Greg Nilsen

We've rolled around to another month, so that means it's time for another Monthly Lyrics Challenge!

We're sticking to a very defined theme this month, as all the lyrics below are from songs that appear in a popular video game franchise. So, we've also added a bonus question worth five points if you can name that franchise as well.

Oh and we are sticking with each lyric being worth two points, one for the artist and one for the song.  So, if you've got the artist but can't put your finger on the song name, go ahead and at least try for partial credit.

This is the month to build up the points and really prove your stuff!

Apparently, May was a busy month for most people, because we only got one submission.  That's pretty weak people!  How are you supposed to gain bragging rights when you don't beat anyone?  Feel free to refer your friends next month.

But, Wade did enter this month and picked up three points in the process.  Nice work!  Congratulations!

For the rest of you reading who didn't bother to take the time to enter, here is the answer key for May:

1. Wyclef – Gone 'Till November
   
   

   See, you must understand, I can't work a 9 to 5

2. Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams
   

   My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
   My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

3. Fabolous – Holla Back
   

   I'm Gangsta
   Ya'll just wannabe's

4. Social Distortion – Ball and Chain
   

   You can run all your life
   But not go anywhere

5. Nine Inch Nails – Survivalism
   
   

   I got my propaganda I got revisionism.
   I got my violence in hi-def ultra-realism.

6. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Snow (Hey Oh)
   
   

   Deep beneath the cover of another perfect wonder
   Where it's so white as snow

7. Finger Eleven – Paralyzer
   
   

   This club has got to be
   The most pretentious thing
   Since I thought you and me

8. Dead Eye Dick – New Age Girl
   
   

   I don't know where she's going
   And I don't know where she's been
   All I know that loving her has gotta be a sin

9. Oasis – Wonderwall
   
   

   By now you should've somehow
   Realized what you gotta do

10. Weird Al Yankovic – Baby Got Jack
    
    

    What the hell is an anaconda?

We're back at it once again with a new edition of the Monthly Lyrics Challenge.  No theme this time around…mostly because I simply haven't had time to put one together.  You're lucky you're getting this month's challenge, let me tell you!

Anyway, we've got a slightly new feature this month!  Now, each lyric is worth two points, one for the artist and one for the song.  So, if you've got the artist but can't put your finger on the song name, go ahead and at least try for partial credit.

So now with chances for double the points, good luck!

Well, I'm a few days late since I was out of town, but last months results are in and we have a winner.  Congratulations to Courtney, who was able to successfully name one of the ten lyrics in last month's challenge.  Yes…our winner got just one out of the ten correct.  But a winner is a winner, so congratulations!

For the rest of you who got zero out of ten, here is the answer key for April:

1. Kanye West – Jesus Walks
   
   

   Now hear ye hear ye want to see Thee more clearly / I know he hear me when my feet get weary Cause we're the almost nearly extinct / We rappers are role models we rap we don't think

2. Crash Test Dummies – Superman's Song
   

   Tarzan was king of the jungle and Lord over all the apes

3. Flobots – Handlebars
   

   I can hand out a million vaccinations / Or let'em all die in exasperation
   Have'em all healed of their lacerations / Have'em all killed by assassination

4. My Chemical Romance – Teenagers
   

   So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose / Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me

5. Jane's Addiction – Been Caught Stealing
   
   

   I walk right through the door.
   Walk right through the door.
   Hey all right! If I get by, it's mine.
   Mine all mine!

6. Genesis – In The Air Tonight
   
   

   How could I ever forget, it's the first time, the last time we ever met

7. Dr. Dre (feat. Snoop Dogg) – Nuthin' But A “G” Thang
   
   

   You never know she could be earnin' her man and learnin' her man – and at the same time burnin' her man

8. Pax217 – Voices
   
   

   we are all obsessed with comparing one another to eachother and it scares us

9. Wallflowers – 6th Avenue Heartache
   
   

   And the same black line that was drawn on you / Was drawn on me

10. Sublime – April 29, 1992 (Miami)
    
    

    Next stop we hit, it was the music shop, / It only took one brick to make the window drop
    Finally we got our own P.A. / Where do you think I got this guitar that you're hearing today?

Another month, and another Lyrics Challenge for y'all! 

This time around, the theme is “Roles”, since each of our lyrics has to do with our roles in this world, or the song is a reflection of those roles.  (Not that the theme will help you figure them out any easier, but I like to try and make them tie together somehow…;-D ).

Same format as last time, so there should be no surprises.  Good luck!

Congratulations to Marci, my wife, who was able to correctly identify 9 of the 10 songs posted in last month's Challenge (though she admitted to me that she did get some help from a friend).  Admittedly, that's not against the rules (and one reason I try to pick at least a few obscure or hard-to-search lyrics), so it stands.

For those curious about the correct answers, here they are:

1. The Ataris – Boys of Summer
   

   Out on the road today / I saw a Black Flag sticker on a Cadillac

2. Grits – Believe
   

   A ship in harbor is safe / But that ain't what it's built for

3. Daft Punk – One More Time
   

   Music's got me feeling so free / We gonna celebrate

4. Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – Face Down
   

   A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect / Every action in this world will bear a consequence

5. Gorillaz – 19-2000
   

   Caught up in the conflict / Between his Brain and his Tail.

6. The Offspring – Self Esteem
   

   Now I'll relate this little bit / That happens more than I'd like to admit

7. Everclear – Amphetamine
   
   

   she looks like she could have been happy in a better life

8. Naughty By Nature – O.P.P.
   
   

   How many brothers out there know just what I'm gettin' at

9. Keith Urban – Nobody Drinks Alone
   
   

   You remember whiskey on your daddy's breath / So you always stick to wine

10. Dashboard Confessional – Screaming Infidelities
    
    

    As for now I'm gonna hear the saddest songs, / And sit alone and wonder

It's time to kick off another Monthly Lyrics Challenge.  This month is a potpourri, with no particular theme to the songs.  Hopefully that won't distract any of you from properly matching up the lyrics with the song and artist.

Oh, and you'll also see a new format, with an actual form so that there's a little more suspense when the winner is announced at the end of the month!  Good luck!

Congrats to Wade, who was able to name two of the ten songs posed in February's Lyrics Challenge.  Congrats, and you'll now see your name posted in the results block to the right.

March's challenge will start shortly, so be on the lookout, with a slightly new format to boot!

UPDATE: I realized I never posted the answers for last month's Lyrics Challenge (having a newborn around has my mind all over the place…sorry), but without further ado, here are the answers:

1. The Clarks or Bruce Springsteen – The River
   

   I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company / But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy

2. Kottonmouth Kings – Where I'm Going
   

   Still I try to make it work out for the best / and I know I've gotta clean up all this mess / if I knew when I started where this all would end / I'd prolly do it all over again

3. Hard-Fi – Cash Machine
   

   Go to a cash machine / To get a ticket home / Message on the screen / Says don't make plans, you're broke

4. Beck – Loser
   

   savin' all your food stamps and burnin' down the trailer park

5. Johnny Cash – Man In Black
   

   But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back, 'Till things are brighter…

6. Thousand Foot Krutch – Falls Apart
   

   It falls apart from the very start, It falls apart seems like everything I touch, Falls apart everything around me

7. Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams
   

   Everybody's looking for something

8. Better Than Ezra – Normal Town
   

   To never worry 'bout your future, never asking why?

9. Fort Minor – The Hard Way
   

   But they won't even admit that they were the one to blame

10. Dave Matthews Band – Everybody Wake Up
    

    See the pig dressed in his finest fine

Ok, so I'm starting a new feature here, which will be the Monthly Lyrics

Challenge. This will be a list of 10 random song lyrics tidbits (as long or as short as I deem necessary), and we'll see who can name the artist and song. In some cases, there may be multiple answers (because, yes, songs are covered), and I'll accept any of them. The first first person to name the artists and songs that match up with the lyrics, or the person with the most correct answers by the end of the month, will be featured in a new right-column box (along with a link to their blog or website, when appropriate).

Since my tastes are pretty eclectic, these could be from pretty much anywhere. I'll do my best to balance well-known songs with obscure ones though…

So, without further ado, here are this month's lyrics (with a spin towards our nation's current economic status):

1. I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
2. Still I try to make it work out for the best
and I know I've gotta clean up all this mess
if I knew when I started where this all would end
I'd prolly do it all over again
3. Go to a cash machine
To get a ticket home
Message on the screen
Says don't make plans, you're broke
4. savin' all your food stamps and burnin' down the trailer park
5. But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter…
6. It falls apart from the very start,
It falls apart seems like everything I touch,
Falls apart everything around me
7. Everybody's looking for something
8. To never worry 'bout your future, never asking why?
9. But they won't even admit that they were the one to blame
10. See the pig dressed in his finest fine

Post your answers in the comments below. Good luck everyone!