Today's poll results from an artistic disagreement between Chatwoman and me. We decided to settle the score, as it were, right here. It is just possible that your answers will not only establish, once and for all, whose taste in music is better, but also determine if music knows a gender divide.
Below are the lyrics to two songs with which you are likely familiar. The questions follow.
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"Wildfire," by Michael Martin Murphey
She comes down from Yellow Mountain On a dark, flat land she rides On a pony she named Wildfire With a whirlwind by her side On a cold Nebraska night.
Oh, they say she died one winter When there came a killing frost And the pony she named Wildfire Busted down its stall In a blizzard he was lost
She ran calling Wildfire She ran calling Wildfire She ran calling Wilfdire.
By the dark of the moon I planted But there came an early snow There's been a hoot-owl howling by my window now For six nights in a row She's coming for me, I know And on Wildfire we're both gonna go
We'll be riding Wildfire We'll be riding Wildfire We'll be riding Wildfire
On Wildfire we're gonna ride Gonna leave sodbustin' behind Get these hard times right on out of our minds Riding Wildfire
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"I'm On Fire," by Bruce Springsteen
Hey little girl is your daddy home Did he go away and leave you all alone... I got a bad desire I'm on fire
Tell me now baby is he good to you, Can he do to you the things that I do? I can take you higher ... I'm on fire
Sometimes its like someone took a knife, baby Edgy and dull And cut a six-inch valley Through the middle of my soul
At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet And a freight train running through the Middle of my head. Only you can cool my desire I'm on fire.
1. Which is the better song? a. Wildfire b. I'm on Fire. c. They are equally bad. d. They are equally good.
2. In "Wildfire," how old is "she"? a. She is a child. b. She is a woman. c. It is deliberately ambiguous. d. Who gives a crap?
3. In "I'm On Fire," how old is the subject of the song? a. She is under 18. b. She is 18 or over. c. It is deliberately ambiguous. d. Who gives a crap?
4. What is the weakest point of "Wildfire?" a. Sappiness b. Ambiguousness c. Poor use of words. d. It doesn't have a significant weakness.
5. What is the weakest point of "I'm On Fire?" a. Darkness of message. b. Ambiguousness. c. Poor use of words. d. It doesn't have a significant weakness.
6. If you had to spend a weekend snowbound in a small Adirondack cabin listening to music chosen by your cabinmate, which of these two people would you pick? a. Me b. Chatwoman