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Quiz about ISLA Spotlights Paul Anka Shoulder  HA
Quiz about ISLA Spotlights Paul Anka Shoulder  HA

ISLA Spotlights Paul Anka: Shoulder - HA! Quiz


"Put your head on my shoulder," Paul Anka says. But we all knew what he was really after: the kiss. This Insipid Song Lovers Association quiz examines his strategy. (No prior knowledge of the song "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" is required.)

A multiple-choice quiz by uglybird. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
uglybird
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
173,550
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
1080
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. It was 1959, and dating was all about "the kiss." The question on every boy's mind was "when she would", and the question on every girl's mind was "if she should". Oh, we knew there was a sordid side to dating. There was something called "second base" and rumors of bases even beyond that. But Paul Anka sang to us about the down to earth matter of the kiss. In his song "Put Your Head On My Shoulder", after asking his girl to put her head on his shoulder, what does Paul Anka ask for next? (50s remember!) Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. For those of you not yet familiar with it, the Insipid Song Lovers Association is dedicated to honoring predictable, unpretentious and undemanding songs. ISLA prefers the familiar, the tested - which is to say, we prefer the clichéd. "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" does not contain a single line without a cliché! Once the songwriter has his girl's arms around him, what does he ask her to do? (Don't go too fast now.) Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. The Insipid Song Lovers Association maintains that originality is incompatible with the truly insipid song. As you will see, no original thoughts, wording or concepts mar "Put Your Head On My Shoulder". Before Paul Anka attempts to move nearer to kissing this girl, he establishes that he is not interested only in the physical. In one short statement he confesses his own love and asks the girl to demonstrate hers. Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The songwriter of the 50s had to master the economical use of words. Top 40 songs of the 50s typically lasted 2 1/2 minutes, and there was often an instrumental interlude. The individual words also needed to be held, when possible, to single syllables. With that in mind, with what line does Paul Anka bring their lips close together in "Put Your Head On My Shoulder"? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. The songwriter has made notable progress in a little more than one verse. She put her head on his shoulder, held him, squeezed him and now she has placed her lips next to his. He has admonished her to "show" her love. In the next line of "Put My Head On Your Shoulder" Paul Anka asks for the most innocuous and best deserved sort of kiss. What did he ask for? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" leaves us in the dark as to whether the songwriter succeeded in his quest for the kiss. The lyrics imply, however, that he did not. After commenting "maybe you and I will fall in love", the songwriter treats us to a dazzling display of clichés in the bridge. See if you can fill in the blanks. People say that love's a _______. What is love in this line?

Answer: (one word)
Question 7 of 10
7. "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" continues to hint that the songwriter was less than successful in his quest for the kiss. Can you fill in the blank in the next line. "A game you just can't ____."

Answer: (one word)
Question 8 of 10
8. In "Put Your Head On My Shoulder", Paul Anka seems to have admitted defeat in the game of love. What can this mean but no kiss? He goes on to commit himself to continuing his pursuit. "If there's a way,
I'll find it someday," he promises. What is the missing word in the next line, "And then this _________ will rush in."
Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Unlike many songs of its day, "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" has a second verse after the bridge rather than a repetition of the first. Now it is true that there are striking parallels with the first verse, and those less understanding than ISLA might point out that only a few words were changed. But may I point out that there weren't many words TO change? More importantly, in the second verse Paul scales down his demands to a request that she whisper in his ear. What does Paul ask her to whisper? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. The Insipid Song Lovers Association experienced explosive growth after my first quiz, its membership increasing a staggering 600% from just me to six people. Yet there is still room on the ground floor of this movement. Ask me to sign you up now. "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" (which must be mentioned in every question so that the question can stand alone) reached what number on the Billboard top 40 list? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Feb 26 2024 : Guest 92: 9/10
Feb 06 2024 : Guest 75: 9/10

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. It was 1959, and dating was all about "the kiss." The question on every boy's mind was "when she would", and the question on every girl's mind was "if she should". Oh, we knew there was a sordid side to dating. There was something called "second base" and rumors of bases even beyond that. But Paul Anka sang to us about the down to earth matter of the kiss. In his song "Put Your Head On My Shoulder", after asking his girl to put her head on his shoulder, what does Paul Anka ask for next? (50s remember!)

Answer: "Hold me in your arms, baby"

It was too early in the game for squeezing or lips. I shudder to think what might have happened to a guy asking his girl for a foot rub in the 50s. Paul Anka wrote his first hit song "Diana" at the age of 15. He had five top 20 singles by the age of 18. All this "idol" stuff started with guys like him.
2. For those of you not yet familiar with it, the Insipid Song Lovers Association is dedicated to honoring predictable, unpretentious and undemanding songs. ISLA prefers the familiar, the tested - which is to say, we prefer the clichéd. "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" does not contain a single line without a cliché! Once the songwriter has his girl's arms around him, what does he ask her to do? (Don't go too fast now.)

Answer: "Squeeze me oh so tight"

It's still too early for lips and kisses, but we are getting close! ISLA is dedicated to finding objective measures of the qualities we value. The Cliché Density Index (CDI) is an important tool in this quest. The CDI is computed by counting the number of clichés in unique lines (18 for this song), dividing it by the number of unique lines (16 for this song) and multiplying by 100.

This yields an amazing 112% CDI for "Put Your Head On My Shoulder"!
3. The Insipid Song Lovers Association maintains that originality is incompatible with the truly insipid song. As you will see, no original thoughts, wording or concepts mar "Put Your Head On My Shoulder". Before Paul Anka attempts to move nearer to kissing this girl, he establishes that he is not interested only in the physical. In one short statement he confesses his own love and asks the girl to demonstrate hers.

Answer: "Show me that you love me too."

"I love you but do you love me" is, of course, a line from Diana, which has sold more than 20 million copies!

If one places a live frog in a kettle of lukewarm water, the frog does not jump out. If one slowly heats the water, it can be gradually increased to boiling, and the frog remains in the pot. We are witnessing a master frog boiler at work. Armed with only rock and roll clichés, the songwriter moves inexorably on.
4. The songwriter of the 50s had to master the economical use of words. Top 40 songs of the 50s typically lasted 2 1/2 minutes, and there was often an instrumental interlude. The individual words also needed to be held, when possible, to single syllables. With that in mind, with what line does Paul Anka bring their lips close together in "Put Your Head On My Shoulder"?

Answer: "Put your lips next to mine, dear."

As players of my first ISLA quiz know, the syllable to word ratio (SWR) is the total number of syllables (139 for this song) divided by the total number of words (124 for this song). This yields an SWR of 1.12. After analyzing a number of ISLA candidate songs, I have determined that songs with an SWR > 1.3 could qualify only under special circumstances.

The SWR of 1.12 for "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" is very respectable.
5. The songwriter has made notable progress in a little more than one verse. She put her head on his shoulder, held him, squeezed him and now she has placed her lips next to his. He has admonished her to "show" her love. In the next line of "Put My Head On Your Shoulder" Paul Anka asks for the most innocuous and best deserved sort of kiss. What did he ask for?

Answer: "Just a kiss goodnight"

Ah yes, most of us have experienced the moment of truth on the doorstep. Typically, this is where the kiss question was answered in the 50s.

Paul Anka wrote the song "My Way", which became a signature song for Frank Sinatra, and he also penned "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" for Buddy Holly.
6. "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" leaves us in the dark as to whether the songwriter succeeded in his quest for the kiss. The lyrics imply, however, that he did not. After commenting "maybe you and I will fall in love", the songwriter treats us to a dazzling display of clichés in the bridge. See if you can fill in the blanks. People say that love's a _______. What is love in this line?

Answer: game

When an author uses a phrase common to other songs, one must infer the reason. The Insipid Song Lovers Association prefers to give the benefit of the doubt to the songwriter. Hence, although "love's a game" could be interpreted as repetition of a hackneyed cliché or even as plagiarism, we would prefer to consider it an allusion. I think it entirely possible, nay perhaps even likely, that Paul Anka is alluding to the song "All in the Game", sung by Tommy Edwards.
7. "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" continues to hint that the songwriter was less than successful in his quest for the kiss. Can you fill in the blank in the next line. "A game you just can't ____."

Answer: win

Paul Anka has 900+ songs to his credit. The one that is believed to have been played the most, over 1,000,000 times, was the theme song for the Johnny Carson show.
8. In "Put Your Head On My Shoulder", Paul Anka seems to have admitted defeat in the game of love. What can this mean but no kiss? He goes on to commit himself to continuing his pursuit. "If there's a way, I'll find it someday," he promises. What is the missing word in the next line, "And then this _________ will rush in."

Answer: fool

Once again one might be tempted to cry "effete cliché" or "plagiarism". But I, at ISLA, (there being no "we at ISLA" as yet) feel surely this line alludes intentionally to the song "Fools Rush In", which Brook Benton was to revive in 1960. Could we not even speculate that Paul Anka inspired Brook with his artful allusion? And is it not possible that pigs do, under proper conditions, at least metaphorically speaking, fly?
9. Unlike many songs of its day, "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" has a second verse after the bridge rather than a repetition of the first. Now it is true that there are striking parallels with the first verse, and those less understanding than ISLA might point out that only a few words were changed. But may I point out that there weren't many words TO change? More importantly, in the second verse Paul scales down his demands to a request that she whisper in his ear. What does Paul ask her to whisper?

Answer: "you love me too"

This would seem to be the final evidence needed to conclude that there was no kiss. Why else would one progress from touching back to talking. (If one was a teenage guy, I mean.)
10. The Insipid Song Lovers Association experienced explosive growth after my first quiz, its membership increasing a staggering 600% from just me to six people. Yet there is still room on the ground floor of this movement. Ask me to sign you up now. "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" (which must be mentioned in every question so that the question can stand alone) reached what number on the Billboard top 40 list?

Answer: 2

"Put Your Head On My Shoulders" has impressive features to recommend it for inclusion in the ISLA Top 40. Its banality and total lack of originality are commendable. It is highly predictable. It has a total vocabulary of 65 unique words. And still, I love to listen to this song. Think I'll get out the 45 that I bought in 1959 and put it on.
Source: Author uglybird

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