Money, it's a game

April 7, 2006 9:37 AM

I'm going to have an informal trivia night and it's going to involve songs with money.

I need songs that mention money. They need to be in dollars (I'm not doing currency conversion on the fly, so 'Magic Bus fares' are out). I'll be designing and printing my own currency so anything from a couple of cents upward is okay. I won't be playing the whole song, just a sample for the players to guess. Examples are:
50 cents, King of the Road, Roger Miller
$1, Wrinkled Crinkled Dollar Tab, Johnny Cash
If you can keep to this format [amount, title, artist], it would be appreciated. Oh! and and Country and Western is acceptable (just kidding there, give me what you got).

posted by tellurian to grab bag (54 comments total)

5 cents, Nickel Bag, Digable Planets
$1, CREAM (Cash Rules Everything Around Me), Wu Tang Clan
$100, It's All About the Benjamins, Puff Daddy
posted by macadamiaranch at 9:43 AM on April 7, 2006

$100, $200, Bullet the Blue Sky, U2
posted by bondcliff at 9:46 AM on April 7, 2006

The most annoying song from the early '70s:

Clint Holmes - Playground In My Mind (My name is michael, I've got a nickel..)
posted by doctor_negative at 9:47 AM on April 7, 2006

$20 for a $2.50 fare, Taxi, Harry Chapin
posted by jrossi4r at 9:48 AM on April 7, 2006

1 cent, Penny Lane, The Beatles
5 cents, On the Nickel, Tom Waits
10 cents, One Thin Dime, Reba McEntire
25 cents, No Quarter, Led Zeppelin
$2, Hey, Good Lookin', Hank Williams ("I got a hot rod Ford and a two dollar bill")
$5, I've Got Five Dollars, Ella Fitzgerald
$10, Ten Dollar Man, ZZ Top
posted by staggernation at 9:53 AM on April 7, 2006

No link to a sample, no tick, but thanks anyway - macadamiaranch, bondcliff, doctor_negative, jrossi4r and staggernation. Them's the rules and I'm gonna be harsh!
posted by tellurian at 9:54 AM on April 7, 2006

40¢, Sylvia's Mother, Dr. Hook
posted by iconjack at 9:59 AM on April 7, 2006

A dollar, Lucky One, Freedy Johnston
Million Dollars, If I Had a Million Dollars, Bare Naked Ladies
posted by gfrobe at 10:04 AM on April 7, 2006

Wow! Talk about obscure. This is going to be hard for my contestants. I haven't heard of many of these songs. [cue evil laugh: I like it.]
*Commences lyric searches to avoid arguments*
posted by tellurian at 10:07 AM on April 7, 2006

22 grand job - the rakes (i guess it's referring to pounds but is pretty currency non-specific)
you think i aint worth a dollar but i feel like a millionaire - queens of the stone age
black dollar bills - hope of the states
posted by muthecow at 10:21 AM on April 7, 2006

$2.50 & $1.50 - Little Bones, Tragically Hip
posted by Mahogne at 10:22 AM on April 7, 2006

"Houston" by Dean MArtin

Saw a dollar bill yesterday
But the wind blew it away
Goin back to Houston...

posted by Rash at 10:25 AM on April 7, 2006

Twenty-five dollars (in pieces of silver), "Wednesday Morning, 3 AM," Simon & Garfunkel
Quarter, dollar, $5, $15, "The Money Song," Avenue Q
Dime, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"
A dollar, "A Dollar Ain't a Dollar Anymore"
One silver dollar, "One Silver Dollar," Marilyn Monroe
A buck (or a pound), "Money Money," Cabaret
Dollar, ninety dollars, "Bet Your Bottom Dollar You're a Playboy," Queen
$100,000, $1 million, "Although I Dropped $100,000 Dollars (I Found a Million Dollars in Your Smile)," Disney's Wonderful World of Color
One thin dime (just one-tenth of a dollar), "Amusement Park USA," the Beach Boys
An Indian dollar, "Ten Little Indians," the Beach Boys -- this may not go over too well
'Bout $95, "I Just Got My Pay," the Beach Boys
A pocketful of change, "Just Got Paid," ZZ Top
Pennies, "Material Girl," Madonna
Dollar, "I Wish I Had a Dollar," Uncle Kracker
(An honest) dollar, "Foolish Games," Jewel
posted by booksandlibretti at 10:53 AM on April 7, 2006

$1 - "Greenbacks" - Ray Charles

The chorus goes: "On a greenback / Greenback dollar bill / Just a little piece of paper / Coated with chlorophyll".
posted by Asparagirl at 10:54 AM on April 7, 2006

The money song- Monty Python. I believe it specifically mentions the dollar.
posted by Gungho at 11:15 AM on April 7, 2006

1.00, Greenback Dollar, Kingston Trio (from Hoyt Axton)
2.00, Long Journey Home, Rose Maddox
20.00 Nadine, Chuck Berry
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:24 AM on April 7, 2006

3.00, Three Dollar Bill, Maria Muldaur
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:27 AM on April 7, 2006

$50, Fifty Dollars, The Pacific Ocean
posted by leesh at 11:29 AM on April 7, 2006

One Cent - Pennies From Heaven - Tinpan Alley; half a billion versions (Ev'ry time it rains, it rains pennies from heaven; Don'tcha know each cloud contains pennies from heaven?)


Everything, Internationally - "The Money Song" - Monty Python (I've got ninety thousand pounds in my pyjamas;
I've got forty thousand French francs in my fridge. I've got lots and lots of lira, Now the deutschmark's getting dearer,
And my dollar bill could buy the Brooklyn Bridge.)

One Million - "How To Be A Millionaire" - ABC (Hardly surprising, you might consider, Loyalties go to the highest of bidders; What's my opinion? I'd give you ten to one -
Give me a million, a franchise on fun)

Nickel - "Down On The Corner"- Creedence Clearwater (Down On The Corner, out in the street,
Willy and the Poorboys are playin';
Bring a nickel; tap your feet. )

Dime - "Operator" - Jim Croce (Thank you for your time;
Oh you’ve been so much more than kind - And you can keep the dime... Isn’t that the way they say it goes)And give me the number if you can find it
posted by Perigee at 11:33 AM on April 7, 2006

$3.25, Scavenger Type, Nofx ("... all he needs is thirteen quarters ...")
posted by knave at 11:34 AM on April 7, 2006

$99, 99, Sonny Boy Williamson
posted by Otis at 11:34 AM on April 7, 2006

$50, Wild Thing, Tone Loc
dime, The Way it Is, Bruce Hornsby
25 bucks, Silent All These Years, Tori Amos
posted by witchstone at 11:44 AM on April 7, 2006

$3.63 — "Ashes of American Flags" — Wilco
$300 — "$300" — Soul Coughing
posted by Johnny Assay at 11:46 AM on April 7, 2006

"On Broadway" mentions "one thin dime"...
posted by tkolstee at 11:46 AM on April 7, 2006

Penny - "21st Century Man" - ELO ("A penny in your pocket; Suitcase in your hand -They won’t get you very far, Now you’re a 21st century man")

Dime - "On Broadway" - George Benson (among Others) ("They say the women treat you fine on Broadway; But looking at them just gives me the blues. 'Cause how you going to make some time, When all you have is one thin dime, And one thin dime won't even shine your shoes.)
posted by Perigee at 11:48 AM on April 7, 2006

Twenty Dollars - "Friend of the Devil" - Grateful Dead ("If I get home before daylight, I just might get some sleep tonight... Ran into the devil, babe, he loaned me twenty bills")
posted by Perigee at 11:52 AM on April 7, 2006

Silver dollar > "Midnight Rider" Allman Brothers Band
posted by Thorzdad at 11:54 AM on April 7, 2006

Oh, and this might not work because they don't actually say "dollars", but my new favorite mention of money is in the Chronicles of Narnia SNL rap, where they keep calling $10 bills "Hamiltons." Fantastic.
posted by witchstone at 11:55 AM on April 7, 2006

Nickel - "Music! Music! Music!" - Theresa Brewer (Put another nickel in - In the nickelodeon - All I want is having you, And music, music, music) Good luck with this one - I think my parents would remember it...
posted by Perigee at 12:07 PM on April 7, 2006

Million Dollar Bash - Bob Dylan
Pennies From Heaven - Bing Crosby
Quarter of a Man - David Lindley
posted by doctor_negative at 12:12 PM on April 7, 2006

$10 - "I Spent My Last Ten Dollars (On Birth Control and Beer)" - Two Nice Girls

Tom Waits is very good for this:
$.10 - Tom Waits - "Train Song" - "and I borrowed every dime"
$100 - Tom Waits - "9th and Hennepin" - "Ah, there's nothing wrong with her a hundred dollars wouldn't fix"
$1000 - Tom Waits - "I'll Be Gone" - "I bet a thousand dollars"
$30000 - Tom Waits - "Frank's Wild Years" - "and assumed a 30,000 dollar loan"
posted by dilettante at 12:31 PM on April 7, 2006

Oh, another one:

$5 million - "Dust Bowl Days" - 10,000 Maniacs "It could be lucky me with a five million prize"
posted by dilettante at 12:42 PM on April 7, 2006

Two million Dollars: "We Can Do it" from the soundtrack to The Producers (Broadway play)
posted by Gungho at 12:57 PM on April 7, 2006

Billion Dollar Babies- Alice Cooper
posted by Gungho at 12:58 PM on April 7, 2006

$50,000: "Future's So Bright (I gotta wear shades)" - Timbuktu (Fifty thou a year will buy a lot of beer)
posted by cosmicbandito at 1:09 PM on April 7, 2006

No mention yet of "We're in the Money" from either "Gold Diggers of 1933" (movie version) or "42nd Street" (Broadway musical version)?
posted by Asparagirl at 1:17 PM on April 7, 2006

$9.95, "Still Fighting It", Ben Folds
$1,000,000.-, "If I had a Million Dollars", Barenaked Ladies
posted by easternblot at 1:19 PM on April 7, 2006

$3, "Rubberneck," Beck ("I'm writin' my will on a three dollar bill")
posted by ORthey at 1:30 PM on April 7, 2006

Dime: "Jukebox (Don't Put Another Dime)" - The Flirts
"Don't put another dime in the jukebox, I don't wanna hear that song no more!"

Penny, dollar: "She's a Beauty" - The Tubes.
"She'll give you ev'ry penny's worth
But it will cost you a dollar first"

$100: "D.R.F.S.R." - Warrant
"I'm going to light my cigarettes with $100 bills"
posted by SisterHavana at 1:48 PM on April 7, 2006

1$: Townes Van Zandt "Dollar Bill Blues"
posted by skwm at 2:03 PM on April 7, 2006

65 cents - Waiting for the bus - Violent Femmes (lyrics) (sample) (sample fades out JUST before the 65 cent line)
posted by davey_darling at 2:09 PM on April 7, 2006

"Workin’ in the fillin’ station - too many tasks.
Wipe the windows - check the tires - check the oil - a dollar gas!"
Too Much Monkey Business -- Chuck Berry

"Working for the Yankee Dollar"
Rum and Coca-Cola -- Andrews Sisters

"Yankee dollar talk
To the dictators of the world
In fact it’s giving orders
An’ they can’t afford to miss a word"
I'm So Bored With The USA -- The Clash

" Gimme Honda, gimme Sony
So cheap and real phony
Hong Kong dollars Indian cents
English pounds and Eskimo pence"
The Magnificent Seven -- Clash again
posted by AmbroseChapel at 2:14 PM on April 7, 2006

Dime - "867-5309 (Jenny)" - Tommy Tutone:
"For the price of a dime I can always turn to you"

Wikipedia list of songs about money
posted by kirkaracha at 2:40 PM on April 7, 2006

"Green Stuff" by the Blues band
posted by springload at 3:25 PM on April 7, 2006

"These are selfish times, I got shellfish dimes, and Sand Dollars" - Sand Dollars by Why?

"Dollars and Cents, Pounds and Pence" - Dollars and Cents by Radiohead
posted by rabbitsnake at 3:39 PM on April 7, 2006

$10 - "I Spent My Last Ten Dollars (On Birth Control and Beer)" - Two Nice Girls - dilettante

Dude! You read my mind.
posted by goo at 3:45 PM on April 7, 2006

Dime, million dollars, Better Get Used to It, Big Sugar

If I was a begger,
I would beg 10 million dimes.
I would have a million dollars,
for one minute of your time.
posted by raider at 4:30 PM on April 7, 2006

Penny Lane?
posted by raider at 4:32 PM on April 7, 2006

penny, million dollars; Penny in the Fountain; Half Japanese
$480, $10,000; My Sordid Past; Half Japanese
dime, nickel; I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive; Hank Williams
ten dollar, 10 $, M.I.A.
posted by hydrophonic at 5:02 PM on April 7, 2006

$1.50 ("a dollar and a half"), "Big Yellow Taxi", Joni Mitchell (or the Counting Crows cover)
posted by easternblot at 5:15 AM on April 8, 2006

$2000 (I think), Raised on Robbery, also Joni Mitchell
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:54 AM on April 8, 2006

silver dollar, queen of the silver dollar, by Emmylou Harris.
posted by bilabial at 8:34 AM on April 8, 2006

(no demomination) If you've got the money, honey. Lefty Frizzell (maybe for an intro or an outro?)

One More Dollar, by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
posted by bilabial at 8:39 AM on April 8, 2006

Mention of Emmylou Harris reminds me she once did asong called "Quarter Moon In A Ten-Cent Town".
posted by AmbroseChapel at 5:01 PM on April 8, 2006