Q: Would you please stop, children, asking me what's that sound?

A: In commemoration of the one million billionth person to land on The Answer May Surprise You after having Googled some variation on "stop children what's that sound," I've decided to try and answer whatever the question is they're meaning to ask.

Q: Who sang the song "Stop, Now, What's That Sound"?

A: There is no such song. The song you're thinking of is called "For What It's Worth."

Q: Okay, fine, whatever, who sang the song "For What It's Worth"?

A: Buffalo Springfield.

Q: Wait, isn't that the lady who the only boy who could ever reach her was the son of a preacher man?

A: No, you're thinking of Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien, a.k.a. Dusty Springfield, "Britain's greatest pop diva." Buffalo Springfield is the legendary American folk-rock supergroup, comprising Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Richie Furay, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin.

Their formation is "the stuff of legend," and involves the fact that Neil Young used to drive a hearse (in fact, hearse-related events seem to have prompted most of his early life decisions).

Q: Who wrote "Stop, Children, What's That Sound"?

A: "For What It's Worth," and Stephen Stills.

In its write-up on the song, AMG calls "For What It's Worth" "one of the most representative sounds of the 60s -- even by sheer fact of just the first guitar note and half a dozen drum beats."

That familiar intro has been featured in something like four hundred thousand films and TV shows (including Forrest Gump and The Wonder Years), and was sampled by Public Enemy in 1998's "He Got Game."

Q: What is the song about?

A: The famous Sunset Strip curfew riots of December, 1966. Granted, I have no idea what the curfew riots actually were, because no one has written a Wikipedia entry for them yet. But presumably they involved self-righteous, gun-toting LAPD officers vs a bunch of stoned teenagers, one of whom could have been Stephen Stills, possibly protesting the escalatating Vietnam War.

In short, there was something happening there, but what it was, I'm not exactly clear.

For what it's worth, here are the rest of the lyrics to "For What It's Worth."

Q: Can I download the song from you?

A: No, that would be illegal.

Q: Pleeeeeeease? What if I make out with you?

A: Well. Okay, fine. But you also have to promise to buy the album from which the track was taken, Buffalo Springfield's eponymous debut, on which "For What It's Worth" is the opening track.

Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
Buffalo Springfield, 1967

Q: Thanks! But can I just buy Retrospective: The Best of Buffalo Springfield? I'm the sort of person who only buys greatest hits albums.

A: Sure. But I wish I had known that about you before we made out.

Q: Jesus, why do you have to be such an elitist dick about everything?

A: Because it helps to combat my underlying self-loathing.

Q: Oh right. Hey, can I leave now?

A: No, you should check out my homepage! Or look at all the other mp3s I've made available for sampling!

Q: Wow, okay, that sounds AMAZING now that you mention it. Should I also click on all of your ads?

A: I can't recommend that explicitly, given the terms of Google AdSense. But if you see something you like, go for it!!!!! Also, feel free to buy a shitload of California wine.

Q: Are you saying that for the 15% referral bonus, or are you trying to get me drunk so we can make out again?

A: A little of column A, a little of column B.