Songs by First Line
Released in 1983, this Michael Jackson tune begins, “She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene…”
Answer: What is “Billie Jean”? The song’s unique sound is due to innovative choices, including Jackson singing some parts through a six-foot cardboard tube.
“Greensleeves” shares a melody with this Christmas carol.
Answer: What is “What Child Is This”? Both songs evoke deep emotions. “Greensleeves” is an old folk song dating to the 16th century, most likely originating in England.
One of the world’s favorite flavors of ice cream, its source is a bean pod.
Answer: What is vanilla? Vanilla bean pods come from the vanilla orchid, a vine native to Mexico and Central and South America.
Perform a random act of this.
Answer: What is kindness? It can be something simple. If someone can’t reach an item on a shelf in the grocery store and you can, grab it for them. They will appreciate it, and you will feel good about helping.
This American city is known for being windy in more ways than one.
Answer: What is Chicago? While Chicago gets its nickname for its political “wind,” Antarctica is one of the meteorologically windiest places in the world. Antarctic winds consistently exceed 100 miles per hour (160 kph) each winter
A timeless Beatles favorite, it begins, “When I find myself in times of trouble / Mother Mary comes to me…”
Answer: What is “Let It Be”? Paul McCartney references his late mother in the song, as a dream of her inspired him.
This is another term for church songs.
Answer: What are hymns? Hymns are religious songs sung during worship. The word hymn comes from the Greek word hymnos, meaning “a song of praise.”
This is the word for ice cream in Italian.
Answer: What is gelato? Gelato’s fat content is lower than ice cream’s because it contains less cream and more milk. It is softer with fewer ice crystals and is generally served at a higher temperature than ice cream.
Write down your innermost thoughts in one of these.
Answer: What is a diary or journal? Jotting down thoughts on your device is a good start, but did you know the act of writing by hand can make you feel better due to the heart-to-hand connection? It also improves memory.
While snowstorms blanket the United States and Europe, in the Middle East they have these storms, which also reduce visibility to next to nothing.
Answer: What are dust storms? They’re also known as dust devils. They sound and feel like hailstorms, and they can ground airplanes.
In this 1977 tune, the Eagles found themselves “On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair.”
Answer: What is “Hotel California”? The song is written about driving into Los Angeles for the first time.
A patriotic tune on both sides of the Atlantic, the English version is “God Save the King/Queen,” and its American counterpart is this.
Answer: What is “My Country ’Tis of Thee”? It’s no accident that the songs share the same melody. American colonists deliberately chose the melody of “God Save the King/Queen,” the British national anthem, and added new lyrics as a way of trolling the Crown.
This military genius and king of Macedonia enjoyed a primitive form of ice cream flavored with honey and nectar.
Answer: Who is Alexander the Great? On his orders, soldiers would go into the mountains and gather ice and snow to make the delicious treat.
No one seems to get enough of this at night.
Answer: What is sleep? In addition to making you feel happier, proper sleep can keep you safer and healthier.
This first weather-measuring gadget is still in use today.
Answer: What is a rain gauge? It dates to 500 BC, when the ancient Greeks used it.
In 1978, Gloria Gaynor told us, “At first I was afraid, I was petrified” in this tune.
Answer: What is “I Will Survive”? This No. 1 hit became an anthem for women’s empowerment.
This is the term for performers singing without instrumentation.
Answer: What is a cappella? Cappella means “chapel” or “choir”; a cappella means “in a church or in a choir.” Gregorian chants are performed without instrumentation.
This fruit flavor makes up one-third of Neapolitan ice cream.
Answer: What is strawberry? We can thank Italian immigrants from the 19th century for introducing the U.S. to this tri-flavored treat from Naples.
A deep one of these can whisk away that “fight or flight” feeling.
Answer: What is breath? Take a few more breaths to deepen the feeling of relaxation. Breathe in through your nose, down to the deepest parts of your chest, and hold it a few seconds before exhaling through your mouth.
Move over, Florida; the sunniest place in the world is in this U.S. state.
Answer: What is Arizona? It averages 11 hours of sunlight per day.
This 1970 song by Three Dog Night begins with the somewhat silly line, “Jeremiah was a bullfrog.”
Answer: What is “Joy to the World”? Written by Hoyt Axton, a folk musician, the tune topped the Billboard chart in 1971.
Imagine coming out of the eye doctor’s office, prescription for new eyeglasses in hand, and hearing this apropos tune by Johnny Nash as background music.
Answer: What is “I Can See Clearly Now”? Would you break out laughing? Perhaps it should be titled “Eye Can See Clearly Now.”
The inventor of Good Humor Bars also invented these.
Answer: What are ice cream trucks? Harry Burt of Youngstown, Ohio, introduced both inventions to the world in the 1920s.
This is the quickest—and toothiest—way to release dopamine into the body.
Answer: What is a smile? Dopamine is the “feel good” chemical. Smiling also reduces cortisol, the stress hormone. Don’t wait to be happy to smile; smile to be happy.
Before we had meteorologists, some people relied on this creature to tell the temperature.
Answer: What is a cricket? Crickets chirp faster when it’s hot. Dolbear’s law is a formula that calculates the temperature based on the number of chirps per minute.