Poems, Prayers, and Promises Trivia Quiz

Answer: Take Me Home, Country Roads

PROMISE: To come back home.
The song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" was written by Bill Danoff and his girlfriend at the time, Taffy Nivert, in 1970. They were driving to a family reunion and trying to compose a tune they thought Johnny Cash would enjoy. They found themselves on Clopper Road. They substituted "Country" for "Clopper" and "West Virginia" for their original "Massachusetts" in the lyrics.

That evening they ran into John Denver at a pub and he told them he loved the song. Denver performed it the next night and the crowd gave a huge ovation. Working with Danoff and Nivert, he put it on his album "Poems, Prayers & Promises". It became a huge hit and a signature song of his. As an interesting side note, Danoff and Nivert would later form Starland Vocal Band.

Answer: Time In A Bottle

PRAYER; If I had forever, I pray I would spend it with you.
In 1970, Jim Croce's wife informed him she was pregnant after five years of marriage. Croce's reaction was to immediately sit down and write a song expressing all of his feelings about that moment. He called it "Time In A Bottle". At the time, he was working three jobs and barely had time to devote to his music. The song was not released as a single but was on his second album called "Life And Times".

In 1973 the song was highlighted in a TV movie called "She Lives" starring Desi Arnaz, Jr. Croce's name was even mentioned in the dialogue. Just eight days after the film aired, Croce tragically died in a plane crash. The song received huge acclaim due to the movie and, after the plane crash, the song was released as a single. Weeks after his death, the song was Jim Croce's second Number One hit.

Answer: Gentle On My Mind

POEM: Ode to the loneliness of a lost love
"Gentle On My Mind" was written in thirty minutes by John Hartford in 1966. He was inspired to create the song after watching the movie "Doctor Zhivago". As he later said, he used all the loneliness he felt from the movie and his personal experiences to create the lyrics. He was a DJ at the time and made a rough demo of the song, hoping someone would pick it up. John Hartford recorded it as a country song but it did not fare very well.

In 1967, Glen Campbell heard Hartford's recording and was immediately impacted by the event. He raced to the studio in which he was working with The Wrecking Crew, and recorded the song. It hit number 38 on the Hot 100. However, after it was re-released in 1968, the song received four Grammys and would go on to be hugely played on the radio and an inspiration for other artists.

Answer: This Land Is Your Land

POEM: Patriotic sonnet about the love of one's country
Woody Guthrie decided to write a patriotic song in 1939 when he expressed that he was tired of hearing "God Bless America". He felt Irving Berlin's song was "sappy" and did not truly express what it was like living in America in hard times. By 1940, Guthrie had written "God Blessed America For Me". In its original form, it contained verses accusing American businesses of greed and disregard for the needy. This was based on Guthrie's life of being a poverty stricken hitchhiker.

Years later, in 1944, Guthrie changed the title from "God Blessed America For Me" to "This Land Is Your Land" and removed the controversial verses. He wanted to make it more of a folk song than a protest song and debuted it on his radio show. Its simple melody and iconic lyrics made it a favorite for school children. It continues to be performed as a national folk song and was even showcased at President Obama's 2009 inauguration.

Answer: Sundown

PROMISE: To eventually face the reality of a situation
"Sundown", by Gordon Lightfoot, was released in 1974 just after his first divorce. He was struggling with alcoholism and physical ailments at the time. He wrote the song about his girlfriend, Cathy Smith, who had been part of his divorce proceedings. Smith was very flirtatious and enjoyed hanging out late at night with musicians while Lightfoot battled jealousy. It was a volatile combination.

Lightfoot found himself alone one night around sundown. He began to wonder where Smith was and poured out his feelings into the song named after the time of day. The relationship turned out to be a failure but the song was a huge hit. It was placed on the album of the same name and reached Number One on several charts. It was his best selling hit. As a side note, Smith later served over a year in jail for administrating the lethal dose of drugs to John Belushi.

Answer: Big Yellow Taxi

PRAYER: Please remember the beauty of things in this world
Joni Mitchell often performed songs around environmental or social themes, and "Big Yellow Taxi" was no different. In 1970, Mitchell went on her first trip to Hawaii. Excited, she stood at her hotel room window and saw the oceans and mountains. Then she looked down and saw a huge parking lot which, she felt, totally marred the environment. Upon her return home, she penned the song.

She said she used the parking lot reference as a protest against urbanism and a tree museum reference in the second verse as a protest against deforestation. The song was released as a single and then included on her album "Ladies of the Canyon". A live version in 1974 reached Number 24 on the Hot 100. In 2002, the band Counting Crows also recorded "Big Yellow Taxi".

Answer: Fire and Rain

PRAYER: Please look down upon me and help me when life is hard
James Taylor wrote "Fire and Rain" in 1968 and claimed it was his most personal song. Each verse was about a unique experience. The first verse is about a good friend named Suzanne who committed suicide. The second verse deals with Taylor's addiction to heroin (a habit he had picked up in London). The third verse was written about his time in a mental hospital in Massachusetts.

The original recording was done with Carole King on the piano (later she would write "You've Got A Friend" as a response to this song). The single called "Fire and Rain" was released in August 1970, six months after the album "Sweet Baby James". The song flew up to number three on the Hot 100 and was a huge success for James Taylor. The Laurel Canyon community where he lived also become a hotbed for folk singers in the 1970s.

Answer: Wild World

PROMISE: To always remember you in this crazy world
Cat Stevens wrote "Wild World" in 1970, after having recovered from tuberculosis. That near-death experience in 1967 caused him to start examining his life and preparing for the hereafter. He wrote "Wild World" about searching for peace and happiness in a crazy world. Although many people thought the song was about his relationship with girlfriend Patti D'Arbanville, Stevens himself stressed it was about his own journey into the world and the next steps in his life and career.

The song "Wild World" was his first US hit and greatly helped the album it was on, entitled "Tea for the Tillerman". The single reached number eleven on the Hot 100 and has been covered by other artists and featured on many movies and television shows. Cat Stevens continued to seek life guidance and converted to Islam in 1977 when he changed his name to Yusuf Islam.

Answer: Diamonds and Rust

POEM: Poetic sonnet to describe ups and downs of love
Joan Baez wrote the song "Diamonds and Rust" in 1974 after a phone call by her ex-boyfriend Bob Dylan. The phone call she received from him instantly transported her mind back ten years to a low-quality motel room where they had suffered through another argument. She took all those feelings and wrote the song where diamonds represented the amazing moments of their time together and rust portrayed the eventual eroding of that dynamic.

Baez released the song in 1975 and it became an immediate success. It reached the top forty in pop charts and number five on the adult contemporary charts. The song itself was praised for its emotional honesty and Baez was lauded for proclaiming the song was about Dylan and not her husband (as some people thought). Dylan actually joined her on stage at the Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1975 to perform the heartfelt song.

Answer: Vincent

PROMISE: To let others know of one's suffering
Don McLean wrote the song "Vincent" about the post-impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh. In 1970, McLean was playing guitars and singing in schools to earn pocket money. In one of these schools, he came across a book about the artist. He immediately felt the urge to write a song, especially since he felt Vincent van Gogh was looked down upon for having an illness (bipolar disorder). McLean included many of the artist's works in the lyrics, including a reference to starry nights.

The song, written on a paper bag, was released in 1971 on McLean's "American Pie" album. The next year it topped the UK singles chart and reached number two in the US on its Easy Listening chart. In 2022, McLean created a new video for the song "Vincent" which was in collaboration with the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit in Los Angeles and the International Society for Bipolar Disorders.