| Author | Message | ||
| Jenburdoo (Jenburdoo)
New member Username: Jenburdoo Post Number: 3049 Registered: 5-2003 |
How did an Indian weapon inspire an American popular song? | ||
| Balin (Balin)
New member Username: Balin Post Number: 1244 Registered: 4-2010 |
Indian = Native American? India-n? Is the song from the past decade? From the 1900s? | ||
| Markobr (Markobr)
New member Username: Markobr Post Number: 767 Registered: 5-2009 |
A weapon: for shooting? to be thrown? A blunt weapon? cut or thrust weapon? Some kind of knife? Popular song: Is there someone known to have written the song's text? The tune? | ||
| Ohlala8 (Ohlala8)
New member Username: Ohlala8 Post Number: 578 Registered: 6-2009 |
Is the name of the weapon actually mentioned in the song's lyrics? Is it a story song? | ||
| Jenburdoo (Jenburdoo)
New member Username: Jenburdoo Post Number: 3053 Registered: 5-2003 |
Indian = Native American? India-n? This. Is the song from the past decade? From the 1900s? Neither. A weapon: for shooting? This. to be thrown? A blunt weapon? cut or thrust weapon? Some kind of knife? Popular song: Is there someone known to have written the song's text? Yes. The tune? Yes. Is the name of the weapon actually mentioned in the song's lyrics? Yes. Is it a story song? Yesish. | ||
| Balin (Balin)
New member Username: Balin Post Number: 1256 Registered: 4-2010 |
Is the weapon for shooting arrows? Bullets? Something else? Is the song from [LTPF list of centuries]? | ||
| Ohlala8 (Ohlala8)
New member Username: Ohlala8 Post Number: 583 Registered: 6-2009 |
Random guess: the national anthem? | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1742 Registered: 3-2006 |
Do most people know, when they hear the song, that the word in question means an Indian weapon? Or does the word have another meaning? Did the weapon perhaps give its name to something else, which then appeared in the song? Is the weapon some type of musket? A firearm of sorts? Perhaps 'long tall sally' was a nickname for a bazooka? Something along those lines? Just to clarify: the song was written before 1900? (Only because 'the 1900s' can mean the twentieth century or its first decade.) Is it a song from the War of Independence? The Civil War? Hutchinson Family? Tin Pan Alley? Song from a musical? | ||
| Jenburdoo (Jenburdoo)
New member Username: Jenburdoo Post Number: 3057 Registered: 5-2003 |
Is the weapon for shooting arrows? Bullets? Something else? This. Is the song from [LTPF list of centuries]? 19th. Random guess: the national anthem? Yes. I reckoned this'd be a quickie. Do most people know, when they hear the song, that the word in question means an Indian weapon? No. Or does the word have another meaning? No. Did the weapon perhaps give its name to something else, which then appeared in the song? No. Is the weapon some type of musket? A firearm of sorts? Perhaps 'long tall sally' was a nickname for a bazooka? Something along those lines? {No.} Just to clarify: the song was written before 1900? (Only because 'the 1900s' can mean the twentieth century or its first decade.) Yes. Is it a song from the War of Independence? The Civil War? Hutchinson Family? Tin Pan Alley? Song from a musical? None of these. | ||
| Balin (Balin)
New member Username: Balin Post Number: 1261 Registered: 4-2010 |
Shooting rockets? Is the weapon mentioned in the first verse (the one everyone sings)? | ||
| Jenburdoo (Jenburdoo)
New member Username: Jenburdoo Post Number: 3058 Registered: 5-2003 |
Shooting rockets? Yes. Is the weapon mentioned in the first verse (the one everyone sings)? Yes. | ||
| Galfisk (Galfisk)
New member Username: Galfisk Post Number: 2168 Registered: 9-2009 |
The Star-Spangled Banner? "And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air" Are we trying to find out how the rockets ended up in the national anthem? Did the author see them? Fire them? Or was he fired upon? | ||
| Jenburdoo (Jenburdoo)
New member Username: Jenburdoo Post Number: 3065 Registered: 5-2003 |
The Star-Spangled Banner? Yup. "And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air" Yup. Are we trying to find out how the rockets ended up in the national anthem? How did a weapon system from halfway around the world end up in the national anthem? Did the author see them? Yes. Fire them? Or was he fired upon? Neither. Most Americans (and by extension, a large proportion of LTPF puzzlers) know the origin of he Star-Spangled Banner, so you are free to look it up on Wikipedia if you like. It's not particularly important. | ||
| Balin (Balin)
New member Username: Balin Post Number: 1360 Registered: 4-2010 |
Was the weapon used by the British in the Battle of Fort McHenry? And Francis Scott Key was watching (I think he might have been taken prisoner)? Did the British acquire the weapon through trade? War? Copying the technique? | ||
| Jenburdoo (Jenburdoo)
New member Username: Jenburdoo Post Number: 3066 Registered: 5-2003 |
Was the weapon used by the British in the Battle of Fort McHenry? Yep. And Francis Scott Key was watching (I think he might have been taken prisoner)? He was checking on a friend of his who was a prisoner, and the British wouldn't let him leave. With reason, since he'd seen their plans. Did the British acquire the weapon through trade? War? This. Copying the technique? And this. ******************* Spoilers go Boom! ******************* The British got the idea a scant decade or two earlier in India, while fighting Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan. These princes were known for their advanced rocket artillery, and kicked the crap out of a couple British columns with it before the Brits defeated them around 1799. A British engineer named Congreve replicated the rockets, which were attached to purpose-built ships and used for bombardment. The "bombs bursting in air" were a similar concept, an early form of mortar, and placed on ships called bomb ketches. Fort McHenry was bombarded for 24 hours; despite all that newfangled technology, only four Americans were killed. |
