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Friday 10: The Words She Knows, the Tune She Hums

You must have seen her dancing in the sand.

Frosty morning a few days after Christmas. On the right side, a road curves to the left and runs into the distance; it runs alongside a ravine covered in small trees with no leaves on them. Mountains are visible in the distance, the ridges definded by low-lying fog.
Count the headlights on the highway.
Source: John Williams / Thudfactor

Another great week last week with eight of ten guessed. Of the eight, Mac Webb got four! More and more, it’s feeling like who gets the lead depends on who sees the link first.

The two lyrics that were left were not precisely obscure.

“Across the sea a pale moon rises. The ships have come to carry you home,” is Into the West, by Annie Lennox. This was the Emmy-winning closing theme to The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King — on my mind because we’ve been re-watching the movies.

“Why let your shoulders bend underneath this burden when my back is sturdy and strong?” is Trouble Me by 10,000 Maniacs, fronted by Natalie Merchant.

Let’s get on with the new ones. There’s a little mini-theme to this one: four out of the ten sharing a crucial detail. Can you figure out what it is?

The rules:

  1. Post your guesses in the comments. Provide both the artist and the title.
  2. No fair searching.
  3. Covers are accepted if I can find them.

Then try Glen’s!

This week’s lyrics:

  1. And you just walk in the night, slowly losing sight of the real thing. (1983)
    Islands in the Stream, Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers (covered by Sabrina Carpenter & Kermit the Frog & Miss Piggy)
  2. He wants to take you from your racket boss; he wants to save you, but the cause is lost. (1975)
    Island Girl, Elton John
  3. When I see you eyes will turn blue. When I see you, a thousand eyes turning blue. (1983)
    Gone Daddy Gone, The Violent Femmes (covered by Gnarls Barkley)
    Guessed by
    Fred
  4. I scream, you scream, we all scream for her. Don’t even try, ’cause you can’t ignore her. (1990)
    Cherry Pie, Warrant
    Guessed by
    AllMoviesAreGood
  5. I got there in the nick of time, before he got his hands across your state line. (1975)
    Once Bitten, Twice Shy, Ian Hunter (covered by Great White, Shaun Cassidy)
  6. I like my boys playing hard to get, and I like my men all incompetent. (2025)
    Manchild, Sabrina Carpenter
    Guessed by
    AllMoviesAreGood
  7. Why do we always come here? I guess we’ll never know. (1976)
    The Muppet Show Theme, The Muppets
    Guessed by
    AllMoviesAreGood
  8. His disciples lead him in, and he just does the rest. (1969)
    Pinball Wizard, The Who (covered by Elton John)
    Guessed by
    Frodis Caper
  9. I look around and Sin City’s cold and empty. (2019)
    Blinding Lights, The Weeknd (covered by Rizzo the Rat)
    Guessed by
    AllMoviesAreGood
  10. The hurting’s on me, yeah. And I will never be free, no, my baby. No, no. (1968)
    These Eyes, The Guess Who

Your guesses