The Decade's First Distraction

It would be hard to describe just how bored I got today. My working day currently consists entirely of reading papers on the various intricacies of different "probability wheels", all of which invariably look like Trivial Pursuit pieces halfway through a game played by the colour-blind. I don't know how Ibb managed it for three and a half years.

In order to rest my aching, wheezing brain for a few minutes, I started writing this post, in which I go back to an old favourite that requires no actual thought. Well, not for me, at least.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen: it's the fourth in the series for the pointless meme I won't let go: the Song First Lines quiz!

Last time's effort currently stands at 32% complete. I'll give it another 48 hours to see if anyone wants a last stab at it, partially to see if anyone can beat Jamie's not particularly insurmountable score of 2 songs identified (Garathon is judged to be on 1.5), and partially because I realised one of the lines was actually incorrect (can anyone spot the change? DARE YOU RISK THE EXCITEMENT OVERLOAD!?!).

On to the latest attempt, then. This time it's fractionally different. I've banned multiple entries from the same band or artist (though artists who've appeared in multiple incarnations are allowed), since I was sick of somehow getting six songs from the same artist every time, no mean feat with almost 4000 songs to choose from. I've also put them in what I think is ascending order of difficulty, to see how well I can judge that. Thus, expect high-selling singles before low ones, which in turn appear before first popular and then less than popular albums, before we finally get to the weird stuff that exists on the fringes of my i-Pod.

Right, here we go.

1. "Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo." Simon & Garfunkel - At The Zoo (Tomsk)
2. "Sleep on and dream of love because it's the closest you will get to love." Morrissey - November Spawned A Monster
3. "I'm a realist, I'm a romantic." The Cribs - I'm A Realist
4. "Took a bite out of a mountain range." Biffy Clyro - Mountains
5. "Up on a hill, here's where we begin this little story." The Strokes - The Modern Age
6. "It's you that I adore, you will always be my whore." The Smashing Pumpkins - Ava Adore (Midget_Yoda)
7. "Took the 60 bus out of downtown Cambell." Rancid - Roots Radicals
8. "A girl consumed by fire, we all know her desire." The Stone Roses - This Is The One (Tomsk)
9. "I'm seeing this girl and she just might be out of her mind." The Offspring - She's Got Issues
10. "Oh mirror mirror, you're coming in clear." Foo Fighters - Stacked Actors (S. Spielbergo)
11. "And the moment will come when composure returns." Belle & Sebastian - Sleep The Clock Around (Jamie)
12. "Please don't let this turn into something it's not." Snow Patrol - Make This Go On Forever
13. "Slow night so long, she's frenching out the flavor." Kings Of Leon - Slow Night, So Long (Chuck)
14. "I remember it well, the first time I saw your head round the door." Damien Rice - I Remember
15. "On a Sunday I'll think it through." Jimmy Eat World, A Sunday
16. "When I pick up my guitar this is the song that always comes." Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Rosebud (Pause)
17. "In the lobby of the LRC, well I knew I'd find something." Band Of Horses - Ode To LRC (Jamie)
18. "When did you lose faith? Seems like yesterday when we were up against them all."
19. "I'm not gonna try and tell you that I'm different from all the rest." Propagandhi - Refusing To Be A Man
20. "He likes to act like he's all grown up." Alkaline Trio - Another Innocent Girl
21. "Let's go down to the fashion show." Eels - Fashion Awards
22. "The time has come for colds and overcoats." Brand New - I Will Play Our Game Underneath The Spin Light
23. "If you never leave the highlands like you're drowning under rain." Roddy Woomble - My Secret Is My Silence (Lynda)
24. "All you need is something I'll believe." Zwan - Come With Me
25. "Come here, please hold my hand for now." Blink 182 - Not Now

Of the above, four tracks are by solo artists, the other twenty-one, at least in theory, are full bands. Five are English, three (or arguably four) are Scottish, and sixteen are American. One song was released in the 60's, one in the 80's, and the rest are all from the last twenty years. Five of them contain the title of the song, and four more come pretty close. For my regular readers, you might like to know that five of the above songs exist on albums I have given to individuals amongst you, and in addition I know at least one of them are on albums that someone in your ranks owns (and I think I've seen two more amongst your collections). Moreover, I've seen five of these artists (in one form or another) live, and for four of them at least one other regular reader was present.

Right. Enough hints. Get to it.