MORE SONGS WITH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
First-time visitors to California would relate to the pop hit “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” — which Burt Bacarach and his cohort Hal David wrote for Dionne Warwick
Nineties pop star Dave Matthews once asked, ‘Where Are You Going,’ which can have countless possible responses, like The Bangles’ ‘Going Down to Liverpool’ or Led Zeppelin’s ‘Going to California.’
Asequel to last week’s random feature on songs with questions and answers? I gave it some thought and said, “Yeah why not?” What immediately came to mind was Airplay’s “Should We Carry On.” Well, as Crosby Stills & Nash insisted, “Carry On.”
“How Do You Do?” is a song from Roxette, the Swedish duo of Per Gessel and the late Marie Friedriksen. Hopefully, everyone’s in the pink of health and “Feelin’ Alright,” just as Joe Cocker (originally recorded by Traffic) sang.
You can almost hear the Beatles chiming in, “I Feel Fine.” One of the most resonant “question songs” has to be The Who’s “Who Are You” -- which can generate many answers.
Herman’s Hermits, a 1960s contemporary of The Who, has “I’m Henry the VIII I Am,” or perhaps Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” or the Ramones’ “Spider-Man.”
Van Halen proudly declares, “I’m the One” while Ozzy Osbourne is bewildered: “I Don’t Know.”
You can go the classic ballad route by way of Tom Jones’ “I Who Have Nothing.” Or we can just go with “I Am the Walrus,” or sadly, “I’m A Loser,” both by the Beatles. Nineties pop star Dave Matthews once asked, “Where Are You Going,” which can have countless possible responses, like The Bangles’ “Going Down to Liverpool” or Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California.”
Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m Goin’ Down” sounds about right, as does Smokey Robinson’s “Going to A Go Go.”
Similar queries like Pat Metheny’s “Are You Going with Me” can have replies such as Prince’s “Take Me with You” or Teri De Sario & KC’s “Yes I’m Ready.”
First-time visitors to California would relate to the pop hit “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” — which Burt Bacarach and his cohort Hal David wrote for Dionne Warwick.
Love is the topic that raises the most questions, and likewise begets the most answers.
The Everly Brothers did it with “When Will I Be Loved,” which Van Halen could’ve quipped with “Right Now,” or Barbra Streisand’s version of “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie, or even the New Kids on the Block’s sappy “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever).”
How about the Aussie band Jet’s straightforward “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” I think that can be settled with Everything But the Girl’s “I Always Was Your Girl.”
Or how about Incubus’ “Are You In?” To which Shania Twain could reply with, “(If You’re Not In It For Love) I’m Outta Here.”
Let’s end this fun piece with one of my all-time favorite songs from Chicago, “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is” — to which U2 can say, “11 O’ Clock Tick Tock,” or the Rolling Stones’ “Time Waits For No One” or “Time Is On My Side.”
Well, as Asia once sang in 1982, “Only Time Will Tell.”