Beatles' Songs Containing Numbers - Part 2 Quiz

Answer: Not A Second Time

I hope you got this, the title is a bit of a giveaway! In addition, the other three tracks are all instrumentals that contain no lyrics.

Answer: Two

"Well, it's the second time
I've caught you talking to him
Do I have to tell you one more time
I think it's a sin"

"You Can't Do That" was released as the B-side of "Can't Buy Me Love". Musical oddities of this song were that John played lead guitar instead of George, and Ringo played a cowbell!

Answer: One

"She was a day tripper, one way ticket yeah
It took me so long to find out, and I found out"

and

"Tried to please her, she only played one night stands
Tried to please her, she only played one night stands now"

"Day Tripper" was released as a double A-sided single with "We Can Work It Out". Hmmmm! "Day Tripper"? "Got a good reason for taking the easy way out"? Drug song by any chance?

Answer: Twelve

"Let me tell you how it will be,
There's one for you, nineteen for me,
"'Cos I'm the Taxman
Yeah, I'm the Taxman
Should five per cent appear too small
Be thankful I don't take it all
'Cos I'm the Taxman
Yeah, I'm the Taxman"

"Taxman" is probably a very rare song in that it mentions two British Prime Ministers (Wilson & Heath).

Answer: I'll Be Back

"You know if you break my heart I'll go
But I'll be back again
'Cause I told you once before goodbye
But I came back again"

"I'll Be Back" appears on the flip side of the "Hard Day's Night" L.P

Answer: I'm A Loser

"Of all the love I have won or have lost
There is one love I should never have crossed
She was a girl in a million, my friend
I should have known she would win in the end"

From the album "Beatles For Sale", "I'm A Loser" is a slightly Dylanesque song from John Lennon, which was quite a departure from their happy-go-lucky 'boy meets girl meets boy' songs of the time.

Answer: Kansas City

"Ah, Kansas City
Gonna get my baby one time, a-yeah, yeah
I'm going to Kansas City
Get my baby one time, yeah, yeah
It's just a-one, two, three, four
Five, six, seven, eight, nine"

Now just who says Paul can't sing good rock and roll?

Answer: Fifty

"Caught an early plane back to London
Fifty acorns tied in a sack
The men from the press said, "We wish you success
It's good to have the both of you back"

Of course, the next line that followed the above was "Christ, you know it ain't easy" which led to more bans and public outcry. It all seems so tame by today's standards.

Answer: Three times and one time

"I'll remember all the little things we've done
Can't she see she'll always be the only one, only one"

and

"I'll remember all the little things we've done
She'll remember and she'll miss her only one, lonely one"

If you listen closely to "Misery" you will note that both Lennon and McCartney are singing. They harmonise so well that most of the time it simply sounds like one voice.

Answer: 17

"Well, she was just 17

You know what I mean
And the way she looked was way beyond compare
So how could I dance with another (ooh)
When I saw her standin' there"

Yeah! We know what you mean. Shame on ye!

According to www.songfacts.com: "Paul McCartney stated many years ago that there was a bit of a struggle settling on the right rhyme for the word "17". They considered "And a real beauty queen", but "17" and "beauty queen" had already been used in another song by another band. They settled with "And you know what I mean" and according to McCartney the line meant "Absolutely nothing".

Answer: One

"You gotta check it and see, one more time for me"

Try asking a postman that today and see what response you would get!

Answer: One or two

"Got the bill and Rita paid it
Took her home, I nearly made it,
Sitting on the sofa with a sister or two
Oh, lovely Rita, meter maid
Where would I be without you
Give us a wink and make me think of you"

I think Paul did quite well. Rita paid the bill, and then took him home. And let's face it, he "almost made it". It could have been a lot worse!

Answer: You Never Give Me Your Money

"One two three four five six seven
All good children go to Heaven"

Earlier in the song we hear the line:

"You never give me your money
You only give me your funny paper"

This was a reference to the lads' growing frustration about having no way of knowing excatly how much money they possessed. Apparently, their accountants would only talk in terms of how much they were worth on paper, which spawned the song line "funny paper".

Answer: Cold As Ice

"My baby says she's trav'ling on the one after 909
I said move over honey I'm travelling on that line
I said move over once, move over twice
Come on baby don't be cold as ice"

Bet you didn't expect to find a Foreigner-related question in this quiz, hey? Heh heh! I'm sorry, "I should have known better"!

Answer: Five o'clock

"Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begins
Silently closing her bedroom door"

Let's hope she ate a hearty breakfast, after all, she had a big day ahead of her!

Answer: Nine o'clock

"Friday morning at nine o'clock she is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
Meeting a man from the motor trade"

Of course, it is never revealed whether the man showed up. For all we know she is still standing there! (And if she didn't eat that breakfast I suggested, she would be really hungry by now!)

Answer: Twice

"I once had a girl, or should I say
She once had me
She showed me her room
Isn't it good, Norwegian Wood?"

Norwegian Wood was a cheap decorative furnishing material of the time. It was not wood from Norway.

Answer: Two

"I sat on a rug, drinking her wine, biding my time.
We talked until two and then she said, "It's time for bed"

Ah! Time for my favourite bit of interesting info. There are lines at the end of the song that go:

"And when I awoke, I was alone, this bird had flown
So I lit a fire, isn't it good, Norwegian Wood"

In Paul McCartney's biography, he reveals that everyone thought the "Fire" line was a nice cutesy ending to the song. But what he and John laughed about when penning the lyrics was that they said it was because he had been jilted, as the girl wouldn't put out, so the fire was actually him burning the house down as an act of revenge!

Answer: The Fool On The Hill

"Well on his way his head in a cloud
The man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud
But nobody ever hears him
Or the sound he appears to make
And he never seems to notice
But the fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down
And the eyes in his head
See the world spinning around"

Later in the song we hear lyrics that reflect how we all feel sometimes:

"But nobody ever hears him
Or the sound he appears to make"

Answer: Hundred

"It's a thousand pages, give or take a few
I'll be writing more in a week or two"

and

If you really like it you can have the rights
It could make a million for you overnight"

According to www.songfacts.com: "It's the first song that features Paul on his newly acquired Rickenbacker 4001 bass. The engineer, who was told by McCartney into performing the above mentioned speaker-as-a-microphone trick, received an offical deprecation from the head at EMI for "mismatching impedances". Go figure".

"Offical deprecation"? Well, what else would one expect for "mismatching impedances"? I mean, old chap, it's simply not done!

Answer: A thing or two

"I could tell the world
A thing or two about our love
I know little girl
Only a fool would doubt our love
And all I gotta do
Is thank you girl, thank you girl"

"Thank You Girl" was released in 1963 as the B-side of "From Me To You".

Answer: 20

"Desmond takes a trolley to the jewellery store
Buys a twenty carat golden ring
Takes it back to Molly waiting at the door
And as he gives it to her she begins to sing"

So, "Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face" does he? Kinky!

Answer: Two foot small

"Here I stand head in hand
Turn my face to the wall
If she's gone I can't go on
Feelin' two-foot small"

There are many, many theories about the lyrical meaning of this song, which I will not even begin to explore. I just think it is one of Lennon's much better offerings, and think the "Feeling two foot small" reference is just great!

Answer: Twenty

"It was twenty years ago today
Sgt Pepper told the band to play"

According to www.songfacts.com: "Three days after the album (Sgt Pepper's) came out, Jimi Hendrix opened a concert with this. McCartney and Harrison were both there, and were very impressed that Hendrix (had) learned it so quickly".

Answer: Maxwell's Silver Hammer

It is "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". In regard to the other songs, we have "If I Needed Someone" which states:

"Carve your number on my wall
And maybe you will get a call from me"

"You Know My Name" contains the words (ad nauseum):

"You know my name
Look up the number"

and Revolution #9 has (on a greater ad nauseum scale):

"Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine"