally, I enjoy the quizzes and look forward to doing them on Wednesday mornings, whether they’re hard or not. I can understand,though, that it must be difficult to think of topics and questions and score them every week. Maybe a monthly feature? Or biweekly?
Keep things just as they are. Even the hard ones are fun and I sometimes do better than i expect, although I’m still offering to write a guest quiz.
hey, dan, i got 3.5..which one did i get half credit for?
Dang it, Scott, I knew I had forgotten to do something. I hadn’t heard of “Moon, Pretty Moon” before, so I was going to go back and change your score to either 3 or 4 after I had listened to it depending on whether I felt it met the criteria I laid out as well as “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” It definitely does. You can consider your score a full 4! Thanks for calling me out on that!
I read the question, but I’m in an allergy fog so nothing came to mind.
It was hard this week, but don’t feel discouraged. It’s still fun to do, even if frustrating sometimes.
I love the quizzes and look forward to reading them every week. I didn’t get to participate this week, but if the question is, do I want them to continue, the answer is YES. I know if takes a ton of effort so I appreciate the fact that you might have to scale it back. Anyway, that’s my two cents.
Keep the quizzes going! At least until I finally get all the answers right :) You’ve done a great job!