A bunch of musical geniuses

I was pleased (and maybe surprised, I forget) at how well my handful of readers did on the song lyrics contest. Only two of the 10 lines totally stumped you, and I kind of thought they might.

It was a close contest (if Jacob is to be believed about having known five answers, after he read Courtney's responses) but ultimately Courtney was the big winner, swooping in with 5.5 correct responses only about an hour after the post went live. (The 0.5 is for a correct artist in Everclear but the wrong song title. It should have been "Santa Monica," which Jacob professes to have been his personal theme song during high school.)

I kind of thought Jacob would be the one to guess #2 and #4 correctly, since they both fall into the old-time country category that he and I have boldly admitted to enjoying. Alas, he did not.

The answer for #2 should be "Flowers on the Wall," originally recorded by the Statler Brother, but later covered by a long list of folks, including Johnny Cash and young whipper-snapper Eric Heatherly, who scored a #6 on the country charts with it in 2000. Allegedly the song also makes an appearance in the movie "Pulp Fiction," which I have never seen.

The other stumper, #4, was Willie Nelson's "Me and Paul," written by Willie about his time on the road with drummer Paul English (or so the Internets tell me). Meaghan did correctly guess this as Willie Nelson song, so I guess it was only a half-stumper. She was also right in thinking the song was about being "on the road," so maybe she should get three-quarters of a point for this. But in a contest with no tangible prize, is it really worth the debate?

My apologies to Julie for designing a contest so unreasonably stacked against her personal abilities and knowledge base. Perhaps next time we'll do fill-in-the-blank song lyrics.

So, in case any doubts or confusion remain, here is the full answer key:

1. "I wish I was like you, easily amused" -- Nirvana, All Apologies

2. "Playing Solitaire till dawn with a deck of 51, smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo, so don't tell me I've nothing to do" -- Statler Brothers (and many others), Flowers on the Wall

3. "I need a photo opportunity. I want a shot at redemption. Don't want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard" -- Paul Simon, You Can Call Me Al -- (and yes, Courtney, it is a great song)

4. "It's been rough and rocky travelin' but I'm finally standing upright on the ground. And after takin' several readings, I'm surprised to find my mind still fairly sound." -- Willie Nelson, Me and Paul

5. "You, I thought I knew you. You, I cannot judge." -- REM, Nightswimming

6. "We can live beside the ocean, leave the fire behind, swim out past the breakers, watch the world die." -- Everclear, Santa Monica

7. "And the reaching of the steeple felt like one more expensive ad for something cheap. This was not the way it looked on the billboard, smiling family beaming down on the interstate." (sorry, this is totally self-indulgent. only one of you will know it.) -- Caedmon's Call, Expectations -- (and yes, Meaghan was the one I expected to know it)

8. "So shave your face with some mace in the dark. Savin' all your food stamps and burnin' down the trailer park." -- Beck, Loser

9. "Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book? It took me years to write. Will you take a look?" -- Beatles, Paperback Writer

10. "I don't cry when my dog runs away. I don't get angry at the bills I have to pay. I don't get angry when my mom smokes pot." -- Sublime, What I Got

To avoid this crowd's harsh judgment (or that of my legions of silent readers), I'll clarify that these are not my favorite songs, just some songs that periodically pop into my head. Meaghan asked why I did not include any Jack Johnson, whom I listen to more frequently than any of the above. Good question, and I don't know (other than the suspicion that no one would have known the answer).

In some cases, I had to look up the titles myself before assembling the contest. Is that wholly unfair or what?

Either way, thanks for playing.