Come Gather 'Round Trivia Quiz

"Runnin' Back to Saskatoon" (1972) was written by Burton Cummings and Kurt Winter, who were both members of Guess Who at the time. Oddly enough, however, neither one was from Saskatoon - they were both from Winnipeg! While it was next to impossible to find anything that stated definitively why the two were motivated to write the song, it does appear that they must have loved the town; in 2017 Burton Cummings relocated to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, which is also mentioned in the song, along with several other places in Canada - but none from Manitoba! Some believe the song was written while traveling on the road, and was a tribute to their native Canada, while others believe that it was the Guess Who version of the Beatles' "Penny Lane" (1967).

The song only made it to number 96 on the "Billboard Hot 100", however, in Canada it went all the way to number nine. It was said to be a very popular song at concerts and was even covered by Pearl Jam while the band was performing in Saskatoon.

"Sweet Home Alabama" (1974) was written by then Lynyrd Skynyrd band members Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, and Ed King, none of whom were actually from Alabama. They were inspired to write the song after Neil Yong released "Southern Man" (1970) and "Alabama" (1972), believing that he had focused the blame for racism in the United States on the South.

In his 2012 biography Young said that he deserved the take down, as the words to his songs could have been more thoughtfully written. "Sweet Home Alabama" spoke about the politics of the day, mentioning Richard Nixon and Watergate, along with Governor George Wallace and the civil rights activism in Birmingham. It reached number eight on the U.S. "Billboard Hot 100".

James Taylor wrote "Mexico" and included the song on his album "Gorilla" (1975). At the beginning of the song it appeared that Taylor had written it to reminisce about taking a trip to Mexico and enjoying the sights there - "Moon's so bright like to light up the night" - but, at the end of the song, listeners discover that he's really "never been" there. Doesn't everyone want to escape their problems by fantasizing about an exotic location?

"Mexico" only reached number 49 on the "Billboard Hot 100", but did make it to #5 on the "Adult Contemporary" chart. Taylor has included the song on many of his live and compilation albums.

Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes wrote "The Girl from Ipanema" in 1962; they were frequent patrons of a bar near Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, and were quite taken with the beauty and gracefulness of a girl who typically walked by on her way to the beach. One of the stories about the song is that it was first composed on bar napkins!

Originally written in Portuguese, "The Girl from Ipanema" was translated into English by Norman Gimbel and was first recorded by Pery Ribeiro, although the recording by Stan Getz with Astrud Gilberto, released in 1964, was credited with making the song an international hit; that version made its way to number five on the "Billboard Top 100". "The Girl from Ipanema" is believed to have popularized bossa nova music worldwide.

While the melody of "Waterloo" (1974) was written by the male members of ABBA - Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson - the lyrics were written by their manager, Stikkan Anderson. The song compared Napoleon's famous battle in Belgium to a romantic relationship, saying, "I have met my destiny in quite a similar way".

The band hoped to write a song with which the audience at the Eurovision Song Contest could relate - one that was not the usually slow, sad type that was associated with breakups. After winning the 14th edition of the Melodifestivalen in 1974 with "Waterloo", ABBA also won the year's Eurovision Song Contest. In 2005 at Eurovision's contest called "Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest", "Waterloo" was chosen as the best song in the history of the competition.

By the way, some of the memorials on the Waterloo battlefield are featured in the cover picture. The hill in the background, called the Lion's Mound, is perhaps the most famous; it was built to celebrate the Allied victory and honor the soldiers who died there. The other monuments seen are the Hanoverian Monument, which remembers the German soldiers from Hanover who fought at Waterloo, and the Gordon Monument, which was built to honor the Duke of Wellington's aide-de-camp who died there.

"Marrakesh Express" was written by Graham Nash when he was still a member of the Hollies; the group, however, never choose to record the song. It was released in May 1969 by Crosby, Stills & Nash on their debut studio album of the same name. The song was about a trip that Nash had taken to Morocco in 1966. While visiting he road a train from Casablanca to Marrakesh, eventually leaving his first class seat to explore the other cars. According to Nash, the song is about what he witnessed as he rode on the train.

The song made its way to number 28 on the "Billboard Hot 100", and was the band's only single to make the UK top 40 chart. It was performed at Woodstock by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, their second public performance together, during their 3:00 am to 4:00 am time slot.

"Africa" (1982) was written by Toto band member David Paich; after viewing a program about the suffering of the people there, he was so inspired that he mostly wrote the melody and lyrics to the song in ten minutes. The song's accompanying video was set in a library where different elements of Africa's culture were highlighted.

Although the video was condemned for being racist, critics agreed that it did bring attention to the continent. In 2021 "Africa" made it to number 452 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time".

In 1970 the country of East Pakistan, which became known as Bangladesh in 1971, was hit hard by the destructive Bhola Cyclone; estimates of casualties stated that at least 300,000 people died. Then the Bangladesh War of Independence broke out in the spring of the following year. Although the country's freedom was achieved by the end of the year, the people there were suffering through terrible hardships. Ravi Shankar, George Harrison's close friend, asked him if he could do anything to bring attention to the humanitarian crisis there. By July 1971, Harrison released the song "Bangla-Desh". In August the two friends worked together to stage the Concert for Bangladesh after only six weeks of planning.

Today the song has the distinction of being the first pop charity single. It reached number ten on the "UK Singles Chart" and number 28 in the United States on the "Billboard Hot 100".

"Harajuku Girls" (2004) was written and performed by Gwen Stefani. It was about the fashion and youth culture seen in the Harajuku District of Tokyo, and Stefani's admiration for the girls who used fashion to express themselves. The Harajuku Girls were her backup dancers during her solo career; the group was formed in 2004 to help promote Stefani's album "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." Each of the girls was given a stage name from the album's title, which was also the name of Stefani's clothing brand.

Although Stefani was accused of cultural appropriation and just using the girls as props, she stated that she was inspired by the girls' individual looks, and described herself as a super fan of the Japanese culture.

Australia has long been called either the Land Down Under or simply Down Under because of its location below the equator. "Down Under" was released in 1980 by the Aussie group Men at Work. Written by band members Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, the tune was perceived as a patriotic song; it told the story of Colin Hay's travels abroad as he met other people and explained elements of his culture to them. The song also expressed worry about how that culture might be changing in the modern age.

"Down Under" reached number one in Australia in December 1981, and was number one in both New Zealand and Canada in 1982. It reach number one on the U.S. "Billboard Hot 100" by January of 1983.