I saw Joe Mitchell's ghost on a downtown 'A' train/ He just rides on forever now that the Fulton Fish Market's shut down/ He said 'they ain't never gonna get that smell out of the water/ I don't give a damn how much of that new money they burn'Now Hell's Kitchen's Clinton and the Bowery's Nolita/ And the East Village's creepin' 'cross the Williamsburg Bridge/ And hey, whatever happened to Alphabet City?/ Ain't no place left in this town that a poor boy can go
It doesn't get much better than that, and the music's as good as the lyrics.
But wait till you hear the one I put up tomorrow.
7 comments:
Off topic, and sorry to be flogging a deceased equine, but one final comment on the Great Prog Rock Debate.
To paraphrase an old critical colleague of mine named Noel Coppage, the lyrics to songs by Yes are proof positive of the pernicious effect becoming one with the universe has on syntax.
Neither to praise nor disparage Yes, but I remember reading a Jon Anderson interview back in the '70s where he said that his lyrics aren't necessarily meant to have any real meaning: instead, they're merely intended to convey the melody. I think I'm recalling that correctly.
Earle has a lot of masterpieces, but never thought of Washington Square as one of them. it seemed to be the start of his recycling period. Moorer and him are divorced.
Well after the Noel Coppage and Gene Lees quotes, I'm convinced I'm an idiot for being a fan. Or is it a snob? I've lost track. Anyway, selling my Rush and Yes records, and any records that don't remotely sound like Cait Brennan or Willie Nile.
(Seriously, why don't you fucking let it go? This is becoming a very unpleasant place to visit.)
If I understood Noel Coppage's quote I'd comment on it.
Captain Al
To the defenders of Prog, I can only say "Babble on, my wayward son."
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