Pop Culture Interlude

I’m giving an exam this morning, and I’ve got some oral lab report presentations to listen to this afternoon, plus I need to put together some Mathematica activities for Friday. This doesn’t leave great deal of time for detailed science blogging, so here are some pop song lyrics, courtesy of the four-and-five-star playlist on iTunes.


  • 1) “Do we see what the clock makes you do/ But I won’t let this happen to you”
  • 2) “You got the hair slicked back, and those Wayfarers on, baby”
  • 3) “Like my loafers? Former gophers. It was that, or skin my chauffeurs.”
  • 4) “Now we’re gonna be face-to-face/ And I’ll lay right down in my favorite place”
  • 5) “I brought a .38 Special CD collection/ some Bactine in case of infection.”
  • 6) “He plays racquetball and runs in the rain/ But still he’s shackled to a platinum chain.”
  • 7) “Take my heart, my soul, my money, but don’t leave me here drowing in my tears.”
  • 8) “Now I don’t hide/ Tears I never cried.”
  • 9) “At night when the sky is clear,/ and the moon is shining down,/ My heart goes running back to you”
  • 10) “Come down off the cross/ We can use the wood.”

If you want to play guess-the-lyrics, you know where the comments are. I’ll be very surprised if anyone gets #8, and #4 is a different artist than you probably think it is.

If you want to use this to predict the future, well, good luck with that.

8 thoughts on “Pop Culture Interlude

  1. Heh. 6) is not only one of my favorites, but a perennial favorite down in close quarters when everyone is in a laboratory cycle. (“Gorilla, You’re a Desperado.”)

  2. And I am amused to see 3), which is C. Montgomery Burns, “See My Vest”.

    Indeed it is. Accompanied by much eye-roling from Kate…

    The other guesses are also correct.

    The exam was given, and one student finished it in just over half an hour, and aced it. Maybe I should’ve made it harder…

  3. #1 is New Pornographers “play me spanish techno”
    if #4 ain’t Stooges, then it could one of the many “now I want to be your dog” covers, none of which seem to have that great piano line. (Sonic Youth?)
    I was hoping #10 was the Locust (2.4 cents/sec for mp3), but google reveals it to be somebody I should have known.
    And writing exams at just the right level seems to be a skill that it takes some time to develop.

  4. if #4 ain’t Stooges, then it could one of the many “now I want to be your dog” covers, none of which seem to have that great piano line. (Sonic Youth?)

    Uncle Tupelo, actually.

    And writing exams at just the right level seems to be a skill that it takes some time to develop.

    In this particular case, the biggest problem was a tight time constraint. To be fair, the kid who aced it in half an hour was the only one who finished that fast. The next person to leave took about 50 minutes.

    I’ll grade them tomorrow, which will really tell me how it went.

  5. No, #2 is Don Henley. I’m a child of the 80’s, what can I say.

    The rest of the answers:
    #5: “Red Dragon Tattoo,” by Fountains of Wayne
    #7: “Don’t Pull Your Love,” by Sam and Dave
    #8: “I Don’t Wanna Go Back,” by the Bottle Rockets
    #9: “Over and Over,” by Neil Young
    #10: “Come On Up to the House,” by Tome Waits

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