Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis". And I don't know why. I was completely meh about that tune when it came out around 20 years ago. Yeah...20 years ago. How old does that make you feel? Just me? Crap!
There are a bunch of things that bother me about it. Like:
- He talks about touching down in the land of the Delta blues when arriving in Memphis. That's in Tennessee, right? Is that anywhere near the Mississippi Delta? I know Memphis is on the Mississippi, but I thought the Delta was further south. Criminy.
- He gets really excited at weird times in the song. Asked if he is a Christian child and he firmly states that he is tonight. And that whole thing about the pretty little thing waiting for the King down in the Jungle Room. Dude...
- I remember when it first came out, and folks who hadn't visited Memphis wondered about him walking ten feet off of Beale. Apparently it's a street that runs through the downtown of Memphis. But no one I knew at the time had ever been to Memphis or had heard of Beale Street. Doesn't anyone west of the Hudson River realize that those of use who grew up east of the Hudson River doesn't believe you exist?
- Who the fuck is Marc Cohn anyway?
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Note: Remember to play the Badgerdaddy Trivia Challenge every day. Put on your blue suede shoes...
16 comments:
I loooooooved that song when it came out, and now you're making me nostaligic about it. :)
It doesn't make me want to visit Memphis, it makes me love and appreciate the feeling and sentiment he's conveying in the song.
The way he enunciates the words, particularly "in the middle of the pouring rain" just... send me to a really great place.
And I know zip about the Delta Blues and where the originate so it never occurred to me to care about its accuracy.
Still don't care. Thanks for a great reminder. :)
Poppy - I don't hate the song. I'm just pissed it's stuck in my brain.
I love that song. And the lyrics always made perfect sense to me. Dude, not all lyrics are meant to be taken literally...
Steph - I'm just cranky today. And I want it to be gone. Blogging about it probably wasn't a good idea, huh? ;)
I'm totally with you on the last bullet point.
great! now that song is in my head.
i guess i should thank you for getting "White and Nerdy" out of there. So, thanks.
Weird. That song was stuck in my head a few days ago, and I was never a fan, either. Is it on a commercial or something?!
You never heard of Beale Street before that? It's one of the most important locations in the US, blues-wise. Folks like BB King got their start there. It's a national landmark. (Oh, and the Mississippi delta runs from somewhere in Miss to Memphis, TN.)
But, about this song specifically, it's weird. He managed to write and perform a song about the blues without any actual soul or blues feeling.
Heff - right?
Diva - It's the insidious nature of the earworm. It infects all.
Sybil - That's a good question. Otherwise it would mean we share a brain. Dum dum duhhhhhhh!
nothing really much to say. except Lady GaGa is the effing queen of earworms. sometimes I wake up with her stuff pounding through my brain.
gah.
ok, miss commenting on your blog, but I do read every day, just an FYI :)
Hank - I was very NY-centric in 1991. Rarely getting out of the metropolitan area. So no, I hadn't heard of Beale Street before this song. And I knew nothing of the blues at that point in my life either. I still would like to know more. Thanks for clarifying the Mississippi Delta thing. I had no idea it went that far north.
Yeah, it's pretty huge. I guess, with my dad being a guitar player and all, I had a pretty strong basis in the blues my whole life.
Ok, count me amongst those who had to go lookup what earworm meant ;-)
I dunno who that is??
But i'm psyched for the Jack contest!!!
I like the song, but I have always wondered why he got so excited about being a christian for that night. Wouldn't you be more excited to NOT be living a christian life for a night? I would. (but I am a heathen)
As soon as I saw the song title in your post, I got the words stuck in my head. Fucker.
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