Let me tell you all. Yes I agree how Whitney Houston could be Dolly Parton and Nine Inch Nails could of been Johnny Cash however I am only replicating how the source describes it. Each Wikipedia article has different sections with information on the numerous versions of each song. Perhaps the source lists the artists whose section of the page attracts the most views. Wikipedia is able to track this.
I think that Layla should be listed as Derek and the Dominoes as that was the name of the group that was used in the release of the original single. Yes Eric Clapton was the frontman for that group and also co writer of the song but since all the entries are for artist I think it should reflect the proper group.
The artists listed are the same as those listed in the Wikipedia source. Don't know if they can tell which version of a song people were interested in though if it's just based on page views.
The wikipedia source doesn't make much sense. Hurt is credited to NIN, when the Johnny Cash version is far more well known, whereas All Along the Watchtower is credited to Hendrix, but the Bob Dylan original is very popular too.
Whatever the rationale for choosing which artist to name was, I think it's worth mentioning in the description that these are not always the original artists - I tried several other Hendrix songs first, assuming that Watchtower would be listed under Dylan.
"Blinded By the Light" ... wow, that takes me back to 7th grade metal shop. Mr. Rosen let us play the radio, so I probably heard that song every single day that year.
I assume this was by performer and not artist who wrote the song? Springsteen - Blinded by the Light. Dylan - All Along the Watchtower. Usually the writer gets royalties, but I guess on wikipedia, the most famous performance gets credit.
The original version (by Bruce Springsteen) included the lyrics "cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night". "Deuce" referred to a 1930s-era Ford 2-seater (and quintessential hot rod chassis) affectionately referred to as a deuce coupe - also popularized in the Beach Boys song "Little Deuce Coupe". The lyric was meant to refer to flooring the gas pedal in your hot rod. When Manfred Mann recorded the song years later, he thought he'd make the meaning a bit more clear by changing it to "revved up like a deuce". But unfortunately made the mistake of putting a "sh" sound at the end of the phrase... and thus, "wrapped up like a douche" entered the popular lexicon, and 4.8 million people went to wikipedia to help figure it all out.
Regarding the writer vs. original vs. most popular discussion, it's hard to say which is the best one to use. Typically, the songs' pages discuss writers, as well as major versions. In the case of Layla, both major versions involve Eric Clapton, but in most other cases there are two completely separate artists, and also a different writer - e.g., Killing Me Softly by Roberta Flack, and the Fugees - neither of which is the "original" artist - and none of those artists are the writers. For what to include in the quiz, I guess it depends on how difficult the maker wants the quiz to be.
Strange to have Whitney Houston show up for 'I Will Always Love You', when Dolly Parton had the original version, but then include the original artist, Nine Inch Nails, for 'Hurt' when Johnny Cash made the most famous version. I don't understand the consistency!
What an interesting list. It looks to me like the majority of these are looked up because of weird lyrics or unclear meaning of the song.
Gangnam Style
Bohemian Rhapsody
Hallelujah
Stairway
Despacito
Hotel California
American Pie
Sound of Silence
We didn't Start the Fire
Blinded by the Light
99 Luftballons
ALL of these songs have either lyrics with foreign words or are songs with heavy symbolism that people are anxious to learn about what they actually mean. That's why i tried so many weird songs for the Beatles one, but it turned out to be their most famous.
To me it seemed like a list of songs that had some significant cultural relevance beyond just being a popular song. That could be because the lyrics were much talked about, or hard to understand, or difficult to sing, etc... or it could be that there was a really powerful music video, or because the song was covered perhaps multiple times by other artists, or connected in some way to a current event, or the current event was the song itself when it became the most-watched video on YouTube, or there is just some interesting story behind the writing or recording of the song or the making of the music video or some legendary live performance etc etc. I can think of reasons for all of these songs being things that people would want to look up and read about.
That one because of its controversial video, the copyright lawsuit brought by the estate of Marvin Gaye, the briefly rising star of Emily Ratajkowski, and recently the allegations of sexual assault against Thicke. I could see some high schoolers writing papers about sexism, plagiarism, or pop culture that referenced it...
Yes but what is modern music but an observable fruiting of the deeper human colonization stemming back hundreds of millennia to the earliest caveman beating one rock against another, who came to the sudden realization that he loved to sing dance and pretend?
2) The list of songs that *have* won that Grammy includes several forgettable tunes (in my opinion).
3) Layla without the coda? Heavens forfend!
Gangnam Style
Bohemian Rhapsody
Hallelujah
Stairway
Despacito
Hotel California
American Pie
Sound of Silence
We didn't Start the Fire
Blinded by the Light
99 Luftballons
ALL of these songs have either lyrics with foreign words or are songs with heavy symbolism that people are anxious to learn about what they actually mean. That's why i tried so many weird songs for the Beatles one, but it turned out to be their most famous.