fauxklore | Online Encore Game

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Online Encore Game

You can blame Shmuel for this. Actually, he has other people to pass the thanks or blame on to, but I would not have found it were it not for him.

Anyway, there is a board game (and parlor game) called Encore, in which the object is to sing a portion of a song containing the challenge word. You have to include at least eight consecutive words for it to count. What makes this fun for the challenger (in this case, me) is to try to come up with words that aren't found in a lot of songs. To make it more challenging, you are supposed to do this from memory, not via google or your music collection.

I've come up with a bit of a scoring variation, as you will see, and have in mind actual physical prizes. (I hesitate to say "valuable prizes" as value is in the eye of the beholder.)

Rules: Use the comments to include your snippet of lyrics. I will award 1 point each for lyrics, name of song, and source (either performer or, in the case of lyrics from musicals, name of the musical). If you come up with a song other than the one I had in mind, I'll give a bonus point. I reserve the right to award other bonus points for any extraordinary cleverness I think deserves them.

None of the words are in the titles of the songs I have in mind. All of the songs are primarily in English. A few of these should be insanely easy, but a couple are pretty obscure. It might help if you know that I tried to mix things up by not using more than one song from any given source.

The game will run no longer than a week, at the end of which I will award prizes for first, second and third place. I also reserve the right to provide clues.

Words are bolded if nobody has gotten them. I will unbold them when there is a successful lyric and italicize when there are also successful guesses for song title and source. Strikethrough means that somebody has gotten the song I had in mind (and the song title and source).

Here is an a to z list of challenge words (including a few proper nouns) for your consideration:

Asada
~~betel~~
compos mentis
~~defrocked~~
~~Elderhostel~~
~~fart~~
G-man
~~Hudson~~
~~Idaho~~
~~Joliet~~
~~kaleidoscope~~
limestone
~~masticating~~
~~Nikon~~
OD
polyethylene
queer
rhubarb
savannah
Thoreau
~~usherette~~
~~verandahs~~
~~Weight Watchers~~
~~Xerox~~
Yorick
~~zamboni~~

Hints, Take 1:

3 of the songs, including 2 of the bolded ones, are by singers from north of the Firth of Forth. Two are by people who would, if they were alive, be annoyed with the Dodgers this month.

One is by a group named after a city in Africa and another was written by somebody whose name includes a European capital.

Two songs, including one of the bolded ones, might make you cry "Uncle".

One is on an album with "obscurity" in its title.

One song has lyrics that also discuss capri pants and book of the month club.

While all songs are in English, one is partly in la lingua del Los Angeles and another is both in gibberish and very proper English.

And, finally, there's a country song with an amount of money in it's title.

Hints, Take 2:

I've decided to just include the sources for the two songs for which complete lyrics were provided. See the comments for those.

Two of the answers (one bolded and one italicized) are from Broadway musicals. One of those was the originally performed by members of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. The other one's main character might share a sentiment with Tevye, but he's been lumbered.

The three Scottish performers whose songs are included are Adam McNaughton, Andy M. Stewart, and Old Blind Dogs. McNaughton's song has been covered by Dick Gaughan and Mike Agrawal (in a somewhat Americanized version), while the Old Blind Dogs song is claimed to be related to "Streets of Laredo" and may date to the War of 1812.

One song was the flip side to a song about a TV character played by Jerry Mathers.

One singer eats cold pizza for breakfast, one notices who (or what) drinks pina coladas at Trader Vic's, and another went to Camp Granada.

One song title is the name of a former Asian leader.

And since I can't come up with fair but obscure clues for them, I'll reveal that the sources for the remaining songs are Pepe & the Bottle Blondes, Two Nice Girls, and Uncle Bonsai

Third and Final Hints:

It will no longer be possible to get points for the source, since that's the subject of these hints.

Asada - Brazzaville
compos mentis - Andy M. Stewart
G-man - Pins and Needles by Harold Rome
limestone - Old Blind Dogs
OD - Angel & the Reruns
polyethylene - Christine Lavin
queer - Two Nice Girls
rhubarb - Stop the World, I Want to Get Off by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse
Savannah - Pepe & the Bottle Blondes
Thoreau - Allen Sherman
verandahs - Uncle Bonsai
Yorick - Adam McNaughton

I will post answers and final scores some time on Sunday night.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Quickly, before anybody beats me to it:

I got a Nikon camera/I like to take a photograph (Kodakchrome, Simon & Garfunkel)

I'm livin' in my own Private Idaho, livin' in my own Private Idaho (Private Idaho, B52s)

It starts out like an A word, as anyone can see, but somewhere in the middle it gets awful queer to me (ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ, Big Bird)

... only slightly shocked that I'd defrocked a priest (You Can Always Count on Me, City of Angels)

Now the Leafs call me up to drive the Zamboni! (King of Spain, Moxy Fruvous)

Thanks,
-V.

This is probably cheating since it's from a mix tape you made for me, but: "Now I only toss one tassel, so I entertain at Elderhostel"!

And a little Madonna:
"I feel like a tooth being drilled, a nerve being drilled by a dentist, cause I'm non campos mentis."

And I know "polyethelene" is in that song about the couple who has bad sex but I can't remember the lyrics right now!

I have a vague recollection that the song they cut from Funny Thing on the road and replaced with “Comedy Tonight” began ‘Please don't fart/There's very little air and this is art’.

Oh, and I just managed to cudgel my brains enough to remember the line from Eddie from Ohio's “Eddie's Concubine” and realized that it's Jennie Craig, not Weight Watchers. Feh.

Thanks again,
-V.

I'll grant you the 3 points for Kodachrome, even though you spelled the name of the song wrong and it's really "I love to take a photograph". Nikon was, by the one, one of the ones I thought was a pretty much a gimme.

You get 4 points each for Idaho and queer as I had other songs in mind. (I should have, however, remembered the B-52s).

And 3 points each for defrocked and Zamboni.

So Vardibidian takes an early lead with 17 points!

And I figured Elderhostel was the most obscure challenge here. There is still a chance for people to name song title and source, but the lyric is worth `.

You are on the right track for polyethylene too, so keep digging through your memory.

And you get 3 points for compos mentis as I had quite a different song in mind.

So far, 4 points for Piefesser.

That was exactly the song I had in mind for fart. I'll give you credit for the source, too, though I had a different one in mind.

I also had a different song in mind for Weight Watchers, so you get 4 points for that.

So, let's see, another 6 points and that makes it 23 for Vardibidian.

And I should probably read more carefully since you ddidn't actually have a lyric for Weight Watchers. But I'll let you keep one of those points on the grounds of bamboozlement (and because I like Eddie from Ohio).

So actually, Vardibidian is at 19. Which is still a nice early lead. But, hey, I figure Shmuel is probably not even awake yet :)

Oooh fun!

Here's one: "Bloody Mary's chewin' betel nuts/ and she don't use Pepsodent (spelling??)" from Rogers and Hamerstein's South Pacific. The song's probably called "Bloody Mary," but I'm not sure.

There's The Beatles song that has the line "the girl with kaleidoscope eyes" which is probably obvious, but I can't remember the rest of the lyrics...And which song is it..."Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds"?

Wow...the rest are surprisingly difficult...Fun game, though!

"Way on the other side of the Hudson, deep in the bosom of suburbia," from "Ariel," wonderfully covered by the Tone Rangers. Sadly, I do not remember the name of the original artist.

"The girl with kaleidoscope eyes / Lucy in the sky with diamonds" from "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," by the Beatles.

"He found his aroma lacked a certain appeal / He could clear the savannah after every meal" from "Hakuna Matata," from The Lion King, (and by Elton John, I think.)

And I may be mondegreening this one, but "...and Thoreau / I say, 'My name is T-Bone!' / And a hound dog digs a hole" from "Existential Blues," by T-Bone Stankus.

(Alternately, there's "Hard Hearted Hannah, the tramp of Savannah, GA." Title is "Hard Hearted Hannah," I don't recall the artist.)

I'm fairly sure I know which song you have in mind for Yorick, but I don't actually know any of the lyrics. :-)

...oh, the one in the middle should've had Thoreau bolded.

"Mama's little baby loves rhubarb, rhubarb, Be-Bop-a-Ree-Bop rhubarb pie!" commercial jingle from A Prairie Home Companion. If that counts. :-)

"...in Boise, Idaho / That's how this business goes" from "W*O*L*D" by Harry Chapin.

I've been trying to remember the name of the Royal Crown Revue song where a yegg borrows his car and he winds up with a case of booze and "a packet of Slim Jims for your masticating pleasure". I'll have to let that point go, though.

Thanks,
-V.

It is, indeed, Bloody Mary, so you get a full 3 points.

I'll give you only 2 for Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds since you only had 5 words, not the requisite 8.

So lepusdomesticus is on the board with 5 points.

3 points for Hudson. It's a Dean Friedman song, but I also love the cover by The Tone Rangers. (And since I gave you their CD, I'd have been deeply disappointed in you had you missed that one.

Also, 3 points for "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," which was another one I figured as a gimme.

I'll give you 4 points for Thoreau, especially since I had to look up the lyrics to the song you cited, which I admit to not knowing the words to. (I vaguely remember the song from Dr. Demento shows of years past, but hadn't thought of it for years.) I actually thought you might know the one I had in mind.

4 points for the Lion King reference to savannah, also. I'll grant you only another 2 for "Hard Hearted Hannah" since she is correctly a vamp and not a tramp and I can't be generous when somebody forgets that Ella Fitzgerald made a song famous.

And, yes, you are on the right track for Yorick.

So 12 points for Shmuel.

It was definitely not what I intended, but I will give you 4 points for rhubarb. And a bonus point because I really should have thought of that one.

And 4 points for Idaho which is, apparently a more popular state than I thought.

So, Shmuel takes the lead with 21 points.

You get points for lyric, band, and not what I intended, so that's 3. And I will throw in a bonus point for using the word "yegg."

That gives you another 4 and you retake the lead with 23 points.

I am tempted to try to get "ID ID ID I / OD OD OD O" past you as a Cab Calloway lyric, but I know "Minnie the Moocher" doesn't really go like that, and that you know it as well. :-)

That would be pushing my generosity.

By the way, I still owe you the prize for the "rabid fox" pangram. You were moving at the time, so I was waiting for your new address and then life got (more) hectic.

"There's blood on the snow in the hills of Idaho" - Heart of the Apaloosa, Fred Small.

"Yesterday he purred and played in his pussy paradise, decapitating tweety birds and masticating mice" - Nobody's Moggy Now, Eric Bogle.

Shmuel got another 2 points for identifying a song title and source in an email to me, though he didn't know the lyrics. (And I assume was trying not to give too big a hint to his rivals.)

He's tied for first now at 23 points.

Yep, thank G-d somebody else listens to folkie stuff!

I thought of using something from another Fred Small song (maybe "If I Were a Moose") but I needed an "I."

And I figured you would get masticating since we've discussed Eric Bogle.

So 6 points for Cellio.

I figured you were thinking of Little Gomez; wasn't sure about Heart of the Apaloosa. Always nice to find people who appreciate both of those.

Hey, do you happen to have any of the obscure Bogle in digital format? Several of his albums never made it to CD and the tracks aren't even available via the common channels. Before I burn from the vinyl I figured I'd ask.

...actually, I assumed I wouldn't be able to get any points for them and I didn't want to spoil it for anybody else.

Thanks! :-)

What I have on CD is:

Voices in the Wilderness
Plain and Simple (which has "Bloody Rotten Audience" on it, a personal favorite)
Endangered Species

and also The eric Bogle Songbook, which is kind of a greatest hits.

I love "Bloody Rotten Audience"! Don't have the nerve to perform it, but it's fun.

Thanks for the list. Albums that made it to CD seem to be available, albeit sometimes only on the used market and some are bloody expensive. Others never made it, like Pure and When the Wind Blows, and there are some songs from those albums that seem to be permanently out of print. For those I'm going to have to digitize the vinyl, it looks like. So I figured I'd ask in case you were ahead of me. :-)

Wow. I have learned something, today. What I've learned is that Tuvan throat-singing isn't even close to the strangest musical offering in your collection. :)

I've also learned that without Google, I don't know a damned thing.

1) Whoops - this shouldn't be in the title, but it is the only Polyethylene song I know.
"Polyethylene Pam"" by The Beatles

2) Weight Watchers
"(a song for the) RolyPoly People" by Judy Small
line:
"They tell us we're unhealthy while they get wealthy,
Weight Watchers is owned by Heinz..."

3) Xerox
"White Collar Hollar" bty Stan Rogers
"...on the Xerox line."

I'll give you the 2 points for polyethylene since I did the same for Shmuel after his email, but the Beatles song is really "Polythene Pam" since that's what the Brits call it.

piefessor was on the right track in her comment.

3 points for Weight Watchers.

And I will grant you 3 for Xerox, despite not having quite enough words, because I believe you know the song. I'll still give somebody else a chance to score with more of it.

That gives you a respectable 8 points for now.

Also, Groot gets 4 points for the following guess for paging me with A thousand what?" I quipped. "G-men, girls, guns, guts." (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, 'Big shot" even though I used the singular G-man.

Actually, the strangest things in my collection tend not to have words in English. Bach Meets Cape Breton doesn't even have any words.

But I WANT those points! Bwahahhaaaa!

"Say, boys, can you code it? (field hand type UNH!)
Right on time
Nothin' ever happens in this life of mine,
I been haulin' out the data on the Xerox line."

Sheesh, I already gave you full credit! But I will be generous and give you a bonus point for effort, even though the second line is actually "Program it right".

By the way, while Stan Rogers recorded it (so is a legit source), the song was actually written by Nigel Russell.

Is 9 points enough or are you going to beg me for more?

Quite enough, thank you!

But I will try to win more in one of the other fields of this quiz

And, since I forgot to bold savannah, I miscounted and it was really 16 points right off.

Then there were 2 in his email (without lyrics) so I have apparently cheated him of 6 points total and he should be at 29. I can only blame the annual baseball postseason stupor of sleep deprivation and frustration.

"'Cause they all are recent graduates of the charm school in Joliet" - Lincoln Park Pirates, but I don't know the author without googling. (The cover I know is by Clam Chowder.)

(Sorry, would have posted this earlier but I mis-read your code and thought bold meant someone was already working on it.)

Edited 2008-10-15 03:03 (UTC)

I'll give you the full 3 points, since no reason not to count a cover.

It was written by Steve Goodman, who is probably most famous for "City of New Orleans". I'm actually especially fond of "A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request" which is why I used the baseball hint. (Which could apply to another dead singer/songwriter from Chicago, too.)

And, oh, yeah, that brings you up to 9 points.

I don't think anybody will get these details, so I'll just reveal them:

"Now I only toss one tassel, so I entertain at Elderhostel" is from the song "In Loving Mammary" by Uncle Ruthie Buell. Uncle Ruthie is best known for her children's music show on the radio on Los Angeles, but she did one adult CD (The Memory of Time) whih includes this song about mastectomy, the chorus of which is "Veh is mir, woe is me, little pink jug how I miss thee."

And the Stephen Sondheim lyric "And please don't fart, there's very little air and this is art" is titled "Invocation and Instructions to the Audience". It was originally written for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum but was later used in The Frogs, a musical that was performed in the Yale University swimming pool.

"One singer eats cold pizza for breakfast, one notices who (or what) drinks pina coladas at Trader Vic's, and another went to Camp Granada."

Ooh. I know the first and third of those people... I suspect this quiz is being kept alive by artificial means, but I don't know all the words. [wry smile]

You are on the right track. I suspect you also know the second person and will slap yourself on the head when all is revealed.

By the way, final set of hints will be tomorrow evening so people can have something to think about on the weekend :)

He bit the usherette's leg in the dark/Excitable Boy, they all said; Warren Zevon, "Excitable Boy"

Thanks,
-V.

Yep, that's it. Another 3 points to put you at 26.

(And if anybody still doesn't grasp the hint, it's a reference to lyrics in 'Werewolves of London," one of my favorite songs of all time.

I'm fairly sure that rhubarb is in an Allen Sherman song somewhere, used to describe a fight or quarrel. But I can't come up with any actual evidence for that using only my memory. On the other hand, if I ever put up another list, I might use disregard for my D.

Thanks,
-V.

As you can see from the last set of hints, I had a different word in mind for Allen Sherman. I will say that you are sort of thinking of the right sense of the word, though.

I should have, however, remembered that there's a reference to rhubarb pie in Weird Al's "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota."

Ooh, Uncle Bonsai! "If I had a penis I'd wear it outside, in cafes and car lots with pomp and with pride..."

I don't remember the rest of the lyric that starts "I'd stick it in volvos or vacant verandahs..." but hey, that's 8!

Polyethelyne is still the sex toy song and I still can't remember any of the words.

Close enough on the words.

The lyric is actually "I'd stick it in vacuums on vacant verandahs / in gas-guzzling Volvos and poodles and pandas."

The song title is actually "Penis Envy."

So, let's see, that puts you at 5 points.

Results and answers are post here. Prizes may be claimed by sending me an email (mhnadel at alum.mit.edu)

I hope everyone had fun with this. I may do it again in six months or so.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Online Encore Game

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I don't know if I would count it but...

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Woot!

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Masticating

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Polyethylene Pam - does that count?

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his hair was perfect

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