Instrumental Songs With Lyrics Quiz

"Bang A Gong (Get It On)" was T-Rex's only significant hit in the US where it hit the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 whereas it went to number one on the UK Singles chart in 1971.

T_Rex was a vehicle for Marc Bolan who epitomised Glam Rock of the era: outrageous costumes, obscure lyrics, driving beats and stage shows very heavy on theatre.

The song is ostensibly about having sex though the lyrics are deliberately vague to keep the censors away. The original title was thought to be too risque for the American market so "Bang a Gong" was added to the title even though there was no mention of a gong in the lyrics. This may well be the only famous song that has the name of a musical instrument in the title but doesn't use that instrument in the recording.

The supergroup, The Power Station, (Robert Palmer and Duran Duran members), recorded the song as a cover, and called it "Get It On." Their version, in 1985, went one place higher than the original on the Billboard Hot 100.

The photo depicts a gong in a Japanese shrine.

This 1941 jump-blues single was about a Chicago trumpeter who, after being drafted into the army during World War II, played havoc with "Reveille" as the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B. The song was written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince and intended for Lou Costello to perform in "Buck Privates", a 1941 Abbott & Costello movie. However, the song was reworked for The Andrews Sisters, who sang it in the movie. Later in the year, they released the song as a single which became a hit. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song but did not win.

If you watch the clip of Christina Aguilera's 2006 single "Candyman," this was a tribute to the Andrew Sisters song and was sung in the same style as the "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy".

"Baby Grand" (1986) was written by Billy Joel specifically to sing as a duet with Ray Charles. He had been a lifetime admirer of the older musician. He had not met the blind singer until he came to the studio to record the song. It was Mr Charles' habit when he met someone for the first time to touch that person's face. When he touched Mr Joel's face he told him to "Relax" as Mr Joel was very nervous. Before he approached Mr Charles he needed to write a song that both could identify with. In a 2016 interview with "Sirius XM", he was looking for inspiration for a duet: "I glanced at the baby grand piano and realized that I had a lot of love for that thing". It was the instrument of choice for both singers so it seemed only natural for that to be the subject of the song.

It was only meant to be a feature track on Billy Joel's tenth album, "The Bridge" (which it was). However, the US record distributors released it in the US (only) where it was a minor hit peaking at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Joel's daughter, born when he was married to Christie Brinkley, Alexa Ray, was named after Ray Charles.

Irving Berlin's 1910 composition "Alexander and his Clarinet" was a contemporary song that was erroneously classified as ragtime. His friend Jack Alexander was a cornet-playing African-American bandleader who inspired the title character. The song told the tale of the reconciliation between an African-American clarinet player named Alexander Adams and his past girlfriend Eliza Johnson and also told of Alexander's innovative musical style.

The number is a lively song, which of course features a clarinet. The introduction of Alexander the song character led to a sequel, "Alexander's Ragtime Band". This was a Tin Pan Alley song released in 1911 and is often cited, incorrectly, as his first hit globally.

"Church Bells" (2016) was the third single from Carrie Underwood's fifth studio album "Storyteller". It reached number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number 64 in Canada. It was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2017.

This was one of many tales told on this album. Written by Zach Crowell, Brett James and Hillary Lindsey, the story is about Jenny, who killed her abusive husband by adding, "something in his Tennessee whiskey." The eponymous bells signified different things as the song progressed: "In the beginning, they represented a wedding; in the middle, they represented her needing some help after he abused her ... so then at the end, of course, the church bells represented the ones that rang out at his funeral, and she's freed" said Ms Underwood in a 2017 interview with "The Boot".

The photo depicts several bell peppers. (Apologies to those people in countries where they are known as capsicums.)

In this case "bass" is the male voice. Nevertheless, the bass is an important musical instrument, being an integral instrument in both big bands and jazz. As guitars became electric so they could be amplified because of larger audiences, bass guitars also became electric, "to fill the bottom in". It would be a rare rock band that did not have a bass guitar as one of its instruments.

"Daddy Sang Bass" was written by Carl Perkins, and recorded by Johnny Cash, and was released in November 1968. It was the first single from the album "The Holy Land". The song went to number one on the Billboard country chart for six weeks.

The song was notable for the number of people who appeared on the record who were uncredited. The line "Me and little brother will join right in there" was written by Perkins about Cash's brother Jack, who died when they were both young. This line was sung by Don Reid and Lew DeWitt (Statler Brothers) who were uncredited. Also uncredited is Jan Howard, who sang the line "Mama sang tenor" also in the song's chorus. This line was often incorrectly credited to June Carter, who sang the line when in concert with Cash.

Carl Perkins recorded a version of the song which he included on his his 1969 "Greatest Hits" album. This album became a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Country album chart in the same year.

"Different Drum" was written by Michael Nesmith (of Monkees' fame) in 1964. It was first recorded as a bluegrass song by The Greenbriar Boys in 1966. Nesmith offered it to the Monkees but it was refused by the show's TV producers.

The song told the story of two lovers; one wanted to settle down, and the other wanted to remain free and independent. The lover who wanted to remain free was the narrator.

The song became a hit for the Stone Poneys featuring Linda Ronstadt in 1967. It reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ms Ronstadt was 21 when she recorded it. It was her first hit. She reversed the gender references in the song. The Poneys wanted to record the song as an acoustic ballad. Nick Bent, producer, wanted a more complex mix using a Jimmy Bond arrangement. As such, the musicians were guitarists Al Viola and Bernie Leadon, Jimmy Bond (bass), drummer Jim Gordon, strings arranged by Sid Sharp, and an improvised harpsichord played by Don Randi. This meant that Ms Ronstadt was the only member of the Stone Poneys who performed on the record.

The photo depicts steel drums or steelpans.

The newest song in this quiz became a success through social media rather than radio airplay. In 2021, AJR, an indie pop band founded by brothers Adam, Jack, and Ryan Met, multi-instrumentalists and songwriters, released "World's Smallest Violin" as the final album from their album "OK Orchestra". The song is about the narrator's need to vent about his mental health. The song is a mixture of jazz, folk and musical theatre, hardly a recipe for musical success.

The song did not dent the musical charts much - it only reached number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 75 on the UK singles chart. It did not chart in Australia but achieved gold certification from other media.

By the end of 2023, it had chalked up over 200 million plays on YouTube and 400 million plays on Spotify. It went viral on TikTok. The film clip features the three brothers performing the song in a small apartment while weird things happen around them. It evokes a world in chaos during the COVID lockdown period.

"The Saxophone Song" was the second song on Kate Bush's 1978 debut album the smash "The Kick Inside". While the song was released when Ms Bush was 19, it was written by Ms Bush when she was 15 and recorded as a demo when she was 16. The demo was funded by David Gilmour from Pink Floyd who recognised her talent. With the two-song demo, (the other was "The Man With The Child in His Eyes"), Gilmour was able to secure Ms Bush a recording contract with EMI in 1978. Such was the success of that first demo, she insisted that it be the second song on the first album even though it was never released as a single. The tenor saxophone, which featured heavily on the track, was played by Alan Skidmore, a prominent jazz musician from London.

A rumour persisted that the song was about David Bowie who played the sax from time to time. She denied the rumour in 1979 and insisted that was about the instrument itself. (She did however record a tribute to Bowie: "Humming" was released for the first time on her "Remastered" 2018 album).

The photo references Gerry Rafferty's massive hit "Baker Street" which features one of the greatest sax riffs of all time. While the riff was written by Gerry Rafferty, it was played by session musician Raphael Ravenscroft who received the usual session fee cheque of $27 for his contribution.

"Mandolin Rain" was the followup to the Hornsby smash "The Way It Is" which was a number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic. From the album with the same name as the previous hit, "Mandolin Rain" reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986, but could only manage number 70 on the UK singles chart.

The song was co-written by Hornsby's brother John. David Mansfield, guitarist with The Range, played the title instrument. The song was about a failed Southern romance. The song borrowed from the William Bell single "You Don't Miss Your Water" - it has the same hook at the beginning and while the chords are different, there is a swing feel to both songs.

Ms Swift was 17 when "Teardrops On My Guitar", co-written with Liz Rose, was released. It was her second single following "Tim McGraw". This song was a modest hit reaching number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 51 on the UK Singles Chart. Originally a country hit, because of its success it was re-mixed and re-released as a pop record. This was the start of Ms Swift's crossover from country music to pop star.

The song was a true experience of Ms Swift as many of her songs were. It told the story of unrequited love about a boy called Drew who only saw her as a friend despite Ms Swift wishing otherwise.

Apparently, according to an interview by "HMV" magazine, Ms Swift said the boy showed up in her driveway two years after the album was released, to tell her he had broken up with his girlfriend only to be told by Ms Swift he was two years too late. Unfortunately, the boy, Drew Hardwick, and his wife were charged with child abuse in 2015.

The song won the Song of the Year award at the Annual BMI Country Awards in 2008.

While Bob Dylan released his fifth album, "Bringing It All Back Home", in 1965, it contained "Mr. Tambourine Man", which wasn't released as a single. The Byrds released their cover version a month after Dylan and it was a number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

Dylan wrote the song about a folk guitarist named Bruce Langhorne who played with him on some of his early recordings. Dylan's producer Tom Wilson asked Langhorne to play tambourine on Dylan's album so Langhorne turned up with a tambourine as big as a wagon wheel which inspired him to write the song but he never told his tambourinist.

The Byrds' version is based on Dylan's demo version (which was never released) he wrote for the 1964 album "Another Side of Bob Dylan". When they recorded it they changed the time signature from 2/4 country groove to 4/4 (so you could dance to it). They deleted some of the lyrics and added their characteristic sound - a jangly 12-string lead guitar. Only three of the five Byrds performed on this song: Roger McGuinn sang lead and played lead guitar; Gene Clark and David Crosby sang the harmonies.

After Dylan heard their version, it convinced Dylan to go electric. The Byrds went on to record several Dylan songs including "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere"; "The Times They Are a-Changin'"; "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" and "Chimes of Freedom."