Who Sang It: Pink Floyd or The Beatles?

By: Abi Luftig
Estimated Completion Time
2 min
Who Sang It: Pink Floyd or The Beatles?
Image: YouTube

About This Quiz

It's the battle of the Brits! If you were rocking out to the music of the '60s, there's a big chance you were listening to the Beatles or Pink Floyd. From the Fab Four to the Psychedelic Five, can you figure out who sang it from their popular tunes?

In 1960 in Liverpool, England, four guys banded together and formed one of the most well-known musical groups ever. George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Star came together and formed The Beatles. With twelves albums released in their 10-year careers, the group put out some of music's greatest hits like "Let It Be" and "Help!"

Five years after the Beatles formed, another English rock band was forming over in London. Pink Floyd brought together Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright. Two years later, they would welcome member, David Gilmour. Pink Floyd was the epitome of psychedelic rock with songs like "Time" and "Another Brick in the Wall."

With these two English rock bands leading the way with music, how many of their songs can you recognize? Enough to match the lyrics to the proper group?

We're ready to rock and roll with this quiz! Will your score leave you jamming along with us or are you bobbing your head to the wrong tune?

Let's rock and roll!

Who sang "Is There Anybody Out There?"
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
"Is There Anybody Out There?" is on Pink Floyd's The Wall (1979) and is a mostly instrumental track, other than the repeated "Is There Anybody Out There?" Audio can also be heard from the TV shows, "Gunsmoke" and "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.," because in the film, "The Wall," the band has the television playing in the background.

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Who sang "Julia"?
The Beatles
John Lennon wrote and dedicated this song to the memory of his mother, Julia, who was killed in a car accident when he was 17. His first son, Julian, is also named after her. The song was released as part of 1968's The White Album.
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds"?
The Beatles
"Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" is a track from 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The imagery in the lyrics was heavily influenced by Alice in Wonderland. It's widely assumed that the lyrics were also heavily influenced by LSD hallucinations.
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "The Night Before"?
The Beatles
A lesser-known and extremely underrated track, "The Night Before" was on 1965's Help! In the film, the Beatles are seen recording it inside of Stonehenge.
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "All Together Now"?
The Beatles
"All Together Now" was on 1969's Yellow Submarine. The Fab Four appear onscreen at the end of the film to sing the audience out. It is the only time they appear in person during the entire movie.
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "Us And Them"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
"Us And Them" was on the iconic 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon. It is one of two songs on the album to feature a sax and it is the first time the band used female backup singers.

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Who sang "Apples And Oranges"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
"Apples And Oranges" was on the 1967 album, Shine On. It is uncharacteristically simple for Pink Floyd, and tells the story of a girl buying fruit and smiling.

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Who sang "Take It Back"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
A later release than most of their songs, Pink Floyd released "Take It Back" as part of their 1994 album, Division Bell. The song is a warning that if humans do not treat her better, Mother Earth will decide to take the planet back and make humans extinct.

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Who sang "Goodbye Blue Sky"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
"Goodbye Blue Sky" is another song from the soundtrack of The Wall. The child at the beginning of the song who says "Look, Mummy, there's an airplane up in the sky" is Harry Waters, the then-2-year-old son of Roger Waters, the bassist for Pink Floyd.

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Who sang "We Can Work It Out"?
The Beatles
"We Can Work It Out" was released in 1965 on the Past Masters, Vol. 2 album, but was originally recorded for Rubber Soul. Paul McCartney wrote this during an argument with his girlfriend, actress Jane Asher. They broke up for good in 1968.
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "Lost For Words"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
"Lost For Words" is another track from 1994's Division Bell. Many consider the song to be a thinly-veiled insult from the remaining members of the band (and David Gilmour in particular) to founding member Roger Waters, who refused to come back for one more album after a fight with Gilmour.

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Who sang "Your Mother Should Know"?
The Beatles
This song was on 1967's "Magical Mystery Tour." It's remembered for being the song sung in the last scene of the MMT movie, with the Beatles in white tuxedos.
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "Because"?
The Beatles
"Because" is a track on 1969's Abbey Road. John Lennon wrote it after hearing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata backward. The 9-part vocals are just John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison's singing being dubbed over twice.
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "Eight Days a Week"?
The Beatles
This song was a track on 1964's Beatles For Sale album. Despite the song's success, John Lennon went on to say in later years that he never liked the song, saying it was "never a good song. We struggled to record it and struggled to make it into a song. It was [Paul's] initial effort, but I think we both worked on it. I'm not sure. But, it was lousy anyway."
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "Vera"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
"Vera" was a track on The Wall and is about British performer Vera Lynn. Roger Waters' father was killed during WWII, so many of his lyrics fixate on wartime history and imagery.

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Who sang "Point Me At The Sky"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
This song was released on 1968's The Early Singles. It was an attempt to recreated the pop-psychedelic songs written by Syd Barrett before his mental health issues forced him to leave the band. Dave Gilmour and Roger Waters called it their "one notable failure when Syd left the band."

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Who sang "Paperback Writer"?
The Beatles
"Paperback Writer" was released on 1966's Yesterday... And Today. At the time, paperback books were written for the masses and considered to be of low literary quality, so the writer in the song is implied to be a mediocre writer.
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "One After 909"?
The Beatles
John Lennon wrote the song in 1959 and it was a staple of the band's early live set but wasn't released as a recording until 1970's Let It Be album. It was one of the songs performed in the famous Rooftop Concert.
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "Fearless"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
"Fearless" is a track from 1971's Meddle. At the end, the track fades into a crowd singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Rogers and Hammerstein's Carousel. The crowd is most likely comprised of Liverpool football fans, as they have sung the song at matches for decades. None of the members of Pink Floyd are from Liverpool.

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Who sang "Good Day Sunshine"?
The Beatles
"Good Day Sunshine" was released in 1966 on Revolver. McCartney wrote it after being inspired by The Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream."
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "I Need You"?
The Beatles
This song appeared in 1965's Help! and you know from the end credits that it was written by George Harrison (he makes a point of mentioning it repeatedly). It was written for his first wife, Patty Boyd.
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "Brain Damage"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
"Brain Damage" is on The Dark Side of the Moon and is believed to be about insanity and frontal lobotomies. Many fans believe it was a way for the band's members to process their feelings about the downward spiral of Syd Barrett.

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Who sang "Mean Mr. Mustard"?
The Beatles
"Mean Mr. Mustard" is part of a suite on 1969's Abbey Road, consisting of "Sun King," "Mean Mr. Mustard," "Polythene Pam," and "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window." The band had considered putting it on The White Album but decided against it.
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "Comfortably Numb"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
"Comfortably Numb" is another track from the soundtrack to The Wall and is used to show the conclusion of the band's mental decline. Roger Waters claims he wrote the song about an actual fever he had as a child and swears it is not about drugs, despite the mention of "the joy of heroin."

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Who sang "Hey You"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
This song was on the album, The Wall, but was not included in the film. Roger Waters wrote the track about the end of his first marriage and how alone he felt.

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Who sang "Wish You Were Here"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
This is the title track from the 1975 album "Wish You Were Here." Roger Waters has said that the song was inspired by Syd Barrett's struggles with schizophrenia and his detachment from reality.

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Who sang "Empty Spaces"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
This is another track from The Wall and shows an illustrated sequence meant to show the band's further detachment from reality. If the song is played backward, there is a hidden message that says "Hello looker... Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Chalfont..." A second voice cuts in and says "Roger! Carolyne's on the phone!" and the first voice (Roger Waters) says "Okay." Carolyne Christie was Roger Waters' wife from 1976-1992.

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Who sang "She Loves You"?
The Beatles
"She Loves You" was released on The Beatles' Second Album in 1963. Paul McCartney's dad supposedly didn't like the "yeah, yeah, yeah" refrain and encouraged the boys to sing "yes, yes, yes" because it sounded more "dignified."
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "One Of These Days"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
"One Of These Days" was a track from 1971's Meddle. The line "One of these days I'm gonna cut you up into little pieces" was said by drummer Nick Mason, who was very pleased with the digital warping used to make him sound evil.

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Who sang "Remember A Day"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
"Remember A Day" was on 1968's A Saucerful Of Secrets. It is the only track on the album to feature guitar playing by Syd Barrett, since he left the band during the making of the album.

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Who sang "Don't Let Me Down"?
The Beatles
This song was released on 1969's Hey Jude album and was one of the songs played during the Rooftop Concert. John wrote it for, and dedicated it to, Yoko Ono.
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "Can't Buy Me Love"?
The Beatles
This song was released on 1964's A Hard Day's Night album. It was one of the first pop songs to start with the chorus instead of a verse.
Pink Floyd

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Who sang "Dogs Of War"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
"Dogs" was a track from 1987's A Momentary Lapse Of Reason. The phrase "dogs of war" comes from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1, line 273, when Mark Antony says "Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war."

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Who sang "Mother"?
The Beatles
Pink Floyd
"Mother" was a track from the album and movie, The Wall. Roger Waters infused his childhood raised by an overprotective single mother into the lyrics of the song.

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Who sang "From Me to You"?
The Beatles
This classic was released on 1963's The Beatles album. This is one of the songs the Lads from Liverpool played on The Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964, which effectively jumpstarted their American career.
Pink Floyd

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