(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
JONATHAN COULTON: This is NPR's ASK ME ANOTHER. I'm Jonathan Coulton. Now here's your host, Ophira Eisenberg.
(APPLAUSE)
OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
Thanks, Jonathan. Before the break, we met our contestants, Fiona and Jamie. Our next game is about punk rock, which is such an outdated genre that us doing a game about it is actually punk rock.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Let's check in with our contestants. Fiona, you recently got into playing the fiddle.
FIONA FINLAY-HUNT: That's right.
EISENBERG: How's it going?
FINLAY-HUNT: It's OK. I haven't been practicing at all, and I haven't learned anything. So I...
(LAUGHTER)
FINLAY-HUNT: I know two songs, and I just play them for my cat and sometimes my husband when he's unlucky enough to be home.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Did you just go to a, you know, instrument shop and buy a fiddle?
FINLAY-HUNT: So that's kind of what you're supposed to do.
EISENBERG: OK.
FINLAY-HUNT: And instead, I went to Facebook Marketplace and saw that someone was trying to unload one that they had bought on Amazon. So I went to Williamsburg and met them in the dark, where they pulled this thing out of the back of their car and sold it to me for cash, which felt very shady. But yeah, it's what some people would call a VSO, or violin-shaped object. And it's exactly not what you're supposed to have. But it actually sounds pretty good, I have to say. It's what I deserve.
EISENBERG: I love that you...
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: What you deserve?
FINLAY-HUNT: Yeah.
EISENBERG: It's what you deserve?
FINLAY-HUNT: Yeah.
EISENBERG: I love that you helped out a Williamsburg hipster who was like...
FINLAY-HUNT: That's right.
EISENBERG: ...You know what? I'm going to do a violin. And then it's, like, super hard.
FINLAY-HUNT: Yeah, it's a fad. With them, that's over.
EISENBERG: Yeah. Jamie, recently you got into powerlifting.
JAMIE WERNET: That's right.
EISENBERG: Nice stuff. What inspired you?
WERNET: I wanted to be really strong and lift heavy stuff.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Yeah. Just the basic...
WERNET: Yeah.
EISENBERG: Yeah, you're just like, let's do this.
WERNET: Yeah, it's a good fit.
EISENBERG: OK. And how much are you lifting?
WERNET: The thing is that for many people who casually train, the way that you answer this question is you say, well, when I was really strong, I could do, like, a 200-and-some-pound squat.
EISENBERG: OK. That's insane. What's your goal?
WERNET: I would like to be able to deadlift twice my body weight.
EISENBERG: That's awesome.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: All right. So this music parody is called Punk Goes Pop. The score is tied, so the winner of this game will go to the final round, and the loser will have to exit through the public radio mosh pit, which sounds very much like this - sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, Excuse me, excuse me - no, excuse me. Here, you can go this way.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: It's very nice.
COULTON: We rewrote popular punk songs and made them about fads that, while popular, are not very punk rock. So ring in and tell me the fad that I'm singing about, and if you get that right, you can earn a bonus point by naming the original song or the artist who made it famous. Here we go.
(Singing) Twenty, twenty, twenty more paces to go. I want to catch a Squirtle. It's too long a walk to the Jigglypuff, so I'm going to catch the Squirtle.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Fiona.
FINLAY-HUNT: Pokemon Go.
COULTON: Yeah, that's correct. And for a bonus point, can you name the original song or artist?
FINLAY-HUNT: No.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Aww (ph).
COULTON: Audience is sorry for you.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: That's Ramones, "I Wanna Be Sedated." Here's your next one.
(Singing) Just wind the string and let it go. Try walk the dog or UFO. You will pretend that it is fun because your grandma bought you one.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Fiona.
FINLAY-HUNT: Yo-yo.
COULTON: Yo-yo is correct. For a bonus point, can you name the song or artist?
FINLAY-HUNT: Oh, my God. No, I can't.
COULTON: That's The Clash, "Should I Stay Or Should I Go."
FINLAY-HUNT: Oh, thanks. Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: All right, here's your next one.
(Singing) Weaving in and out among the cars on a tiny Segway with no handlebars. You think you look cool when you ride on this till you break your wrist, you break your wrist, you break your wrist.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Fiona.
FINLAY-HUNT: Hoverboard.
COULTON: Yeah, that's right.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Bonus point if you can name the song or artist.
FINLAY-HUNT: I cannot.
COULTON: That was Patti Smith, "Because The Night."
EISENBERG: (Singing) Because the night belongs to hovers.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: I was waiting for that - the whole audience.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Yeah. Well done.
COULTON: Here's your next one.
(Singing) A plastic egg with a small screen, a virtual pet that has me jumping through hoops. You're more well-fed than my real dog. I'm tired of cleaning up your electronic poops.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Jamie.
WERNET: Tamagotchi.
COULTON: Yeah, that's right.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Bonus point if you name the song or the artist.
WERNET: I can't.
COULTON: That was the Buzzcocks, "Ever Fallen In Love." This is your last clue.
(Singing) A '90s dance craze, a Los Del Rio hit song - your mom does it at weddings. It goes on a little long.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Fiona.
FINLAY-HUNT: The funky chicken.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Oh.
COULTON: Somebody was actually shocked.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: That's a fine guess. There's no reason to be shocked. But that's incorrect. Jamie, do you know the answer?
WERNET: The "Macarena."
COULTON: "Macarena" is the answer.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Bonus point if you can name the song or artist.
WERNET: Oh, I forgot to listen.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Sex Pistols, "God Save The Queen" that was.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
EISENBERG: What an incredible game once again.
COULTON: Yep.
EISENBERG: Well done to both of you.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: And after two games, Fiona is moving on to the final round.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
Copyright © 2020 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.