I Don't Know Why. . . Trivia Quiz

Answer: "I Don't Know Why" - Fred E. Ahlert

"I Don't Know Why" by Fred E. Ahlert was written in 1931. As sung by Annette Hanshaw, it is a beautiful version of this song. This probably has to do with the band that accompanies her (Benny Goodman (clarinet); Manny Kline (trumpet) Irving Brodsky (piano), Eddie Lang (guitar), and Artie Bernstein (bass)), but her voice is lovely too.

It has also been reissued numerous times, but (in part due to the common name) seems to be confused with the Stevie Wonder song "I Don't Know Why" (for instance, Wikipedia states that it was sung by the Jackson 5, but they actually sang the Stevie Wonder song "I Don't Know Why").

Answer: Norah Jones

Norah Jones was featured on "Sesame Street" singing "I Don't Know Y". She was supposed to meet "Y" but it didn't show, despite that they had fun with words such as "yarn" and "yet". She did a good job of singing this without laughing.

Answer: Moony

Moony's song is attributed to the earlier songwriter, but it is definitely a different song. There are several sites online where the lyrics for Moony's song, "I Don't Know Why" are attributed to the earlier songwriters (Roy Turk worked with Fred E. Ahlert).

In fact, when trying to make certain that Moony had written her lyrics, it was difficult to find a site that definitely stated that she was the author/composer on third party sites. It probably has to do with the fact that there are at least five different songs titled "I Don't Know Why". On the other hand, none of the other, later composers who wrote songs titled "I Don't Know Why" have their songs credited to the earlier songwriters. Perhaps this is because they keep better track of what their songs are doing on the internet.

Answer: Imagine Dragons

Imagine Dragons' lyrics are the darkest that I came across. They sing about how "your love is always dangerous and now I'm lost in us we're living in a lying trust". They also mention faking an alibi and so on. The music is modern, but the lyrics feel a bit like film noir.

Answer: The one by Stevie Wonder

The lyrics for one that Stevie Wonder sang state that his lover "always treats him like a fool". The lover also cheats on him and laughs in his face. I think the title fits this song better than most of the others, because there really is a reason here for saying "I don't know why".

Answer: "I Don't Know Why" - Jesse Harris

Once again, it was Norah Jones' version of Jessie Harris's song "I Don't Know Why" that was parodied. They made fun of how slow the song is while having a wild party around it. Why, oh why?

Answer: Moony

Moony sings about this. The lyrics address one person whom it seems will be able to make out the beauty and "live the moment each and every day", while the singer is unable to "see the beauty in front of me". The lyrics are rather sad and don't seem to fit well with the music.

Answer: Fred E. Ahlert, "I Don't Know Why"

The Fred E. Ahlert song is probably the most straight-forward. The singer is asking why they love the person so much even though they never hold them except when dancin' and "never seem to want my romancing". The lyrics are by Roy Turk.

Answer: "I Don't Know Why" - Fred E. Ahlert

Linda Scott's version of the older Fred E. Ahlert song peaked at number 12 on the US Billboard Top 40 during the last week in 1961. While Norah Jones' version of Jesse Harris's song was extremely popular internationally, it only peaked at 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US.

Answer: "I Don't Know Why" - Fred E. Ahlert

It was translated as "Je ne sais pas pourquoi" by Georges Beauchemin, which leads to yet more "I Don't Know Why" songs, as there is a song titled "Je ne sais pas pourquoi" by Kylie Minogue. Interestingly that song is sung in English except for the line: "Je ne sais pas pourquoi".