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A sequel to Paraphrased song lyrics.

Each entry in the list below represents a paraphrase of lyrics from (hopefully) well-known songs. Identify the original lyrics, along with the song they occurred in and original performers.

  1. Large, circular supports continually rotate, thereby transporting me to my relatives.

  2. The pontificating cleric prefers his environment to have a relatively high derivative of entropy with respect to energy.

  3. Your ivory-tower moyen de vivre based on communist ideology has proven to be a sham.

  4. There are fewer than three atmospheric discharges (but greater than zero).

  5. Exit the thoughts that were never verbalized, and reenact William Tell.

  6. We missed you when we did drugs.

  7. Over the course of twenty-four hours, I form a megahuman.

  8. Every one of his utterances was unintelligible; nevertheless, I aided him with alcohol consumption.

  9. Even though you do not share the moniker of a famous demon, I'm still cognizant of your goal.

  10. That platform for pomposity has an impressive appearance.

  11. Excessive attention to images transmitted through co-ax has induced me to pursue (figurative) REM sleep.

  12. A portion of these people desire to be your exploiters, while another portion desire the reverse situation.

  13. You broke up with me 1,321,200 seconds ago.

  14. Based on my conscious stride, you should be able to deduce that I devote my attention to the opposite sex. Therefore, conversation is out of the question.

  15. My vertical leap was sufficient for me to feel water vapor.

Hint on 3:

More lyrics from the song: I suppose you're right when you tell me that under no circumstances could I ever be your type.

Hint on 7:

More lyrics: Attempting to balance the budget puts you into bondage to specie — until your mortality manifests.

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  • 5
    $\begingroup$ If one requires actual knowledge of the songs (i.e. have heard them before, more than once to be familiar with them) then you may wish to use the knowledge. If these can simply be found by some internet searching then perhaps not. Looking over some of the answers I don't know many of these songs. $\endgroup$
    – Tas
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 2:08
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    $\begingroup$ so this is basically un-verbose the lyric $\endgroup$
    – L_Church
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 10:34
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    $\begingroup$ Good job, everyone! Now that all the lines have solutions, sometime later today I'll collect them into a community wiki - unless somebody else wants to do that before then. $\endgroup$
    – Daniel Schepler
    Commented Apr 6, 2018 at 17:15

9 Answers 9

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12:

"Some of them want to use you / Some of them want to get used by you" or possibly "Some of them want to abuse you / Some of them want to be abused" - from Sweet Dreams, by the Eurythmics

14:

"Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk / I'm a woman's man: no time to talk" - the first two lines of Stayin' Alive, by the Bee Gees

15:

"I jumped so high I touched the clouds" - from Best Day of My Life, by American Authors

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  • $\begingroup$ On 12 - it's the first. VZB "rkcybvg" vf pybfre gb "hfr" guna "nohfr". $\endgroup$
    – Daniel Schepler
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 17:02
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9.

Mephistopheles is not your name. I know what you're up to just the same - Wrapped Around your Finger - The Police

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  • $\begingroup$ (9) Yep, that's it. $\endgroup$
    – Daniel Schepler
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 15:15
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5/ Exit the thoughts that were never verbalized, and reenact William Tell.

Come out of things unsaid, shoot an apple off my head (Coldplay - Clocks)

3/ Your ivory-tower moyen de vivre based on communist ideology has proven to be a sham.

So much for all your high brow Marxist ways (White Town - your woman)

Hint for 3:

I suppose you're right when you tell me that under no circumstances could I ever be your type.

This translates to:

Well I guess what you say is true, I could never be the right kind of girl for you,

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  • $\begingroup$ I knew the hint for #3 but I couldn't look up the other lyric in time. Nice job! $\endgroup$
    – F1Krazy
    Commented Apr 6, 2018 at 9:37
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  1. Large, circular supports continually rotate, thereby transporting me to my relatives.

Sweet Home, Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd. -- Big wheels keep on turning; Carry me home to see my kin

  1. Every one of his utterances was unintelligible; nevertheless, I aided him with alcohol consumption.

Joy to the World by 3 Dog Night -- I never understood a single word he said, but I helped him a-drink his wine.

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9 - Even though you do not share the moniker of a famous demon, I'm still cognizant of your goal.

"So my intentions are known... Know me by name, Shepherd of Fire"
Shepherd of Fire by Avenged Sevenfold

13 - You broke up with me 1,321,200 seconds ago.

"It's been seven hours and thirteen days / Since you took your love away"
Nothing Compares 2 U by Prince

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  • $\begingroup$ 9 - not what I was thinking of, though I'm surprised at the fit. I still think mine fits better. 13 - there's a minor error. I would also have accepted Sinéad O'Connor as that part is just meant to provide some context, not to be tricky based on trivia. $\endgroup$
    – Daniel Schepler
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 2:10
  • $\begingroup$ @DanielSchepler I admit, I have never heard either of these songs before. I found them by googling lyrics with synonyms (e.g. "moniker" = name) (1,321,200 seconds = 7 hours 13 days) $\endgroup$
    – user
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 2:23
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    $\begingroup$ 1,321,200 seconds = 7 hours and 15 days. $\endgroup$
    – Fillet
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 7:43
  • $\begingroup$ @PaulParker You'd never heard of "Nothing Compares 2 U" before? $\endgroup$
    – Kevin
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 12:09
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    $\begingroup$ @Fillet Trivia tidbit. Prince wrote it with 13 days. Sinéad O'Connor changed it to 15. $\endgroup$
    – Kevin
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 12:15
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  1. "Over the course of twenty-four hours, I form a megahuman."

"We can be heroes, just for one day" David Bowie – Heroes

  1. "Excessive attention to images transmitted through co-ax has induced me to pursue (figurative) REM sleep."

"Too much television watching got me chasing dreams" Coolio – Gangsta's Paradise

We're still missing (3) & (4), but I'm drawing blanks on those, although I feel like (3) should be obvious... Urgh.

Good puzzle though (& good songs too!)

EDIT: 4. "There are fewer than three atmospheric discharges (but greater than zero)."

"Lightning strikes, maybe once, maybe twice." Fleetwood Mac – Gypsy

Now that (3) is actively torturing me :p

EDIT²: Oh. I got 7 this time.

  1. Over the course of twenty-four hours, I form a megahuman.

"And I'm a million different people / From one day to the next" The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony

Here's the second hint:

"Attempting to balance the budget puts you into bondage to specie — until your mortality manifests."

is

"Trying to make ends meet / You're a slave to money then you die"

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  • $\begingroup$ Sorry, this isn't the answer to 7 either. (The original lyrics did indeed have first person singular, as opposed to the first person plural here, or the second person imperative from wolfram42's guess.) $\endgroup$
    – Daniel Schepler
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 16:32
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    $\begingroup$ I think I got 3 with the hint (see answer), bit annoyed at not getting 7, that was my Era $\endgroup$
    – Fillet
    Commented Apr 6, 2018 at 9:33
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  1. We missed you when we did drugs.

How many special people change?
How many lives are living strange
Where were you while we were getting high?
-Champagne Supernova by Oasis

  1. Even though you do not share the moniker of a famous demon, I'm still cognizant of your goal.
    Maybe its:

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game
-Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones

  1. Excessive attention to images transmitted through co-ax has induced me to pursue (figurative) REM sleep.

I had the radio on, I was drivin'
Trees flew by, me and Del were singin' little Runaway
I was flyin'
Yeah runnin' down a dream
-Runnin Down a Dream (not Drain) by Tom Petty

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  • $\begingroup$ 9 - nice guess, but doesn't quite fit. 11 - only fits half the clue. $\endgroup$
    – Daniel Schepler
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 7:25
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2.

You know the preacher like the cold - California dreamin - Mamas and Papas

  1. This could be a few different songs. I'll go with:


    Strike! New York! Lightning! Not once but twice - Lightnin Strikes (not once but twice) - The clash

Runner up:

Maybe lightning strikes twice - Lighting Strikes twice - Iron Maiden

7.

Be a giant for a day - Giant for a Day - Gentle Giant

10

That's a fine-looking high horse - Take me to Church - Hozier

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  • $\begingroup$ 4 - on the right track, but neither is precisely what I was looking for. 7 - huh, hadn't heard of that one, otherwise I probably would have added something to distinguish it. Not what I'm looking for, unfortunately. $\endgroup$
    – Daniel Schepler
    Commented Apr 5, 2018 at 7:33
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For the convenience of readers to find answers in one place:

  1. Large, circular supports continually rotate, thereby transporting me to my relatives.

Big wheels keep on turning
Carry me home to see my kin.
— Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Sweet Home Alabama"
Solved by Pugmonkey

  1. The pontificating cleric prefers his environment to have a relatively high derivative of entropy with respect to energy.

You know the preacher like the cold.
— The Mamas and the Papas, "California Dreamin'"
Solved by wolfram42

  1. Your ivory-tower moyen de vivre based on communist ideology has proven to be a sham.

So much for all your highbrow Marxist ways.
— White Town, "Your Woman"
Solved by Fillet

  1. There are fewer than three atmospheric discharges (but greater than zero).

Lightning strikes maybe once, maybe twice.
— Fleetwood Mac, "Gypsy"
Solved by Selene Ian

  1. Exit the thoughts that were never verbalized, and reenact William Tell.

Come out of the things unsaid
Shoot an apple off my head.
— Cold Play, "Clocks"
Solved by Fillet

  1. We missed you when we did drugs.

Where were you while we were getting high?
— Oasis, "Champagne Supernova"
Solved by Chowzen

  1. Over the course of twenty-four hours, I form a megahuman.

But I'm a million different people from one day to the next.
— The Verve, "Bitter Sweet Symphony"
Solved by Selene Ian

  1. Every one of his utterances was unintelligible; nevertheless, I aided him with alcohol consumption.

I never understood a single word he said
But I helped him a-drink his wine.
— Three Dog Night, "Joy to the World"
Solved by Pugmonkey

  1. Even though you do not share the moniker of a famous demon, I'm still cognizant of your goal.

Mephistopheles is not your name
I know what you're up to just the same.
— The Police, "Wrapped Around Your Finger"
Solved by Lord Farquaad

  1. That platform for pomposity has an impressive appearance.

That's a fine looking high horse.
— Hozier, "Take Me to Church"
Solved by wolfram42

  1. Excessive attention to images transmitted through co-ax has induced me to pursue (figurative) REM sleep.

Too much television watching got me chasing dreams.
— Coolio, "Gangsta's Paradise"
Solved by Selene Ian

  1. A portion of these people desire to be your exploiters, while another portion desire the reverse situation.

Some of them want to use use
Some of them want to get used by you
— The Eurythmics, "Sweet Dreams"
Solved by puzzledPig

  1. You broke up with me 1,321,200 seconds ago.

It's been seven hours and fifteen days
Since you took your love away.
— Sinéad O'Connor, "Nothing Compares 2 U"
Solved by Paul Parker

  1. Based on my conscious stride, you should be able to deduce that I devote my attention to the opposite sex. Therefore, conversation is out of the question.

Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk
I'm a woman's man: no time to talk.
— The Bee Gees, "Stayin' Alive"
Solved by puzzledPig

  1. My vertical leap was sufficient for me to feel water vapor.

I jumped so high I touched the clouds.
— American Authors, "Best Day of My Life"
Solved by puzzledPig

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