A Shocking Discovery

A music-lyric borrowing, name-that-tune inducing, grammatically sketchy, somewhat weird 50-word story

Nicole Köhler

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Roger was a lineman for the county. He accidentally touched a live power line. It should have killed him, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Roger began craving electricity. The flow of energy was so fine. He didn’t realize he was storing it—until he took a bath.

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If you only read this for the name-that-tune element mentioned in the subtitle, that’s cool. It’s not much of a story. And who doesn’t love to “name that tune?”

The song lyrics are in italics. Two of the songs should be pretty easy as they were from massive hits records. The first one was in 1968, and the second one was in 2011. I will give you some leeway on the 2011 hit because the artist changed the title when releasing it as a single.

I will be shocked if anyone gets the third lyric without searching for it (cheating.) It is an obscure line in a song that was not a huge hit record—although it was on the “Best Of” record by a talented band that never achieved the fame or recognition they deserved.

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Here are the answers:

“a lineman for the county”: Wichita Lineman- Glen Campbell

“what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”: Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) - Kelly Clarkston

“The flow of energy was so fine”: Keep On Tryin’ - Poco

Never heard it? Let’s fix that mistake. Here is the Poco song Keep On Tryin’ — with its beautiful harmonies — which is, surprisingly, not about a mutant electrical lineman.

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How did you do on “name that tune?”

Thanks for reading and responding. You make it fun.

Mark