Place Names in Rock Lyrics: America

For this feature we've previously done Sweet Little Sixteen, Dancing in the Streets, Night Train, Rock'n Me, Pop Muzik, Girls, Girls, Girls, Fire Down Below, Truckin', Everywhere That I'm Not, Mess Around, Back in the USA, and Back in the USSR.

Our song today is America, by Simon & Garfunkel. It came out in 1968 on their Bookends album, but was not released as a single until 1972, to promote their Greatest Hits album that came out that year. Oddly, it only hit #97 on the Billboard chart. It's a pretty song with some pretty great lyrics. Personally, my favorite version is the lengthy prog rock workout (10 1/2 minutes) Yes gave it in 1970.

There aren't really verses and choruses, it sort of just flows. Here are the first three stanzas:

Let us be lovers,
We'll marry our fortunes together.
I've got some real estate
Here in my bag.

So we bought a pack of cigarettes,
And Mrs. Wagner's pies,
And walked off
To look for America.
"Kathy", I said,
As we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh,
Michigan seems like a dream to me now.

It took me four days
To hitch-hike from Saginaw.
"I've come to look for America."

Look, I understand they're looking for the real spirit or meaning of America, but I don't get why they hoped to find it in Saginaw, Michigan? Anyway, here's the final stanza:

Counting the cars
On the New Jersey Turnpike
The've all come
To look for America,
All come to look for America,
All come to look for America.

So the place names in this song are:
New Jersey (turnpike)
Pittsburgh
Saginaw

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And here's the master list:

Notes: The cities that has been mentioned most often is New York, with Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Philadelphia tied for second. The biggest cities we haven't heard from yet, at least in the United States, are Cleveland, Kansas City, and Seattle. Also surprising to me is that Memphis hasn't yet appeared on the list.

Atlanta x3

Baltimore x3
Baton Rouge
Boston
Buffalo
California

--(northern) California
--(coast of) California
Chattanooga

Chicago x3
Dallas
Delaware (Bay)

Detroit x3

Ft. Lauderdale
Georgia (country)
Houston
Las Vegas

London

Los Angeles x4

Miami
--Miami Beach
Moline
Moscow

Munich
New Jersey (turnpike)

New Orleans x4

New York City x6
--Queens
Nova Scotia

Paris x2

Philadelphia x4

Phoenix

Pittsburgh x2

Raleigh

Richmond
Saginaw

San Francisco
--Berkeley

St. Louis x3

Tacoma

(heart of) Texas
Tokyo
Ukraine

Vancouver

Washington, DC x2

Bleak Peanuts

When I reviewed the Complete Peanuts Vol. 1983-84, I promised a strip in there was slated for this blog's Bleak Peanuts feature. Well, it's a couple months later, but here it is:

Spike, of course, is Snoopy's brother who lives in the desert near Needles, California. In the 1980s he became a frequent guest star in the strip, displaying a sort of wry fatalism about his desert life among the cacti. Most of his strips have him forming clubs or making friends with the cacti, or writing letters to Snoopy of the humorous minutiae of his arid environment.

But this strip from October 1984 (and a few others that appeared in the couple weeks following), are a little different. That Ha! at the end is not much of a punchline, is it? How did Spike arrive in the desert, anyway? After all, he was raised at the Daisy Hill puppy farm just like Snoopy and his other siblings.

Well, clearly, he must have been adopted but his new family decided they couldn't or didn't feel like taking care of him, so they dropped him off in the desert to die or scratch out whatever existence he could. And ever since then, Spike's been waiting out his boring existence, hoping, as we see here, for some new owner to pick him and take him with her, somebody to love him and provide him the shelter and food that he cannot provide for himself.

The bleakness here may not be quite as obvious as some of the others, but once you understand the situation, this one cuts to the bone.

What I'm Reading: Town, City & Nation: England, 1850-1914

Working on my newest novel (it's going well, thank you!) has taken its toll on my posting frequency lately, that and that my most recent book doesn't lend itself to much light discussion. Town, City & Nation: England, 1850-1914 is a real academic book. But I enjoyed it--lots of good stuff about historical city development.

I think my favorite part was the section on English seaside resorts and their development. The first were upper-class getaways like Brighton in the early 1800s, but steamboats, and later railroads, made seaside towns increasingly accessible to the middle and then lower classes as the 19th century went on. The most famous of these more middle-class seaside town was Blackpool, which remained a favored vacation destination until the 1970s. This was a subject I was simply not familiar with before reading this book.

It's quite a thorough book, covering or at least touching on pretty much any urban history or economic topic concerning English cities in its time period. I found sections on different types of work in London and class relations in the great industrial cities to be worthwhile, and a section on crime in small market towns unexpectedly fascinating. On the other hand, I was hoping for more on transportation in cities during this time period, but that's probably well-covered elsewhere.

I can't claim that Town, City & Nation would be of widespread interest, but for those with into urban history, especially how cities develop, this is well-written and well-organized, and packed full of great information.

Scary Movies: Witch

I have previously ranked horror movies here, here, here, here, here, here and here. Yesterday my wife and I got a babysitter because we both wanted to see the new movie, Witch.

WITCH: A NEW ENGLAND FOLKTALE (2015)
Hey, this is the first horror movie for this feature I've rated after seeing it in the theater! Seeing scary movies in the theater is fun because other people gasp at the same time and it enhances the scary experience. The only movie I've seen in the theater where people actually screamed out loud was The Ring, which maybe I'll discuss sometime.

The reason we wanted to see the Witch is that we had heard it went to some lengths to be an authentic period movie. Set in the mid-17th century in New England, it follows a Puritan family after they're banished from their village and make their own homestead in a remote wooded area. The actors speak in true 17th-century English, which makes them difficult to understand in some parts. Details of their farmhouse, clothing, religious observance, and lifestyle are meticulously observed. I'm no expert, but it all seemed well-done to me.

When we catch up to the family after their banishment, Catherine the mother, has recently given birth to a baby. The eldest daughter, Thomasin, perhaps 14, is charged with baby-sitting the infant one day when it is only a few weeks old. She plays a game of peek-a-boo, only the baby vanishes when she covers her eyes. Although she does not know what happened, the audience sees a red-cloaked figure hurrying through the forest with the stolen child. Later that evening, we see the red-cloaked figure as a haggard, bent-over old woman. She kills the baby and mashes it up, spreading the "baby lotion" over her body.

The family is devastated at the baby's disappearance, but I'll leave off what happens next so as not to spoil things. I have read that though this movie has gotten good critical reviews, many horror fans don't like it. I assume that's because most of the horror in this movie is psychological, rather than things jumping out of the closet scary. Personally, I found it fascinating for its faithful recreation of the time period, and rewarding in horror terms. Although there is not a lot of gore overall, there are at least a couple brief scenes that are pretty gut-churning, so I don't think I can recommend this generally. This is for those who might appreciate a more cerebral, but still pretty intense, horror movie.

Story/Plot/Characters--Acting is quite good, the story is interesting and coherent. Characters have believable motivations, although they were still two-dimensional. Still, I'm going to mark this category down a bit for lack of ambition. With just a little more background on the family this could have been a true psychological portrait, but the movie was content to settle for less. (2.5 points)
Special Effects--The special effects here were more in the costumes and sets, which carefully maintained historical accuracy. Some of the "witchy" scenes were done in near-total darkness, which I think was at least partly to obscure the lack of budget. (1 point)
Scariness--Some scary scenes. (1 point)
Atmosphere/Freakiness--Only moderately scary, but on the other hand, this movie is freaky as hell. The witch rituals, the feeling of complete isolation on this farm a day's ride from the nearest village, the crushing psychological pressure the family suffers. Complete success with atmosphere.  (2 points)
Total=6.5 points

______________________________________________________________________________
Here's the master list of horror movies I've rated so far, and let's also add to it the color ranking I use with the comic movies.
Green=excellent  Blue=pretty good  Black=Okay  Red=avoid

Day of the Dead (1978)=9.5 points
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)=8.5 points
Frankenstein (1931)=8 points
King Kong (1933)=8 points
Village of the Damned (1960)=8 points
Night of the Living Dead (1968)=7.5 points
Jaws (1975)=7 points
Witch: A New England Folktale (2015)=6.5 points
Night Creatures (1962)=6.5 points
Phantom of the Opera (1962)=6.5 points
The Thing (1982)=6 points
Gremlins (1984)=4 points
Man-Thing (2005)=4 points
Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)=3.5 points
The Wolf Man (1941)=3 points

Place Names in Rock Lyrics: Back in the USSR

For this feature we've previously done Sweet Little Sixteen, Dancing in the Streets, Night Train, Rock'n Me, Pop Muzik, Girls, Girls, Girls, Fire Down Below, Truckin', Everywhere That I'm Not, Mess Around, and Back in the USA.

Our song today is Back in the USSR by the Beatles. It was released as a song on their White Album, obviously as a parody of the last song we did, Back in the USA, although there are also lyrical allusions to the Beach Boys' California Girls. It was not released as a single at the time except in Scandinavia, but it's always gotten plenty of airplay on AOR/classic rock stations.

One interesting thing is Ringo had quit the Beatles temporarily during the recording of the White Album, so Paul actually plays drums on this song.

Here's the first verse:

Oh, flew in from Miami Beach B.O.A.C.
Didn't get to bed last night
On the way the paper bag was on my knee
Man I had a dreadful flight
I'm back in the U.S.S.R.
You don't know how lucky you are boy
Back in the U.S.S.R. (Yeah)
And here's the bridge a little later in the song:

Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out
They leave the West behind
And Moscow girls make me sing and shout
That Georgia's always on my mind

Note the allusion to Ray Charles's Georgia on My Mind in that last line.

Here's the final verse. No cities in this one, I just think it's funny:

Oh, show me around your snow-peaked mountains way down south
Take me to your daddy's farm
Let me hear your balalaika's ringing out
Come and keep your comrade warm
I'm back in the U.S.S.R.
Hey you don't know how lucky you are boys
Back in the U.S.S.R.

So the cities and places in this song are:
Georgia (country, then part of the USSR, not the US state)
Miami Beach (a suburb of Miami)
Moscow
Ukraine

_______________________________________________________________________

And here's the master list:

Notes: The cities that has been mentioned most often is New York, with Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Philadelphia tied for second. The biggest cities we haven't heard from yet, at least in the United States, are Cleveland, Kansas City, and Seattle. Also surprising to me is that Memphis hasn't yet appeared on the list.

Atlanta x3

Baltimore x3
Baton Rouge
Boston
Buffalo
California

--(northern) California
--(coast of) California
Chattanooga

Chicago x3
Dallas
Delaware (Bay)

Detroit x3

Ft. Lauderdale
Georgia (country)
Houston
Las Vegas

London

Los Angeles x4

Miami
--Miami Beach
Moline
Moscow

Munich

New Orleans x4

New York City x6
--Queens
Nova Scotia

Paris x2

Philadelphia x4

Phoenix

Pittsburgh

Raleigh

Richmond

San Francisco
--Berkeley

St. Louis x3

Tacoma

(heart of) Texas
Tokyo
Ukraine

Vancouver

Washington, DC x2

Place Names in Rock Lyrics: Back in the USA

For this feature we've previously done Sweet Little Sixteen, Dancing in the Streets, Night Train, Rock'n Me, Pop Muzik, Girls, Girls, Girls, Fire Down Below, Truckin', and Everywhere That I'm Not, and Mess Around.

Tonight's song is Back in the U.S.A., by Chuck Berry, the second song by Chuck Berry we've done. (The first was Sweet Little Sixteen.) I guess Chuck was big on places, maybe a result of his extensive touring. The song hit #37 for him in 1959 and Linda Ronstadt did a cover version that hit #16 in 1978. It's also the first of several America-themed songs we'll do.

Oh well, oh well, I feel so good today,
We touched ground on an international runway
Jet propelled back home, from over the seas to the U. S. A.

New York, Los Angeles, oh, how I yearned for you
Detroit, Chicago, Chattanooga, Baton Rouge
Let alone just to be at my home back in ol' St. Lou.

Did I miss the skyscrapers, did I miss the long freeway?
From the coast of California to the shores of Delaware Bay
You can bet your life I did, till I got back to the U. S. A.

Looking hard for a drive-in, searching for a corner café
Where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day
Yeah, and a juke-box jumping with records like in the U.S.A.

I really like these lyrics. Very picturesque!

So the cities and places in this song are
Baton Rouge
(coast of) California
Chattanooga
Chicago
Delaware (Bay)
Detroit
Los Angeles
New York
St. Louis

Baton Rouge and Chattanooga appear here for the first time.

_______________________________________________________________________

And here's the master list:

Notes: The cities that has been mentioned most often is New York, with Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Philadelphia tied for second. The biggest cities we haven't heard from yet, at least in the United States, are Cleveland, Kansas City, and Seattle. Also surprising to me is that Memphis hasn't yet appeared on the list.

Atlanta x3

Baltimore x3
Baton Rouge
Boston
Buffalo
California

--(northern) California
--(coast of) California
Chattanooga

Chicago x3
Dallas
Delaware (Bay)

Detroit x3

Ft. Lauderdale
Houston
Las Vegas

London

Los Angeles x4

Miami
Moline

Munich

New Orleans x4

New York City x6
--Queens
Nova Scotia

Paris x2

Philadelphia x4

Phoenix

Pittsburgh

Raleigh

Richmond

San Francisco
--Berkeley

St. Louis x3

Tacoma

(heart of) Texas
Tokyo

Vancouver

Washington, DC x2

Ranking the Man With the Golden Gun

I previously ranked some of the James Bond movies here and here. Last week my son and I saw The Man With the Golden Gun, from 1974 and starring Roger Moore as Bond and Christopher Lee as the villain Scaramanga, an assassin who uses a golden gun. Even though the gun is only capable of firing one (golden) bullet at a time, Scaramanga is such a skillful marksman that he always kills his target. We've been seeing a lot of the classic Bonds, so this is the first I have seen with my son that was really bad.

Since the Bond movies are formulaic and their quality is based on how well they fulfill the formula, I created a little rubric to rank the Bond movies, with several categories a movie can get points in. I'm going to adjust the scoring system slightly here, awarding 2 points if the movie is one of the top 3 Bond movies for a category, and 1 point if it's in the top 7 (changed from the top 6). Here are the criteria, with a maximum of 14 points available:

Story/Plot--2 points--Is the plot coherent and logical? Are the stakes high?  (2 points, top 3; 1 point, top 7)

Action--2 points--Are the stunts exciting? The car chases thrilling?  (2 points, top 3; 1 point, top 7)

Villain--2 points--What's a Bond movie without dastardly villains and their henchmen? (2 points, top 3; 1 point, top 7)

Setting--2 points--The Bond movies are all about exotic locations. (2 points, top 3; 1 point, top 7)

Gadgets, Vehicles, Lairs--2 points--What's the cool stuff?  (2 points, top 3; 1 point, top 7)

Bond girls--2 points--The ladies, oh yes, the ladies. (2 points, top 3; 1 point, top 7)

Sean Connery or Daniel Craig?--1 point--These are the best Bonds (no need to debate) and get an automatic extra point if appearing in the film.

Musical theme--1 point if in the top 5

The Man With the Golden Gun
Story/Plot--The dialogue in this is terrible, and the stakes are almost comically low. Scaramanga has stolen some sort of device that allows solar power panels to become much more efficient. Why the British Secret Service would care about this is not really clear.  (0 points)
Action--The action scenes are highly implausible without being interesting. (0 points)
Villain--Christopher Lee brings an enthusiasm and energy to his role that I like, and his henchman Nick Nack, a little person played by Herve Villechaize (i.e. Tattoo on Fantasy Island), is sufficiently weird to earn a top 7. (1 point)
Setting--Some decent scenes in Hong Kong and Bangkok and a stunning location on a remote island in the South China Sea. Top 7. (1 point)
Gadgets, Vehicles, Lairs--Scaramanga's cool island mansion/hideout gets points for being, along with the underwater lair in The Spy Who Loved Me and the beach house in Thunderball, one of the villain lairs most people would actually like to have as a real vacation house. Top 7 (1 point)
Bond Girls--Britt Ekland as Mary Goodnight is pretty useless, but astoundingly beautiful. Barely makes the top 7. (1 point)
SC or DC? No
Music--This is the worst music of any Bond I have seen so far. It's like they saw that rock music could work as a theme song in Live and Let Die, but decided all rock music sounds the same, so why pay for anything good? (0 points)
Total: 4 points

Rejiggered points for other movies, taking into account current movie and slight change in scoring system:
Thunderball (+1) moves into top 7 for story/plot
Goldfinger (+1) moves into top 7 for action


And, here are the updated results:
1) The Spy Who Loved Me, 12 points
2) Goldfinger (10 points)
3, 4) Casino Royale, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (tied with 9 points)
5, 6) Skyfall, Thunderball (tied with 6 points)
7, 8) Live and Let Die, Spectre tied with 5 points
9) The Man With the Golden Gun (4 points)