There's Something About Mary Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jane

As the refrain goes: "Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm tired of this town again".
The song was recorded whilst Tom Petty was working on his 'Wildflowers' album, which achieved position 14 on the Billboard Top 100 chart and which was released as part of the 'Greatest Hits' album in 1993. Although Mary Jane is a common euphemism for marijuana, neither Tom Petty nor guitarist Mike Campbell thought that was an intentional inspiration for the song according to separate interviews in 'Songfacts' and 'Performing Songwriter'.

Answer: Jimi Hendrix

This song reached number six in the UK Singles Chart in 1967 for The Jimi Hendrix Experience and 'Rolling Stone' magazine put it at 379th of their top 500 greatest songs of all time list. Kathy Etchingham, his girlfriend at the time, claimed, according to 'Q' magazine that the song was penned after a row they'd had over food. Jimi Hendrix didn't corroborate this account, although it's difficult to imagine the song wasn't at all inspired by her.

Answer: Bob Dylan

Another cover here, this time based on a 1959 track by the Everly Brothers. It was released as part of the critically panned 1970 'Self Portrait' album, and in all honesty was probably overshadowed by the notoriety of the album on the whole. Bob Dylan said this about the album in a Rolling Stones interview: "They'll see it, and they'll listen, and they'll say, 'Well, let's get on to the next person.

He ain't sayin' it no more. He ain't given' us what we want,' you know? They'll go on to somebody else.

But the whole idea backfired. Because the album went out there, and the people said, 'This ain't what we want,' and they got more resentful. And then I did this portrait for the cover. I mean, there was no title for that album. I knew somebody who had some paints and a square canvas, and I did the cover up in about five minutes. And I said, 'Well, I'm gonna call this album Self Portrait.'"

Answer: Jefferson Starship

Although not necessarily the standout song of the album, 'Mary' was a fairly cathartic and peppy break-up track. Jefferson Starship evolved from the Jefferson Airplane of 'White Rabbit' fame, coming into existence in 1974. Whether the Starship was truly superior to the Airship is subjective, of course, but Jefferson Starship did release eight gold or platinum albums between 1974 and 1984 before taking a break in 1985.

As coincidence would have it, Jefferson Starship also released 'Jane' in 1979...

Answer: Cross-Eyed

'Cross-Eyed Mary' featured in the famous 'Aqualung' album and was intended to be a companion track to the title 'Aqualung' song. Although the album only reached number four on the UK Album Chart in 1971, it eventually went on to sell over seven million copies. Although the 'Cross-Eyed Mary' in the song was implied to be a schoolgirl prostitute - as a parallel to the homeless man in the 'Aqualung' song - the song's lyrics also portray her in an unconventionally positive way.

"She's a poor man's rich girl and she'll do it for a song
She's the rich man stealer but her favour's good and strong
She's the Robin Hood of Highgate, helps the poor man get along"

Answer: Mary Long

Mary Whitehouse and Lord Longford were derided for their prudish campaigns against 'morally impure' topics like pornography, sex and violence in the media. One of her quotes really didn't age well, since it was about a British paedophile: 'If only they were all like that nice Mr. Savile'.

The lyrics are fairly unsubtle in highlighting the hypocrisy often associated with prudish figures:
"Mary Long is a hypocrite.
She does all the things that she tells us not to do.
Selling filth from a corner shop,
And knitting patterns to the high street queue.".

Answer: The Association

Perhaps by coincidence, the debut album featuring 'Along Comes Mary' was entitled 'And Then... Along Comes the Association'. The song was credited in part for the relative success of the album, peaking at position seven in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The band was quite long-lived; in 2018 an unofficial biography was released which had celebrated its fifty years in the business, although its lineup had unsurprisingly changed quite a bit in that time!

Answer: Bloody Mary

The song's lyrics reference a fair few Biblical figures: "When Pontius comes to kill the king upon his throne
I'm ready for their stones";

"Like Jesus said
I'm gonna dance, dance, dance
With my hands, hands, hands above my head
Hands together, forgive him before he's dead, because...";

"I won't cry for you
I won't crucify the things you do
I won't cry for you
See (see), when you're gone, I'll still be Bloody Mary".

According to 'NME' magazine, 'Bloody Mary' represents a woman who is both divine and human at the same time, with a subtext about a woman who is supposed to be a superstar and a real woman at the same time. Sounds a little self-referential, doesn't it? In any case, the album was a critical success, blending a diverse range of genres and strongly emphasising messages of self-empowerment.

Answer: Morning

'Mary in the Morning' was an oft-covered song written by Michael Rashkow and Johnny Cymbal. The album it featured in released simultaneously with a documentary
about Elvis' Summer Festival in Las Vegas: 'Elvis: That's the Way It Is'. I'd describe Elvis' take on the song as a perfectly pleasant romantic ballad, where the lyrics describe nothing being quite as pretty as Mary in the morning (and, in the last verse, the evening as well). It's sometimes easy to forget just how many songs he'd gotten out there.

As chance would have it, Elvis also sung about a Marie, as in '(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame' in 1961. But, we're all about Mary in this quiz.

Answer: Proud

In the early 70s, Ike fell into a cocaine addiction, whereas Tina embraced Nichiren Buddhism. They eventually divorced in 1978 following a violent altercation. Still, that doesn't take away from the legacy of this song, which is a great pick-me-up for people who want a little extra lift.

Although the original 'Proud Mary' was recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969, the perkier Ike and Tina Turner version was released only two years later, albeit only reaching fifth on the Billboard Hot 100 compared with CCR's second. Still, they got a Grammy award from it, which I'd certainly take as a consolation prize.