# 53 bicycles: A lateral thinking puzzle **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [July 9, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868 "2017-07-09T19:51:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 61
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1201 "2017-09-02T17:03:56Z")
Is this a Leonard Cohen song? No. Is it Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen? No. Are there any surviving recordings of the original artist performing the song? Yes. Do we need to figure out what the song is? You need to figure out why the cover is superior, but that will probably involve figuring out what the song is. Is this solvable without ever having heard of the song? Maybe, but probably not. Is this solvable without ever having heard of the artist? Probably. Does the song have words? Yes. Are the cover and original in the same language? Yes. Is this song over 50 years old? No. Is this song over 100 years old? No. All Along The Watchtower - originally done by Dylan, covered by Hendrix? No. Not Torn, which was covered by Natalie Imbruglia? No. Is the green font a hint? No, just formatting. I’m re-copying all of the answers for convenience, with the newest answers in green. Nothing Compares 2 U? No. Is the original artist still alive? No. Is the cover artist still alive? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1202 "2017-09-02T17:06:32Z")
In which decade was the original song released: - 1960s? - 1970s? - 1980s? - 1990s? - 2000s? - 2010s? Is the original song by a: - male solo artist? - female solo artist? Is the cover by a: - male solo artist? - female solo artist? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1203 "2017-09-02T17:31:46Z")
Is this a Leonard Cohen song? No. Is it Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen? No. Are there any surviving recordings of the original artist performing the song? Yes. Do we need to figure out what the song is? You need to figure out why the cover is superior, but that will probably involve figuring out what the song is. Is this solvable without ever having heard of the song? Maybe, but probably not. Is this solvable without ever having heard of the artist? Probably. Does the song have words? Yes. Are the cover and original in the same language? Yes. Is this song over 50 years old? No. Is this song over 100 years old? No. All Along The Watchtower - originally done by Dylan, covered by Hendrix? No. Not Torn, which was covered by Natalie Imbruglia? No. Is the green font a hint? No, just formatting. I’m re-copying all of the answers for convenience, with the newest answers in green. Nothing Compares 2 U? No. Is the original artist still alive? No. Is the cover artist still alive? Yes. In which decade was the original song released: - 1960s? Yes - 1970s? - 1980s? - 1990s? - 2000s? - 2010s? No Is the original song by a: - male solo artist? Yes - female solo artist? No Is the cover by a: - male solo artist? Yes - female solo artist? No ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1204 "2017-09-02T17:40:15Z")
Original song is by: - an American? - a Britisher? - other? Cover song is by: - an American? - a Britisher? - other? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1205 "2017-09-02T18:20:32Z")
Original song is by: - an American? No - a Britisher? Yes - other? No Cover song is by: - an American? No - a Britisher? No - other? Yes ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1206 "2017-09-02T18:20:55Z")
Are the genres different? (ex: original jazz, cover rock) Was the cover a hit because of non-music reasons? Are the original singer and cover artist related? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1207 "2017-09-02T18:29:39Z")
Are the genres different? (ex: original jazz, cover rock) No. Was the cover a hit because of non-music reasons? Yes. Are the original singer and cover artist related? No. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1208 "2017-09-02T18:50:58Z")
Is the original singer primarily known for their music? Is the cover singer primarily known for their music? In which decade was the cover song released: - 1960s? - 1970s? - 1980s? - 1990s? - 2000s? - 2010s? The cover song singer is: - French? - German? - Spanish or Hispanic? - other European, inc. Russia? - African? - Asian? - other? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1209 "2017-09-02T19:49:23Z")
Is the original singer primarily known for their music? Yes. Is the cover singer primarily known for their music? No. In which decade was the cover song released: - 1960s? - 1970s? - 1980s? - 1990s? - 2000s? No. - 2010s? Yes. The cover song singer is: - French? - German? - Spanish or Hispanic? - other European, inc. Russia? - African? - Asian? No. - other? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1210 "2017-09-02T19:55:51Z")
Is the cover artist from Canada? -Australia? -New Zealand? Is the original from the Beatles? -Credit Lennon? -Credit Harrison? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1211 "2017-09-02T20:14:18Z")
The cover artist is from Canada, and no to all of the rest. The green text thing seemed like a good idea at the time, but it’s getting too cumbersome. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1212 "2017-09-02T21:40:25Z")
Is the cover artist human? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1213 "2017-09-02T22:46:03Z")
Ooh, good question! But yes, the cover artist is human. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1214 "2017-09-03T01:03:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The cover artist is from Canada, and no to all of the rest. So that rules out William Hung. Is the cover artist William Shatner? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1215 "2017-09-03T01:09:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The green text thing seemed like a good idea at the time, but it’s getting too cumbersome. I think a better idea might be to put previous answers in a spoiler tag–if you want to have them there at all. No questions come to mind at this point. I’ve probably not heard of this if it has to do with 2010s music. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1216 "2017-09-03T01:49:27Z")
Would it help more if we tried to figure out the situation around the cover version? Was the cover version for charity? Was the cover version singer notorious? Was the cover version big because of youtube? ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1217 "2017-09-03T03:30:26Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Is the cover artist William Shatner? If it is, then I think it’s got to be a cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, from \*Seeking Major Tom \*(2011), Shatner’s fourth studio album. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1218 "2017-09-03T03:50:55Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > If it is, then I think it’s got to be a cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, from \*Seeking Major Tom \*(2011), Shatner’s fourth studio album. This could be it, though I have heard neither. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1219 "2017-09-03T03:59:23Z")
Is the cover artist William Shatner? No. Would it help more if we tried to figure out the situation around the cover version? Yes. Was the cover version for charity? No. Was the cover version singer notorious? No. Was the cover version big because of youtube? Yes, but that’s not the complete answer. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1220 "2017-09-03T04:31:56Z")
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