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Andres's avatar

This was so hard 😂 Borderline impossible to guess! So much changed in meaning and nuance that it’s a completely different verse. There’s also the fact that, while I really like Rick James, love that song and have the record on vinyl, I don’t think I would have been able to recognise the song from that fragment of the original lyrics.

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Mark Nash's avatar

They’re tough aren’t they? I’m trying not to make them too difficult but they tend to end being way too easy or quite hard.

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Andres's avatar

I hear you. If you want them really hard, try something like a whole question or long sentence in the form of a verse. Star Spangled Banner comes to mind. Machine translation will struggle with complex syntax, for my money.

Conversely, if you want something easier, songs with sharp/short sentences would work best.

Of course, then there’s the no minor fact of how well-known the song is. Hope this helps!

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Mark Nash's avatar

It does, thank you! The problem becomes when just one (of four or eight) lines remains almost verbatim (like “the sweat on your body covers me” from Prince’s “When Doves Cry”). That’s the biggest challenge in not having them be too easy because invariably one unmolested line in a lyric can be a dead giveaway.

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Andres's avatar

Personally I wouldn’t be too concerned about one or two lines being almost verbatim because not everyone will have all lines present in their head. You know which song you’re picking but for us your readers it could be absolutely anything from any era and genre so it will, by definition, catch us off guard.

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Mark Nash's avatar

Good point Andy. Maybe I’m overthinking it because *I* already know what the song is

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Andres's avatar

Yep, I suspect there’s an element of that at play, too. Good luck!

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Kevin Alexander's avatar

Lol. I could not've been further off the mark if I tried. These are sure fun, though! Maybe next week!

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Kristin DeMarr's avatar

I would not have ever guessed this song! 😂

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Mark Nash's avatar

A tough one right?!?

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