"South Detroit is as fictional as the Shire of Middle-earth"
January 11, 2012 10:57 AM Subscribe
"I ran the phonetics of east, west, and north, but nothing sounded as good or emotionally true to me as South Detroit," he says. "The syntax just sounded right. I fell in love with the line. It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve learned that there is no South Detroit. But it doesn’t matter." One of rock's greatest mysteries, finally solved.
People, I think it's time we stopped belivin'
posted by The Whelk at 11:04 AM on January 11, 2012 [11 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 11:04 AM on January 11, 2012 [11 favorites]
....Not being from Detroit personally, I just assumed it meant "the southern part of the city of Detroit", and thus this was never "a great mystery."
So, um....okay.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:07 AM on January 11, 2012 [12 favorites]
So, um....okay.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:07 AM on January 11, 2012 [12 favorites]
None of these people seemed to mind that part of the song.
posted by resurrexit at 11:08 AM on January 11, 2012
posted by resurrexit at 11:08 AM on January 11, 2012
The choice of "south" as opposed to the other cardinal directions is not a question of "syntax". Long as we're pedanterating. Just saying.
posted by gauche at 11:09 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by gauche at 11:09 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
I confess, part of me is really amused to imagine the protagonist being from Windsor.
posted by Tomorrowful at 11:09 AM on January 11, 2012 [12 favorites]
posted by Tomorrowful at 11:09 AM on January 11, 2012 [12 favorites]
I don't blame Journey for their songs. I blame bars full of drunken, tasteless idiots who couldn't hit any of those notes sober who feel the need to engage in the bizarre and disturbing ritual that too many Journey songs have become.
posted by cmoj at 11:09 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by cmoj at 11:09 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
We were just discussing this earlier. If you drive south from Detroit to get to Windsor, then logically, "south Detroit" is Canada.
Yes, all of Canada. Even the parts north of Detroit.
posted by cmyk at 11:09 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
Yes, all of Canada. Even the parts north of Detroit.
posted by cmyk at 11:09 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
Now can we discuss how the entire song consists of like sixteen metaphors all mixed together into one nonsense soup?
posted by shakespeherian at 11:10 AM on January 11, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by shakespeherian at 11:10 AM on January 11, 2012 [4 favorites]
Eponysterical, Wolfdog.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 11:10 AM on January 11, 2012
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 11:10 AM on January 11, 2012
The larger mystery is the streetlight people.
posted by blucevalo at 11:10 AM on January 11, 2012 [12 favorites]
posted by blucevalo at 11:10 AM on January 11, 2012 [12 favorites]
No South Detroit? Well, as long as any way I want it, that's the way I need it, any way I want it, then we're good.
posted by jabberjaw at 11:11 AM on January 11, 2012
posted by jabberjaw at 11:11 AM on January 11, 2012
I love the Eminem/Motown correction notes at the end of the article.
posted by aramaic at 11:12 AM on January 11, 2012
posted by aramaic at 11:12 AM on January 11, 2012
>GET GUITAR SOLO
Which guitar solo do you mean, the guitar solo from "Don't Stop Believing" or the guitar solo from "Oh Sherrie"?
>BELIEVING
(the guitar solo from "Don't Stop Believing")
Taken.
>KILL ALL WITH GUITAR SOLO
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:13 AM on January 11, 2012 [17 favorites]
Which guitar solo do you mean, the guitar solo from "Don't Stop Believing" or the guitar solo from "Oh Sherrie"?
>BELIEVING
(the guitar solo from "Don't Stop Believing")
Taken.
>KILL ALL WITH GUITAR SOLO
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:13 AM on January 11, 2012 [17 favorites]
Next you'll be saying there's no east side to Chicago.
posted by maudlin at 11:13 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by maudlin at 11:13 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Directly south of downtown, across the Detroit River, is the Canadian hamlet of Windsor.
Hamlet? Windsor's population is over 200,000.
posted by rocket88 at 11:14 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Hamlet? Windsor's population is over 200,000.
posted by rocket88 at 11:14 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
There is, but it's very humid.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:14 AM on January 11, 2012
posted by shakespeherian at 11:14 AM on January 11, 2012
there is no South Detroit
This is like the fast food joints who insist they don't have any small drinks, isn't it? They just have medium and large drinks. Well guess what, genius? Your medium is really your small. And there is a South Detroit. It's one step over the line. Jesus!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:15 AM on January 11, 2012 [9 favorites]
This is like the fast food joints who insist they don't have any small drinks, isn't it? They just have medium and large drinks. Well guess what, genius? Your medium is really your small. And there is a South Detroit. It's one step over the line. Jesus!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:15 AM on January 11, 2012 [9 favorites]
Directly south of downtown, across the Detroit River, is the Canadian hamlet of Windsor
This is simply not possible. Canada is north of the US, period. I know this because it is called the US's "neighbor to the north." I expect a footnoted correction about this any moment now.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:15 AM on January 11, 2012
This is simply not possible. Canada is north of the US, period. I know this because it is called the US's "neighbor to the north." I expect a footnoted correction about this any moment now.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:15 AM on January 11, 2012
I love the Eminem/Motown correction notes at the end of the article.
they also corrected the train ticket to anywhere, from nowhere. Have they even HEARD the song?
posted by dirtdirt at 11:15 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
they also corrected the train ticket to anywhere, from nowhere. Have they even HEARD the song?
posted by dirtdirt at 11:15 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Check out the first two Journey albums sometime. Completely different band.
posted by thelonius at 11:16 AM on January 11, 2012
posted by thelonius at 11:16 AM on January 11, 2012
Hamlet? Windsor's population is over 200,000.
Something's rotten in the province of Ontario.
posted by Tomorrowful at 11:17 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
Something's rotten in the province of Ontario.
posted by Tomorrowful at 11:17 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
I expect a footnoted correction about this any moment now. 1
1. You're wrong.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:18 AM on January 11, 2012 [4 favorites]
1. You're wrong.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:18 AM on January 11, 2012 [4 favorites]
I expect a footnoted correction about this any moment now.
Heh.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:19 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Heh.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:19 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Something's rotten in the province of Ontario.
So you've been to Windsor, then?
posted by rocket88 at 11:21 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
So you've been to Windsor, then?
posted by rocket88 at 11:21 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
Chicago does indeed have an East Side. Most famous resident: Richard Speck.
posted by Iridic at 11:21 AM on January 11, 2012
posted by Iridic at 11:21 AM on January 11, 2012
Chicago does indeed have an East Side.
But it's less bad than the South Side.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:23 AM on January 11, 2012
But it's less bad than the South Side.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:23 AM on January 11, 2012
Leroy Brown wasn't all that, either.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:25 AM on January 11, 2012
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:25 AM on January 11, 2012
Have they even HEARD the song?
I think that we are all born with "Don't Stop Believin'" inside ourselves and, much like Original Sin, we must turn our hearts to the lord and fill our days with prayer and good works to cleanse ourselves of it.
posted by griphus at 11:28 AM on January 11, 2012 [5 favorites]
I think that we are all born with "Don't Stop Believin'" inside ourselves and, much like Original Sin, we must turn our hearts to the lord and fill our days with prayer and good works to cleanse ourselves of it.
posted by griphus at 11:28 AM on January 11, 2012 [5 favorites]
1. You're wrong.
Sure, and the next thing you're going to tell me is that i doesn't always come before e. I'll believe it when I see it, neighbor.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:28 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
Sure, and the next thing you're going to tell me is that i doesn't always come before e. I'll believe it when I see it, neighbor.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:28 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
Also Jim Croce really didn't say all that to the operator. She hung up about 15 secs into the conversation.
posted by 2bucksplus at 11:28 AM on January 11, 2012 [6 favorites]
posted by 2bucksplus at 11:28 AM on January 11, 2012 [6 favorites]
The larger mystery is the streetlight people.
posted by blucevalo at 11:10 AM on January 11 [2 favorites +] [!]
Or, as the article has it (at least until it is corrected with its own little asterisk), the "streelight" people.
posted by chavenet at 11:30 AM on January 11, 2012
posted by blucevalo at 11:10 AM on January 11 [2 favorites +] [!]
Or, as the article has it (at least until it is corrected with its own little asterisk), the "streelight" people.
posted by chavenet at 11:30 AM on January 11, 2012
Sure, and the next thing you're going to tell me is that i doesn't always come before e. I'll believe it when I see it, neighbor.
neighbor
NEIGHBOR!
AARRRGHHH!
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:30 AM on January 11, 2012
neighbor
NEIGHBOR!
AARRRGHHH!
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:30 AM on January 11, 2012
Huh. Well, if nothing else, I've learned from the map that there is a Canadian island in the Detroit River called Fighting Island.
posted by dabug at 11:30 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by dabug at 11:30 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
My first roommate after college took out the Christmas tree in our living room when we were having a party and we were playing Journey Don't Stop Believin' and he was doing air band shit and he did some whacko jumping splits maneuver and landed smack in the middle of the tree. My God did he have a hangover the next day.
posted by bukvich at 11:32 AM on January 11, 2012
posted by bukvich at 11:32 AM on January 11, 2012
"Also, the midnight train in the song goes "anywhere" and not, as we had it, "nowhere." In our erroneous version, the train is far less useful, and we hope nobody attempted to book tickets."
Clever.
posted by oddman at 11:34 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Clever.
posted by oddman at 11:34 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
If I could save French Thyme in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is rub a tablespoon of it on a lamb shank and braise the lambshank in a wine reduction
And then eat the lamb when it's falling off the bone tender
And polish off the rest of the wine
And then take a nap
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:35 AM on January 11, 2012 [4 favorites]
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is rub a tablespoon of it on a lamb shank and braise the lambshank in a wine reduction
And then eat the lamb when it's falling off the bone tender
And polish off the rest of the wine
And then take a nap
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:35 AM on January 11, 2012 [4 favorites]
Wait, they're not "Sleestak people"? My masters thesis comparing "Don't Stop Belivin'" to "Land of the Lost" is now completely screwed.
posted by jscalzi at 11:35 AM on January 11, 2012 [8 favorites]
posted by jscalzi at 11:35 AM on January 11, 2012 [8 favorites]
I was born and raised in Detroit, and whenever I heard that line I thought "Windsor?" to myself. Of course there is a south part of Detroit, but I never heard anyone refer to being from "south Detroit." East side, west side, downriver, but never south.
Also the fact that when I looked across the river to Canada I was facing south really screwed up my sense of direction for life, to the point that when I was driving from Detroit to move to Montana it took me many miles to get over the feeling that I was driving the wrong way.
posted by The Deej at 11:36 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
Also the fact that when I looked across the river to Canada I was facing south really screwed up my sense of direction for life, to the point that when I was driving from Detroit to move to Montana it took me many miles to get over the feeling that I was driving the wrong way.
posted by The Deej at 11:36 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
Try "Foolish Heart" off of Perry's solo LP Street Talk for some pleasant wuss rock for supermarkets.
posted by porn in the woods at 11:36 AM on January 11, 2012
posted by porn in the woods at 11:36 AM on January 11, 2012
IN RELATED NEWS: Scientists announce that some people are not, in fact, just dust in the wind; gatherings of angels fail to appear over heads; siginificant other chooses sleep over continued lovin'; and those who are hot-blooded are discouraged from enticing strangers to "check it and see".
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:37 AM on January 11, 2012 [11 favorites]
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:37 AM on January 11, 2012 [11 favorites]
and landed smack in the middle of the tree. My God did he have a hangover the next day.
I'm had some gins like this.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:39 AM on January 11, 2012
I'm had some gins like this.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:39 AM on January 11, 2012
I always wondered why birds inexplicably failed to suddenly appear.
posted by gauche at 11:40 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by gauche at 11:40 AM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
***BONUS ROUND***
Describe the cosmology in Joni Mitchell's 'Woodstock' in which we are both billion-year-old carbon and in need of getting ourselves back to the Garden.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:42 AM on January 11, 2012 [7 favorites]
Describe the cosmology in Joni Mitchell's 'Woodstock' in which we are both billion-year-old carbon and in need of getting ourselves back to the Garden.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:42 AM on January 11, 2012 [7 favorites]
The first rule of Fighting Island is: don't talk about Fighting Island.
posted by VTX at 11:42 AM on January 11, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by VTX at 11:42 AM on January 11, 2012 [3 favorites]
Alligator lizards can't fly.
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 11:44 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 11:44 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
...it’s the most downloaded twentieth-century track in the history of counting such things.
.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:46 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:46 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Also the fact that when I looked across the river to Canada I was facing south really screwed up my sense of direction for life, to the point that when I was driving from Detroit to move to Montana it took me many miles to get over the feeling that I was driving the wrong way.
Yeah, dental floss farming used to be hard...
posted by arto at 11:47 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Yeah, dental floss farming used to be hard...
posted by arto at 11:47 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Describe the cosmology in Joni Mitchell's 'Woodstock' in which we are both billion-year-old carbon and in need of getting ourselves back to the Garden.
We are billion year old carbon, but so would be the garden, so... aren't we there already?
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 11:49 AM on January 11, 2012
We are billion year old carbon, but so would be the garden, so... aren't we there already?
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 11:49 AM on January 11, 2012
Since this seems to be the spot to ask this, are the dog and butterfly both supposed to be flying through the air? Because that's some serious wind and/or odd cargo for an airplane and I just don't understand what supposed to be happening there or what it's a metaphor for. To be totally fair I don't spend too much time thinking about any version of Fleetwood Mac that doesn't consist of at least 1/6 Peter Green by volume, so it's not like I've thought about this that much, really.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 11:51 AM on January 11, 2012
posted by 1f2frfbf at 11:51 AM on January 11, 2012
Suzanne doesn't feed you oranges that come all the way from china. She made tacos.
posted by The Whelk at 11:55 AM on January 11, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 11:55 AM on January 11, 2012 [5 favorites]
And no matter how hard Peter Gabriel wants to be my sledgehammer, I probably shouldn't use his body as a tool to put up picture frames or anything.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:57 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:57 AM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
I was disappointed when I first learned that Chicago actually had an East Side, mostly because I liked to picture that Daddy was some sort of underwater cop, patrolling the floor of Lake Michigan.
Na-na-na na-na-na na-na-na na-na-na-na-na-na-na.
posted by SpiffyRob at 11:59 AM on January 11, 2012
Na-na-na na-na-na na-na-na na-na-na-na-na-na-na.
posted by SpiffyRob at 11:59 AM on January 11, 2012
Hoist, etc:
* This post has been corrected to note that Eminem was from the East Side, and Motown is in the West, not the North. Also, the midnight train in the song goes "anywhere" and not, as we had it, "nowhere." In our erroneous version, the train is far less useful, and we hope nobody attempted to book tickets.posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:59 AM on January 11, 2012
Lucifer did not hold a generals rank when the blitzkrieg raged.
He was actually a colonel.
posted by diogenes at 12:00 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
He was actually a colonel.
posted by diogenes at 12:00 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
My oldest brother and his buddies skipped school one day in 1983 to get Journey tickets. The Frontiers tour. They drove in to Worcester and scored second row seats. Center stage. Journey was basically the biggest band in the world at that time, and for a high school senior this was an extraordinarily big deal. The buddies all decided to take the rest of the day to celebrate.
They were enjoying (yet another) doobie underneath one of the picnic shelters in the park near my (then) house, idly watching some hilarious looking lady carrying a giant rainbow umbrella along the path around the perimeter of the park. Certainly the chemical enhancement played a role, but the umbrella was by all accounts impressive, and they watched this person wind their way around for a good half hour. It was a drizzly fall day in New England, so this umbrella was basically the most visible thing for miles. My brother was drawing the last tiny bit off of (another!) joint, by this time pretty smashed, when the buddies got a strange, terrified look. He turned around to see what had spooked them, his thumb and forefinger pinching the last itty bitty speck of EZ Wider to his puckered mouth and saw that the umbrella lady was there, and she was our mom.
Mom, of course, made him forfeit the tickets. I was maybe 9, and I remember pleading with her on his behalf, but she wouldn't budge. Second row seats!
posted by dirtdirt at 12:01 PM on January 11, 2012 [8 favorites]
They were enjoying (yet another) doobie underneath one of the picnic shelters in the park near my (then) house, idly watching some hilarious looking lady carrying a giant rainbow umbrella along the path around the perimeter of the park. Certainly the chemical enhancement played a role, but the umbrella was by all accounts impressive, and they watched this person wind their way around for a good half hour. It was a drizzly fall day in New England, so this umbrella was basically the most visible thing for miles. My brother was drawing the last tiny bit off of (another!) joint, by this time pretty smashed, when the buddies got a strange, terrified look. He turned around to see what had spooked them, his thumb and forefinger pinching the last itty bitty speck of EZ Wider to his puckered mouth and saw that the umbrella lady was there, and she was our mom.
Mom, of course, made him forfeit the tickets. I was maybe 9, and I remember pleading with her on his behalf, but she wouldn't budge. Second row seats!
posted by dirtdirt at 12:01 PM on January 11, 2012 [8 favorites]
South Detroit sounds like South Toronto (aka the Lake, and non-existent as far as a place to live for the non-fish among us).
But it's nice to think that it's meant to be Windsor.
(I've never been to Windsor - it must be such a strange and exotic place).
posted by jb at 12:04 PM on January 11, 2012
But it's nice to think that it's meant to be Windsor.
(I've never been to Windsor - it must be such a strange and exotic place).
posted by jb at 12:04 PM on January 11, 2012
Downriver -- isn't that, like, Lincoln Park and River Rouge? Rural seems the wrong moniker for those industrial suburbs.
I live in fear that these guys will next try to demystify "MacArthur Park".
posted by dhartung at 12:04 PM on January 11, 2012
I live in fear that these guys will next try to demystify "MacArthur Park".
posted by dhartung at 12:04 PM on January 11, 2012
He also took liberty with the sun (hint: don't really shine at midnight).
posted by iamkimiam at 12:07 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by iamkimiam at 12:07 PM on January 11, 2012
I'm just thankful that Kim Wilde took the time to warn the dozens of residents of "East California" that there was a new wave coming in "Kids In America"...
posted by Ian A.T. at 12:13 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by Ian A.T. at 12:13 PM on January 11, 2012
Next up: Pompatus of Love. And not just this. I want the real secrets. TELL ALL.
posted by cccorlew at 12:14 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by cccorlew at 12:14 PM on January 11, 2012
Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world
Holly took the waterfall goin' anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in North Windsor
Will took the waterfall goin' anywhere
Scientist from a smokey room
Smell of sulfer in cheap test tubes
For a while Rick keeps the raft aright
It goes on and on and on and on
(Chorus)
Don't stop believin'
Grumpy's not just a feelin'
Sleestak people, oh no!
Don't walk a mile on
Stay out of that pylon
Sleestak people, oh no!
Don't stop to worry
Cha-Ka's just a furry
Sleestak people, oh no
Dangers waiting, up and down the river course
Dopey crying in the night
Sleestak people, eat Pakuni without remorse
Hiding, somewhere in the night.
Working hard to get back home,
But Cha-Ka wants to get him some,
Sayin' anything to be alone,
In the cave of love
Some are found, some are lost
Some were stuffed by Sid and Marty Krofft
Oh, the river never ends
It goes on and on and on and on
(Chorus)
Don't stop believin'
Grumpy's not just a feelin'
Sleestak people, oh no!
Don't walk a mile on
Stay out of that pylon
Sleestak people, oh no!
Don't stop to worry
Cha-Ka's just a furry
Sleestak people, oh no
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:16 PM on January 11, 2012 [4 favorites]
Holly took the waterfall goin' anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in North Windsor
Will took the waterfall goin' anywhere
Scientist from a smokey room
Smell of sulfer in cheap test tubes
For a while Rick keeps the raft aright
It goes on and on and on and on
(Chorus)
Don't stop believin'
Grumpy's not just a feelin'
Sleestak people, oh no!
Don't walk a mile on
Stay out of that pylon
Sleestak people, oh no!
Don't stop to worry
Cha-Ka's just a furry
Sleestak people, oh no
Dangers waiting, up and down the river course
Dopey crying in the night
Sleestak people, eat Pakuni without remorse
Hiding, somewhere in the night.
Working hard to get back home,
But Cha-Ka wants to get him some,
Sayin' anything to be alone,
In the cave of love
Some are found, some are lost
Some were stuffed by Sid and Marty Krofft
Oh, the river never ends
It goes on and on and on and on
(Chorus)
Don't stop believin'
Grumpy's not just a feelin'
Sleestak people, oh no!
Don't walk a mile on
Stay out of that pylon
Sleestak people, oh no!
Don't stop to worry
Cha-Ka's just a furry
Sleestak people, oh no
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:16 PM on January 11, 2012 [4 favorites]
Suzanne doesn't feed you oranges that come all the way from china. She made tacos.
I would love to know more people who make me tacos and get me on their wavelengths.
posted by clockzero at 12:19 PM on January 11, 2012
I would love to know more people who make me tacos and get me on their wavelengths.
posted by clockzero at 12:19 PM on January 11, 2012
I thought "One of rock's greatest mysteries" was Who Killed Bobby Fuller?.
posted by tommasz at 12:20 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by tommasz at 12:20 PM on January 11, 2012
More confusing to me is places that don't exist, but you could point on a map to where they'd be if they did exist and they're actually within the city, like South Oakland (which for some reason is called East Oakland) or West Boston (Allston/Brighton, I guess?)
posted by madcaptenor at 12:26 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by madcaptenor at 12:26 PM on January 11, 2012
This just in: research indicates that love may not in fact be all you need.
Now where can I order some of those cool chicken slacks that Sam Cooke sang about?
posted by Herodios at 12:33 PM on January 11, 2012
Now where can I order some of those cool chicken slacks that Sam Cooke sang about?
posted by Herodios at 12:33 PM on January 11, 2012
thelonius: Check out the first two Journey albums sometime. Completely different band.
I am not a spaceman.
No. No.
I am not a spaceman.
posted by Herodios at 12:40 PM on January 11, 2012
I am not a spaceman.
No. No.
I am not a spaceman.
posted by Herodios at 12:40 PM on January 11, 2012
Windsor, Ontario is indeed a strange and wonderful place. I went there once for breakfast and tried to order Canadian Bacon. I was told that it was known there as Peameal Bacon.
posted by DaddyNewt at 12:45 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by DaddyNewt at 12:45 PM on January 11, 2012
Downriver -- isn't that, like, Lincoln Park and River Rouge? Rural seems the wrong moniker for those industrial suburbs.
Yeah... there's nothing "rural" about those areas. You have to go pretty far downriver for rural to set in, and by that time you are no longer in "downriver Detroit." You're in Rockwood.
posted by The Deej at 12:48 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Yeah... there's nothing "rural" about those areas. You have to go pretty far downriver for rural to set in, and by that time you are no longer in "downriver Detroit." You're in Rockwood.
posted by The Deej at 12:48 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Since this seems to be the spot to ask this, are the dog and butterfly both supposed to be flying through the air?
that was heart, not fleetwood mac
posted by pyramid termite at 12:55 PM on January 11, 2012
that was heart, not fleetwood mac
posted by pyramid termite at 12:55 PM on January 11, 2012
Despite my loathing of this song, the ancient night I sat paralyzed with laughter and first watched Tribute to America was the moment I could see the ENTIRE INTERNET from beginning to end and knew that they were wrong when they said everything was going to be alright. So thanks, Journey (I guess) but thanks x1000 unknown early Flash genius. Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone.
posted by mintcake! at 1:10 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by mintcake! at 1:10 PM on January 11, 2012
About 10 years ago Mrs. wintermind scored a pair of tickets to see Journey in New Orleans for $20 (long, boring story omitted). This included luxury motor coach tickets from Baton Rouge to the venue, aboard which there were copious quantities of chicken wings and daiquiris. The concert was about 100x more awesome than I expected, and I would go see them again. Particularly if there were wings thrown into the deal.
posted by wintermind at 1:12 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by wintermind at 1:12 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Downriver -- isn't that, like, Lincoln Park and River Rouge? Rural seems the wrong moniker for those industrial suburbs.
Yeah... there's nothing "rural" about those areas. You have to go pretty far downriver for rural to set in, and by that time you are no longer in "downriver Detroit." You're in Rockwood.
Only if you stay on the freeway. Back inna day (like when this song got written), if you headed south down 75, and turn right anywhere south of Eureka Rd (which is only a few miles south of the city border), you'd hit "rural" pretty damn fast. There were some towns along the truck route (US-24) but once you got outside of those, it was pretty sparse. And while the towns are bigger and there's more subdivisions, it's still not all that difficult to find farm houses with no neighbors within a quarter mile. (I grew up downriver, 4 miles south of DTW, and it was -- and still is, by most useful metrics -- about as rural as you're gonna find that close to a major city.)
posted by jlkr at 1:12 PM on January 11, 2012
Yeah... there's nothing "rural" about those areas. You have to go pretty far downriver for rural to set in, and by that time you are no longer in "downriver Detroit." You're in Rockwood.
Only if you stay on the freeway. Back inna day (like when this song got written), if you headed south down 75, and turn right anywhere south of Eureka Rd (which is only a few miles south of the city border), you'd hit "rural" pretty damn fast. There were some towns along the truck route (US-24) but once you got outside of those, it was pretty sparse. And while the towns are bigger and there's more subdivisions, it's still not all that difficult to find farm houses with no neighbors within a quarter mile. (I grew up downriver, 4 miles south of DTW, and it was -- and still is, by most useful metrics -- about as rural as you're gonna find that close to a major city.)
posted by jlkr at 1:12 PM on January 11, 2012
Of course, now "rural Detroit" is happening right near downtown!
posted by The Deej at 1:19 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by The Deej at 1:19 PM on January 11, 2012
Also... I guess the point I was obliquely and snarkily making was that those of us who lived downtown never considered anything rural as being part of "Detroit." If you went downriver enough to be rural, you were downriver, but not in "downriver Detroit."
Hairsplitting, but just the perspective of a Cass Corridor kid.
posted by The Deej at 1:24 PM on January 11, 2012
Hairsplitting, but just the perspective of a Cass Corridor kid.
posted by The Deej at 1:24 PM on January 11, 2012
There used to be an Onion-like newspaper in Boston called the Weekly Week. (Some of the former editors now run the Sherman Cafe in Union Square, Somerville.)
One of its headlines was: "Ray Charles: 'Georgia is no longer on my mind'"
posted by A dead Quaker at 2:03 PM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
One of its headlines was: "Ray Charles: 'Georgia is no longer on my mind'"
posted by A dead Quaker at 2:03 PM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
Not that there is any such thing as "downriver Detroit", anyway. There is Detroit, and there is downriver, and never the twain shall meet (except along city lines).
posted by jlkr at 2:15 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by jlkr at 2:15 PM on January 11, 2012
I live in fear that these guys will next try to demystify "MacArthur Park".
I can't say I'm not a little curious about that cake. What happened to the recipe? Why did someone leave the cake outside? What is it made of that requires such a long cooking time? I mean, even cheesecakes usually take less than an hour. Must have been a heck of a cake to write a song about it though.
posted by Hoopo at 2:35 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
I can't say I'm not a little curious about that cake. What happened to the recipe? Why did someone leave the cake outside? What is it made of that requires such a long cooking time? I mean, even cheesecakes usually take less than an hour. Must have been a heck of a cake to write a song about it though.
posted by Hoopo at 2:35 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'd like to be de-mystified as to why anyone would say they were wrapped up like a douche after being blinded by the light
posted by Redhush at 2:41 PM on January 11, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by Redhush at 2:41 PM on January 11, 2012 [4 favorites]
Also you can't just queue up in line at the train station and buy a midnight ticket to "anywhere".
And with that comment, you have just broken my heart, severed my most cherished dream and crushed my soul.
Now if you tell me I can't get a midnight train to Georgia, I'm gonna put a gun to my head.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:58 PM on January 11, 2012
And with that comment, you have just broken my heart, severed my most cherished dream and crushed my soul.
Now if you tell me I can't get a midnight train to Georgia, I'm gonna put a gun to my head.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:58 PM on January 11, 2012
Not that there is any such thing as "downriver Detroit", anyway. There is Detroit, and there is downriver, and never the twain shall meet (except along city lines).
Point taken.
All the confusing Detroit geography is the number one reason I moved to Montana.
posted by The Deej at 2:58 PM on January 11, 2012
Point taken.
All the confusing Detroit geography is the number one reason I moved to Montana.
posted by The Deej at 2:58 PM on January 11, 2012
Redhush, I've always heard it as "wrapped up like a douche" too. Always. And I see we're not alone.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:00 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:00 PM on January 11, 2012
...the number one reason I moved to Montana
Whaa? It wasn't to be a dental floss tycoon?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:04 PM on January 11, 2012
Whaa? It wasn't to be a dental floss tycoon?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:04 PM on January 11, 2012
When I told my friends I was moving to Montana, nearly every one asked if I was going to be a dental floss tycoon. It became painful. So, thank you flapjax for resurrecting that pain.
Besides, raising dental floss is not nearly as common as it used to be. Disappointed.
posted by The Deej at 3:17 PM on January 11, 2012
Besides, raising dental floss is not nearly as common as it used to be. Disappointed.
posted by The Deej at 3:17 PM on January 11, 2012
Poo poo, tana nana.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:37 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:37 PM on January 11, 2012
One of its headlines was: 'Ray Charles: "Georgia is no longer on my mind"'
Tecnnically the state of Georgia was never on his mind. Stuart Gorrell wrote the lyrics about Georgia Carmichael, Hoagy Carmichael's sister.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:55 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
that was heart, not fleetwood mac
As Heart does not contain my recommended daily allowance of Peter Green, this would be why I was painfully (happily?) unaware that all these years (yes, at least for 20 years) I have attributed this song incorrectly, and now where, in front of the internet and everyone, I am finally outed. *sigh*
I still laughed when I heard it referenced on MST3K.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 3:58 PM on January 11, 2012
As Heart does not contain my recommended daily allowance of Peter Green, this would be why I was painfully (happily?) unaware that all these years (yes, at least for 20 years) I have attributed this song incorrectly, and now where, in front of the internet and everyone, I am finally outed. *sigh*
I still laughed when I heard it referenced on MST3K.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 3:58 PM on January 11, 2012
It is patently ludicrous that you would have to excuse yourself before kissing the sky.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:31 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:31 PM on January 11, 2012
You people realize there is a major north/south thoroughfare that runs all through the greater Detroit metropolitan area without every straying into Canada, right? You people have no rock-n-roll OR geography in your soul!
See, he got busted because they ran out of gas, but if there's been gas in the car...Oh, never mind!
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 4:55 PM on January 11, 2012
See, he got busted because they ran out of gas, but if there's been gas in the car...Oh, never mind!
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 4:55 PM on January 11, 2012
It is patently ludicrous that you would have to excuse yourself before kissing the sky.
Stav, you know as well as I do that Jimi said "s'cuse me while I kiss this guy". That makes it far less ludicrous.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:03 PM on January 11, 2012
Stav, you know as well as I do that Jimi said "s'cuse me while I kiss this guy". That makes it far less ludicrous.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:03 PM on January 11, 2012
One of its headlines was: 'Ray Charles: "Georgia is no longer on my mind"'
Tecnnically the state of Georgia was never on his mind. Stuart Gorrell wrote the lyrics about Georgia Carmichael, Hoagy Carmichael's sister.
But... Ray didn't say anything about the *state* of Georgia either. Maybe he just had a thing for Hoagy's sister, too.
(rumor has it she once auditioned for a position as a Ray-lette, and you know that to be a Ray-lette, you had to... )
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:08 PM on January 11, 2012
Tecnnically the state of Georgia was never on his mind. Stuart Gorrell wrote the lyrics about Georgia Carmichael, Hoagy Carmichael's sister.
But... Ray didn't say anything about the *state* of Georgia either. Maybe he just had a thing for Hoagy's sister, too.
(rumor has it she once auditioned for a position as a Ray-lette, and you know that to be a Ray-lette, you had to... )
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:08 PM on January 11, 2012
You people realize there is a major north/south thoroughfare that runs all through the greater Detroit metropolitan area without every straying into Canada, right?
You mean Grat-shit Avenue?
See, he got busted because they ran out of gas, but if there's been gas in the car...Oh, never mind!
posted by Kid Charlemagne
I think the people down the hall know who you are.
posted by Herodios at 7:55 PM on January 11, 2012 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I mean I have to take East 90/94 to get to my house when it is actually south and west of me. The nerve!
posted by gjc at 8:04 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by gjc at 8:04 PM on January 11, 2012
It's DEUCE?? oh, wait, that didn't mean then what it means now, I hope. Cuz, that's almost worse...
posted by Redhush at 8:43 PM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Redhush at 8:43 PM on January 11, 2012 [2 favorites]
Geez, am I the only person on MeFi to have lived in Windsor?
posted by 314/ at 9:07 PM on January 11, 2012
posted by 314/ at 9:07 PM on January 11, 2012
Metaflter: we're pedanterating.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:00 AM on January 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by wenestvedt at 7:00 AM on January 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
Geez, am I the only person on MeFi to have lived in Windsor?
I lived there for three years, although it felt like ten.
People there always said the best thing about Windsor is Detroit...and the worst thing about Windsor is Detroit.
posted by rocket88 at 8:58 AM on January 12, 2012
I lived there for three years, although it felt like ten.
People there always said the best thing about Windsor is Detroit...and the worst thing about Windsor is Detroit.
posted by rocket88 at 8:58 AM on January 12, 2012
You people realize there is a major north/south thoroughfare that runs all through the greater Detroit metropolitan area without ever straying into Canada, right?
well, yeah. If you want to go so far west that you're not even *in* Detroit (mod a couple of miles near Redford).
posted by jlkr at 12:23 PM on January 13, 2012
well, yeah. If you want to go so far west that you're not even *in* Detroit (mod a couple of miles near Redford).
posted by jlkr at 12:23 PM on January 13, 2012
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