Skip to main contentWe scramble Sasquatch! bands’ lyrics and ask, whose line is it, anyway?
ILLUSTRATION: Adam Krueger
Every music festival has to make a choice between the mainstream and the hip. Now in its ninth year, Sasquatch!—the hugely successful three-day concert and lovefest at the Gorge Amphitheater—has decided to take a risk by not booking a major headliner. In past years, every night ended with an arena-ready performance—Nine Inch Nails in 2006; Björk and the Beastie Boys in 2007. But this time out, the Sasquatch! lineup is stacked with an impressive list of second-tier acts and critical darlings (the National, My Morning Jacket and a reunited Pavement) that might not be as well known by the casual music fan. To help out, we've devised a quiz to help familiarize you with our main festival picks through their lyrics. You won't win a ticket to the festival if you can match all 10 correctly, but you will gain something almost as important: indie-rock street cred.
1. Ween
2. The Hold Steady
3. The Mountain Goats
4. Quasi
5. Why?
6. The National
7. The New Pornographers
8. They Might Be Giants
9. Public Enemy
10. Pavement
A. "Shoes and socks, baby, socks and shoes/ We spent the night last night in Newport News/ This chick she looked just like Elisabeth Shue/ We got bruised."
B. "You singers are spineless/ As you sing your senseless songs to the mindless/ Your general subject, love, is minimal/ It's sex for profit."
C. "I say rain when it's only a drizzle/ You get stoned like death in the Bible."
D. "I could never sleep my way to the top/ 'cause my alarm clock always wakes me right up."
E. "And the Chicago Cubs/ Will beat every team in the league/ And the Tampa Bay Bucs/ Will make it all the way through January/ And I will love you again."
F. "Laughing lady living lover/ Ooo you sassy frassy lassie/ Find me the skull of Haile Sellasie/Give me shoes so I can tapsy."
G. "Ice baby/ I saw your girlfriend and she's eating her fingers like they're just another meal/ And she waits there, in the levee wash/ Mixing cocktails with a plastic-tipped cigar."
H. "Someone somewhere asked me, 'Is there anything in particular I can help you with?'/ All I ever wanted help with was YOU."
I. "I'm a perfect piece of ass/ Like every Californian/ So tall I take over the street, with high beams shining on my back."
J. "We traveled many miles to no guarantee/ Everything's a joke to you; it's not that way to me."
ANSWERS: 1) F. 2) A. 3) E. 4) J. 5) C. 6) I. 7) H. 8) D. 9) B. 10) G.
SEE IT: Sasquatch! runs Saturday-Monday, May 29-31, at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, Wash. Individual day tickets still available, $70. See sasquatchfestival.com for the complete lineup.
WWeek 2015