Can you rock through this classic rock lyrics quiz?

By: Isadora Teich
Estimated Completion Time
5 min
Can you rock through this classic rock lyrics quiz?
Image: Shutterstock

About This Quiz

In the words of the immortal Neil Young, "hey, hey, my, my, rock and roll can never die." If you are a firm believer in these words, then you've come upon the right quiz. Let's get started to find out how much you really know about classic rock.

The '70s and '80s were two of the most iconic decades in rock and roll, with bands such as The Doors, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead... and the list goes on and on. 

And, as these two decades wore on, the rock got harder, and the hair got bigger. We'll never forget the bands that made these classic rock lyrics the great songs that they are today. Even if you weren't alive in the 1970s and the 1980s, you probably spent some time listening to many of these songs... hey, maybe you had to because your parents had them blaring from the car radio all the time.

So, let's take a trip down memory lane and break out the lyrics of these musical greats to find out if you can really hang with the bands of the '70s and 80s.

How well do you think you'll do? Go ahead and take this quiz and rock on to find out! 

"You'd have me down, down, down to my knees/ Wouldn't you, Barracuda?"
Heart
ELO
Emerson, Lake, And Palmer
Jethro Tull
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Barracuda" is a 1977 song off of Heart's "Little Queen" album. This song is about the band's anger at their record label for lying about them being in an incestuous lesbian affair for publicity.

"Pleased to meet you/ Hope you guess my name/ But what's puzzling you/ Is the nature of my game"
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Gold Earring
Ram Jam
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Sympathy for the Devil" is an ironic homage to the devil and all of the horrors he's committed over the centuries. It's off the 1968 album "Beggar's Banquet."

"I love rock 'n' roll/ So put another dime in the jukebox, baby/ I love rock 'n' roll/ So come an' take your time an' dance with me"
Jefferson Airplane
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
The Eagles
Ram Jam
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" was released in 1982 by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. It was written in 1975 by Alan Merrill of the band The Arrows and covered decades later by pop icon Britney Spears.

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"Here comes the story of the Hurricane/ The man the authorities came to blame/ For something that he never done"
The Beatles
Bob Dylan
Jake Holmes
The Buzzcocks
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Hurricane" was a protest song off of the 1975 Bob Dylan album "Desire." It protests the imprisonment of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, whose controversial imprisonment was considered by many to be based on racial profiling.

"Back in black/ I hit the sack/ I've been too long I'm glad to be back"
Pink Floyd
AC/DC
Journey
Ram Jam
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Back In Black" was released in 1980, off the album of the same name. This famous song is high selling and charted around the world.

"Mama, just killed a man/ Put a gun against his head/ Pulled my trigger, now he's dead"
Joni Mitchell
Jerry Lee Lewis
Queen
Dire Straits
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Bohemian Rhapsody" was written by Freddie Mercury for Queen's 1975 album "A Night At The Opera." This song is one of the most famous rock songs, and many say it pioneered the music video by having one years before MTV made them the norm.

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"Welcome to the Hotel California/ Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)/ Such a lovely face."
The Bangles
Fleetwood Mac
Aerosmith
The Eagles
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Hotel California" is a song off of the 1977 album of the same name by The Eagles. It won a Grammy in 1978.

"When I find myself in times of trouble/ Mother Mary comes to me/ Speaking words of wisdom, let it be"
Heart
Queen
AC/DC
The Beatles
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Let It Be" was written by Paul McCartney of The Beatles and released in 1970. It was their final single before he announced he was leaving the band.

"Call me (call me) on the line/ Call me, call me any, anytime"
Blondie
Jimi Hendrix
Pink Floyd
Iggy Pop and the Stooges
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Call Me" was a No. 1 U.S. hit. It was the theme song for the 1980 movie "American Gigolo."

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"But if I stayed here with you, girl, Things just couldn't be the same. 'Cause I'm as free as a bird now, And this bird you can not change, oh, oh, oh, oh."
Metallica
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Heart
Jethro Tull
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Free Bird" is a 1974 song by Lynyrd Skynyrd. It has been called "the most requested song in the history of rock music."

"Don't ya love her madly/ Wanna be her daddy/ Don't ya love her face"
Fats Domino
The Yardbirds
The Doors
The Eagles
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Love Her Madly" was one of The Doors' biggest hits. It's off their 1971 album "L.A. Woman."

"I want to fly like an eagle/ To the sea/ Fly like an eagle/ Let my spirit carry me"
The Moody Blues
Deep Purple
Blondie
The Steve Miller Band
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Fly Like An Eagle" was a 1976 song by The Steve Miller Band. It sold over one million copies and was even covered by Seal.

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"He was turned to steel/ In the great magnetic field/ Where he traveled time/ For the future of mankind"
The Beach Boys
Black Sabbath
Leonard Cohen
The Coasters
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Iron Man" by Black Sabbath was released in 1970. In it, a time traveler turns to steel and destroys mankind after it doesn't listen to his warnings of oncoming doom.

"Well, I'm not the world's most physical guy, But when she squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine/ Oh my Lola, lo lo lo lo Lola"
Jethro Tull
The Beatles
The Kinks
Elton John
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Lola" was a 1970 single by The Kinks. The song was banned in both the U.K. and Australia for detailing an encounter between a young man and transgender woman and using the brand name Coca Cola.

"Roxanne you don't have to put on the red light/ Those days are over you don't have to sell your body to the night"
Stevie Wonder
The Police
David Bowie
Mott the Hoople
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Sting wrote "Roxanne," a song off of the 1978 Police album "Outlandos d'Amour." It was inspired by the prostitutes of Paris.

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"Keep your 'lectric eye on me babe%0DPut your ray gun to my head" /%0D"Press your space face close to mine, love%0DFreak out in a moonage daydream oh yeah"
David Bowie
Queen
Rolling Stones
Beatles
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Moonage Daydream" was one of many songs to feature the most interplanetary of Bowie's most famous stage personas, Ziggy Stardust.

"Welcome to the jungle it gets worse here every day/ You learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play"
The Smiths
The Cure
Guns N' Roses
Whitesnake
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Welcome to the Jungle" was on Guns N' Roses' 1987 debut album "Appetite for Destruction." It's a highly regarded rock hit and one of their best known songs.

"Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night/ And wouldn't you love to love her?"
Heart
The Byrds
Fleetwood Mac
The Yardbirds
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Rhiannon" was a single off of Fleetwood Mac's 1976 self-titled album. The song was written by Stevie Nicks and inspired by the novel "Triad."

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"I can't explain you would not understand/ This is not how I am/ I have become comfortably numb"
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
Jethro Tull
Cream
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Comfortably Numb" is a song off of Pink Floyd's 1979 album "The Wall." It's widely considered to have some of the best guitar solos of all time.

"Aqualung, my friend, don't you start away uneasy/ You poor old sod, you see it's only me"
Jethro Tull
Bad Company
King Crimson
Poison
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Aqualung" was a 1971 song off of Jethro Tull's album of the same name. This was the band's first top 10 album in the U.S.

"There's a lady who's sure/ All that glitters is gold/ And she's buying a stairway to heaven"
Led Zeppelin
David Bowie
The Rolling Stones
Def Leppard
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Stairway to Heaven" is an ultimate classic rock anthem. It's off the 1971 album "Led Zeppelin IV."

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"We come from the land of the ice and snow, From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow"
Heart
Big Star
Johnny Cash
Led Zeppelin
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"The Immigrant Song" was released in 1970 off of the album "Led Zeppelin III." This single about Vikings and Norse myth charted in a few countries.

"Frank Zappa and the Mothers/ Were at the best place around/ But some stupid with a flare gun/ Burned the place to the ground"
Deep Purple
Led Zeppelin
Bob Dylan
AC/DC
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Smoke on the Water" is a 1972 song by Deep Purple. It's considered to be one of the best rock songs of all time.

"London calling to the faraway towns/ Now war is declared and battle come down"
The Clash
The Smiths
B-52s
Adam and the Ants
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"London Calling" is a 1979 song off the album of the same name. It's an apocalyptic jam that charted around the world.

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"Layla, I'm begging, darling, please. Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind."
Warren Zevon
Derek and the Dominoes
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
The Doors
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 1970 song was written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon for their blues rock project Derek and the Dominoes. It was inspired by an old Arabian love story.

"I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand/ Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain"
The Rolling Stones
Warren Zevon
Bad Company
Journey
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Werewolves of London" was a 1978 song co-written and performed by Warren Zevon. The drummer and bassist of Fleetwood Mac play on the track.

"Sing with me if it's just for today/ Maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away"
Blondie
Aerosmith
U2
The Smiths
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Dream On" is from Aerosmith's 1973 debut album and remains one of their biggest hits. This song was sampled by Eminem is his 2002 song "Sing for the Moment."

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"Somebody went under a dock/ And there they saw a rock/ It wasn't a rock/ It was a rock lobster"
The Cure
Jimi Hendrix
T-Rex
B-52's
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Released in 1978, "Rock Lobster" by the B-52's was their first single to appear on the Billboard 100. It was No. 147 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

"Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why/ You had to hide away for so long (so long)/ Where did we go wrong?"
Jimi Hendrix
ELO
Led Zeppelin
Fairport Convention
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

ELO, Electric Light Orchestra, released "Mr. Blue Sky" on its 1978 album "Out of the Blue." Songwriter Jeff Lynne said he wrote it after being inspired by a beautiful sunny day in the Swiss Alps.

"All the young dudes/ Carry the news/ Boogaloo dudes/ Carry the news"
Mott the Hoople
Cream
King Crimson
The Rolling Stones
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This 1972 song was performed by Mott the Hoople. It was written by David Bowie and is a highly regarded and influential rock song.

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"If I could stick a knife in my heart/ Suicide right on stage/ Would it be enough for your teenage lust/ Would it help to ease the pain?"
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Fleetwood Mac
Blondie
The Rolling Stones
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (But I Like It)" was a highly charting glam rock song released as a single in 1974. David Bowie sang backing vocals on the original track.

"Where is my mind/ Way out in the water/ See it swimmin'"
The Rolling Stones
Prince
AC/DC
The Pixies
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Where Is My Mind?" is a track off of The Pixies 1988 debut album "Surfer Rosa." It was written by frontman Francis Black and inspired by his experience scuba diving in the Caribbean.

"Thought I heard a rumblin'/ Calling to my name/ Two hundred million guns are loaded/ Satan cries 'take aim'"
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Jimmy Hendrix
Queen
Pink Floyd
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Run Through the Jungle" is a song off of Creedence Clearwater Revivals' 1970 album "Cosmo's Factory." The song is about the dangers of America without proper gun regulations.

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"Rulers make bad lovers/ You better put your kingdom up for sale/ Up for sale"
Heart
John Denver
Genesis
Fleetwood Mac
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Gold Dust Woman" is a song off of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album "Rumours." Stevie Nicks confirmed in an interview that "gold dust" was a metaphor for cocaine.

"Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick/ The one that makes me scream" she said/ 'The one that makes me laugh' she said/ And threw her arms around my neck"
Duran Duran
David Bowie
The Cure
The Smiths
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Just Like Heaven" was released by The Cure in 1987. It was their first hit in the U.S. and has been widely covered.

"We are the champions, my friends/ And we'll keep on fighting till the end"
T-Rex
The Cure
Jefferson Airplane
Queen
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"We Are The Champions" is one of the most popular rock anthems of all time. It was on Queen's 1977 album "News of the World" and charted all over the world.

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