The Lyrics Quiz: Start (Answers)
Answers for Quiz 5 of Term 1, 2025
Kia ora koutou ē hoa mā
Welcome to Friday afternoon and the answers!
That’s it for this term - so quick! As I said on Monday, the quiz will be back on April 28 - and I’m looking for some guest quizmasters for next term if you think that would float your boat…
1980s (band): “Start Me Up”, The Rolling Stones
1980s (solo): “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, Billy Joel
1990s: “The Distance”, Cake
2000s: “The Scientist”, Coldplay
2010s: “Alone Together”, Fall Out Boy
Your leaderboard this week:
🥇 on 10/10: Bex K, Team Impoverished, Wreck It Ralph, I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Quiz Team Name, The Bogan Crue, Flying Lizards, Vercisca, Radio Gaga’s, Team LSP, Lore in Order, and Quartz
🥈 on 9.5/10: Siobhan M
🥉 on 9/10: WDPTBTI
And for the term:
🥇 on 50/50: Vercisca, Wreck It Ralph, Team LSP, and I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Quiz Team Name
🥈 on 49.5/50: Team Impoverished
🥉 on 48.5/50: Quartz
Have a great weekend, Easter, and Anzac Day. See you next month!
Kirsti.
1980s (band): “Start Me Up”, The Rolling Stones
If you start me up, I'll never stop
Never stop, never stop, never stop
You make a grown man cry
Hint: This song has become this legendary British band’s sixth most-played song in concert, having appeared on every tour since its release. Most notably, it was performed as part of the group’s 2006 Super Bowl halftime show, and was used in 1995 by Microsoft to score its first-ever TV commercial, launching Windows 95 and its pioneering start button. Song title in lyrics quoted.
1980s (solo): “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, Billy Joel
It was always burning
Hint: Honestly not sure I even need a full hint, based on this lyric and the theme of this week…song title not in lyrics quoted. (Also the band for the final song this week re-recorded this song with updated lyrics a few years ago to VERY mixed reviews. I thought it was fun)
1990s: “The Distance”, Cake
Reluctantly crouched at the starting line
Engines pumping and thumping in time
The green light flashes, the flags go up
Churning and burning, they yearn for the cup
Hint: One of the biggest songs from this baked good of a band who you may know from their song “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”. The title of this song refers to the length of space between two points, and is not in the lyrics quoted.
2000s: “The Scientist”, Coldplay
I was just guessin' at numbers and figures
Pullin' your puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart
And tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh, and I rush to the start
Runnin' in circles, chasin' our tails
Comin' back as we are
Hint: This band annoys me and I can’t really articulate why, but this song famously has the word “start” in it’s chorus so into this quiz it goes. You may know this band from their song “Yellow” and “Fix You”, and the title of this song refers to a person who does experiments and is typically shown in the media in a lab coat, but is not in the lyrics quoted.
2010s: “Alone Together”, Fall Out Boy
I don't know where you're going
But do you got room for one more troubled soul?
I don't know where I'm going
But I don't think I'm coming home
And I said, "I'll check in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead"
This is the road to ruin and we're starting at the end
Say, yeah, (Yeah!) let's be alone together (Yeah!)
Hint: This song was released as the third single for my favourite band’s comeback record, on which they saved rock and roll with the help of Elton John. You might know this band from their frequent appearances in this quiz, or two of the other singles from this album: “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)” and “The Phoenix”. The song title is bit of a juxtaposition, and is in the lyrics quoted.