Quiz: You Know These Classic Songs, But Do You Remember the Names in the Lyrics?

It’s easy to remember the melody of a song, but not always the lyrics. If you consider yourself a music expert, however, it’s a different story. But we’re not just talking the chorus or the bridge here. Today, we’re testing our readers on lyrics that mention a famous person. From Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” to The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus,” you might not realize how many classic songs include a reference to a historical figure or celebrity. Get your brain working this Monday with our latest trivia challenge:

Were you able to get all 30 songs correct within the eight-minute timer? The time limitation makes the challenge even harder when you see the clock ticking. If you got a perfect score, we’re seriously impressed! Be sure to take more of our music quizzes here at Mental Floss.

Most of the songs in this quiz simply mention a famous person, but there’s a long list of songs out there that are about a famous person. From songs in admiration of another celebrity to diss tracks, there are many reasons an artist would write about another public figure. Throughout the years, there have been plenty of memorable ones. Here are a few of our favorites.

Songs About Other Famous People

These four songs from different decades tell different stories about real-life people. Do you know the backstories behind all of them?

“You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon

The 1972 hit “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with lyrics about a romantic partner who’s totally full of themselves. As it turns out, the track was written about multiple different people, but one verse is directed toward Oscar winner Warren Beatty. “I have confirmed that the second verse is Warren,” Simon told PEOPLE in 2015, hilariously adding, “Warren thinks the whole thing is about him!”

“Buddy Holly” by Weezer

Another catchy track, this time released in 1994, Weezer’s “Buddy Holly” takes inspiration from the famous ‘50s rock legend Buddy Holly. The song also references iconic actress Mary Tyler Moore who rose to fame in the ‘60s. The idea begun when lead vocalist Rivers Cuomo came to a friend’s defense, and the rest is music history.

“They were the ‘homies dissin’ my girl,’” Cuomo later recalled of writing the song. “I rarely wrote lyrics about tension between me and the guys in the band because I thought it would be awkward for us all to perform those songs together. In this case, though, it didn’t seem like a big deal.”

“How Do You Sleep?” by John Lennon

If you’re a fan of The Beatles, you probably know this story. After the group broke up in 1970, John Lennon released “How Do You Sleep?” in 1971, believed to be a diss towards his former bandmate Paul McCartney. Some of the lyrics include “The only thing you done was ‘Yesterday’ / And since you're gone you're just another day” and “Those freaks was right when they said you was dead / The one mistake you made was in your head.”

McCartney later opened up about his surprise hearing the song for the first time in the documentary Paul McCartney: Man on the Run, and Lennon himself had shed light on why he wrote it a few times over the years. “The only thing that matters is how he and I feel about those things, and not what the writer or the commentator thinks about it. You know, him and me are okay,” the late musician clarified in 1975.

“Candle in the Wind” by Elton John

With the opening verse of Elton John’s 1973 going “Goodbye, Norma Jeane / Though I never knew you at all,” it’s no secret that “Candle in the Wind” was written about the late Marilyn Monroe. Songwriter Bernie Taupin discussed the idea in 2014, telling Rolling Stone that Monore “was just a metaphor for fame and dying young, and people sort of overdoing the indulgence, and those that do die young.”

In 1997, John re-recorded “Candle in the Wind,” this time with revised lyrics for Princess Diana after her untimely death. He performed it at her funeral, which he called “an incredible honor.”

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