About This Quiz
Music and mood go hand in hand. From tunes that evoke happiness to melodies that conjure sadness, music has the power to bring our emotions to the surface in therapeutic, often heartbreaking ways. Some songs take us back to another time and place, making us smile as we reminisce about the old days, while other songs strike a nerve, unleashing a wave of melancholy that inspires us to confront our fears and tears.
Yet, while music triggers reactions in an audible sense, color has the ability to do the same visually. Blue, for instance, traditionally represents sadness. In fact, the color serves as the inspiration for an entire genre of music! As Elton John once said, "I guess that's why they call it the blues." Thus, many singers and songwriters have tapped into the power of the spectrum to elicit specific emotions and images. If you stop to explore popular music titles from the past 50 or 60 years, you will easily find every color of the rainbow represented in song.
But can you pinpoint the exact shades referenced in these hit song titles? We'll give you the name of both the song — minus the color, of course — and the artist, but it's up to you to fill in the blank. Show off your music IQ and make your friends "green" with envy in the process!
Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" clearly references "The Wizard of Oz." Much like Dorothy's fictional journey, the lyrics depict the subject's desire to go back to a simpler existence after realizing his so-called dream life wasn't quite what he'd imagined.
Released in 1977, Crystal Gayle's surprisingly jazzy country tune "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" earned her the 1978 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. In 1999, ASCAP honored this song as one of the ten most-performed songs of the 20th century.
As the title track to the film "Purple Rain," Prince's 1984 hit has become a classic in the years since its release. Surprisingly, "Purple Rain" was originally written as a country song and intended to be a collaboration with Stevie Nicks. However, Nicks ultimately backed out because she felt too overwhelmed by the task of writing lyrics for Prince's instrumental demo.
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Chris de Burgh released "Lady in Red" in 1986. According to de Burgh, the song was inspired by the memory of when he first saw his future wife, Diane, and how men often admit that they cannot remember what their wives were wearing when they first met.
Released by Amy Winehouse in 2006, "Back to Black" received universal acclaim by music critics, who praised the song's stylings as a throwback to the girl groups of the 1960s. While most listeners believe "black" refers to drinking and depression, in this instance "black" could refer to heroin, as that's a common street name in Los Angeles.
"White Flag" is one of Dido's signature songs. Although the song was nominated for the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 46th Grammy Awards, Dido lost to Christina Aguilera, who won for her single "Beautiful." However, "White Flag" did win Best British Single at the 2004 Brit Awards.
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Sting recorded "Fields of Gold" at Lake House, Wiltshire, which served as the inspiration for the song itself. "In England, our house is surrounded by barley fields, and in the summer it's fascinating to watch the wind moving over the shimmering surface, like waves on an ocean of gold," he said, adding that the setting was "sexy" and "primal."
Neil Diamond released "Forever in Blue Jeans" in 1978. Since then, the song has been used to promote the sale of blue jeans. Will Ferrell, for instance, impersonated Neil Diamond himself when he sang the song in an ad for The Gap. After all, blue's the most popular and prevalent color when it comes to denim sales.
As the second single off her second studio album, Kelly Clarkson officially released "Behind These Hazel Eyes" in 2004. Inspired by her break-up, Clarkson once described the song as being "about the dipstick who completely screwed up and now is unhappy and you're happy." While it almost didn't make it onto the album, Clarkson now considers it one of her favorite songs on "Breakaway."
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Joni Mitchell wrote "Big Yellow Taxi" in her hotel room during her first trip to Hawaii. According to Mitchell, she was inspired when she threw back the curtains and saw beautiful green mountains in the distance. In contrast, when she looked down, there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, thereby inspiring the song's most famous lyric: "They paved paradise to put up a parking lot."
KT Tunstall released "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" in 2005. While the song did some time at the bottom of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, Katharine McPhee's rendition during the fifth season of "American Idol" helped the song rise in popularity quite quickly.
Although other artists had performed this song in the past, "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" jumpstarted Willie Nelson's career when it was released in 1975. He'd found success as a songwriter prior to the song's success, but this launched his career as a recording artist, becoming Nelson's first No. 1 hit as a singer.
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Freda Payne released "Band of Gold" in 1970. Although there are numerous interpretations of its lyrics, fans most commonly agree that the song tells the story of a recently married woman whose husband isn't capable of loving her, which results in the couple sleeping in separate rooms on their honeymoon. Ultimately, the groom in this song leaves his wife with nothing more than the dreams she had about their future.
Moody Blues band member Justin Hayward wrote and composed "Nights In White Satin" at age 19 in Swindon after his then-girlfriend gave satin bedsheets as a gift. Most fans perceive the song itself as a tale of yearning and love from afar.
Jimi Hendrix released "Purple Haze" in 1967. Fans and the press typically assume that the song refers to a psychedelic experience because certain lyrics — "Purple haze all in my brain" and "'Scuse me while I kiss the sky" — allude to that concept. However, Hendrix and his collaborators never discussed any connection between psychedelic drugs and the song because, at the time, to do so would have been considered "professional suicide."
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Van Morrison released "Brown Eyed Girl" in 1967, and the song remains popular. In 2007, "Brown Eyed Girl" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 2011, "Brown Eyed Girl" joined an elite group of songs for having 10 million U.S. radio air plays.
Jason Aldean released "Big Green Tractor" in 2009. While the song was met with mixed reviews, it eventually reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country chart in September of 2009. Oddly enough, “Big Green Tractor” became the No. 1 ringtone in all genres in 2009, thereby becoming the first country ringtone to hold that distinction, as it logged more than one million downloads.
Bobby Vinton released "Blue Velvet" in 1963, as part of an album of "blue" songs. Originally a Top 20 hit for Tony Bennett in 1951, the song has since been recorded many times. While Vinton never expected his cover to become a hit, his version remains the most popular and well-known recording of the tune to this day.
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Cardi B released "Bodak Yellow," her debut single, in 2017. Cardi B received nominations for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 60th Grammy Awards. She ultimately won Single of the Year at the 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards and Favorite Song Rap/Hip Hop Song at the 2018 American Music Awards.
Jason Mraz released "Geek in the Pink" in 2005 as part of his second studio album, "Mr. A-Z." The song initially slipped under the radar, but then "American Idol" contestant Chris Richardson performed "Geek in the Pink" in 2007, which garnered the song mass recognition and increased downloads in the U.S. iTunes Store.
After a radio station leaked a rough mix of this song, "Crimson and Clover" by Tommy James & the Shondells spent 16 weeks on the U.S. charts, eventually reaching No. 1 in February 1969. James came up with the title before he even settled on the song's subject, as its name combines his favorite color and his favorite flower. In the years since its initial release, other popular artists, such as Joan Jett and Prince, have released their own covers.
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Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels' "Devil with a Blue Dress" peaked at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. The song was originally released as Shorty Long's debut single in 1964, but it failed to chart. Two years later, however, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels found tremendous success when they recorded the song as a medley with a version of "Good Golly, Miss Molly."
The Offspring released "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" in 1998. Although the song peaked at only No. 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the U.S., the hit track found success across the globe. The song, which serves as a mocking portrayal of a white man who likes to act like an African-American stereotype, topped the charts in nine countries, including Australia, where it went four times platinum.
Rihanna released "Red Lipstick" in 2011. Nicki Minaj was initially supposed to be featured on the track, but Rihanna decided to do the song by herself. The song, which appears on the deluxe edition of her sixth studio album, "Talk That Talk," garnered comparisons to Metallica and Katy B, as it notoriously taps into the singer's darker side.
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In this hilarious 1984 tune, Johnny Cash sings about going to the doctor, where he learns that his body has outlived his brain. He has his brain removed and replaced by one taken from a bank robber who was put to death. All's well until Cash walks into a bank and feels the overwhelming urge to rob the establishment. He ultimately discovers that his brain now resides inside a chicken who performs his classic hits.
Ariana Grande released "Pink Champagne" in 2013. While the track was initially set to appear on her debut album, "Yours Truly," Grande ultimately released the song on Twitter as a "thank you" gift to her fans once she reached 10 million followers. The song was not released as a single from any of her albums, nor was it released as a digital download.
Initially composed for a radio broadcast in October 1930, Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo" was originally titled "Dreamy Blues." He once said it was "the first tune I ever wrote specially for microphone transmission." After mail praising the song came pouring in, Ellington worked with Irving Mills to put lyrics to the melody. They eventually renamed the song, which is now a jazz standard.
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One Direction released "Little Black Dress, about an attractive woman at a party. The singer refers to the woman as "little black dress" because he does not yet know her name. The song, which garnered comparisons to the Rolling Stones' signature sound, was included on Billboard's 2015 list of recent songs that should have been singles.
Corinne Bailey Rae released "Green Aphrodisiac" in 2016. According to the artist's Facebook page, the song's about "intoxicating spring days and nights. It's about sensuality and connecting with the body and how we are part of nature." You can hear this sentiment reflected in lyrics, such as "green like the leaves, unfurling up against a blue sky" and "holiest of mysteries, it's all green."
The Kingsmen released "Jolly Green Giant" in 1965, inspired by the Green Giant mascot. (Yes, that's right. It's a song about the big guy on the cans of vegetables you have stored in your cabinets.) Despite the odd subject matter, the song reached No. 1 on the Canadian chart, No. 4 on the U.S. pop chart and No. 25 on the U.S. R&B chart that year.
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As the title track to Alessia Cara's first EP, "Four Pink Walls" was released in 2015, garnering high praise from critics across the spectrum. The EP itself reached No. 11 on the Canadian albums chart and No. 31 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The EP ultimately served as a preview of Cara's debut studio album "Know-It-All."
Florida Georgia Line released "Can't Hide Red" in 2019. According to band member Tyler Hubbard, the track started "as a joke song." Known as a redneck anthem, the song features vocals from fellow country star Jason Aldean, as the band thought this tune would be right up his alley.
"Brown Sugar" was the opening track from the Rolling Stones' 1971 album "Sticky Fingers." Mick Jagger wrote the hit sometime during the filming of "Ned Kelly." While the lyrics can be interpreted in a number of ways, the band attributes the song's success to its lyrical ambiguity, as it touched on an array of controversial subjects.
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Released in 1963, Roy Orbison's "Blue Bayou" became an international hit. However, Linda Ronstadt took the song to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1977. Not only was Ronstadt's version nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, but she also sang this song on an episode of "The Muppet Show" in 1980.
Written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, "Yellow Submarine" was released in 1966. Ringo Starr sang the lead vocal. According to McCartney, the song was intended for children, hence its lighthearted tune and tempo. The song underwent social and political scrutiny at the time, despite its intent.