# Brandy, you’re a fine girl. But when did you live? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 15, 2024, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235 "2024-07-15T00:42:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/61 "2024-07-15T14:06:29Z")
Until this thread it never occurred to me that the song was about any time other than 1968-1975. As far as details, it’s a song. I doubt the band did a lot of research. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/62 "2024-07-15T14:12:30Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > If I say I grew up on the NW side, would you assume my house straddled the border? Or something else? I wouldn’t assume your house straddled a border and I’m not conflating “border” with “side” . The way I’m looking at it is " Here is a map of Chicago - there’s an east side of the map , just like there’s a left side of it". People who live in Chicago may not call it the “East Side” , there may not be a neighborhood or district called the “East Side” but that’s not the same thing as there being no east side such that a non-Chicagoan is objectively incorrect if they refer to “the east side of Chicago” . It’s not a standard usage for natives, much like “East Queens” or “the East Side of Queens” is not a standard usage - it’s “eastern Queens " but I wouldn’t say there _is_ no “East side of Queens” the way people from Chicago and Detroit do . I’d say " We don’t call it that”. Which is not what I hear people from Chicago and Detroit say. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/63 "2024-07-15T14:21:22Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > They picked up a boy just south of Mobile (Alabama presumably.) And although Romani on any continent were (rightly or wrongly) notorious for their casual approach to law-abiding, “Poppa woulda shot him if he knew what he done” fits a lot better in the gun-filled USA than in some European country where even in the 1800s firearms were kinda hard to come by. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/64 "2024-07-15T14:30:53Z")
That’s fine. Have you expressed your interpretation to many other folk? If so, how many of them agree with you? So, the Atlantic Ocean is the east side of the US? IMO, it is NOT the east side of the country, it is the freaking ocean. Lake Michigan sits “to the east of” Chicago; it is not a part of it. (I acknowledge that the Chicago/IL border extends into the lake, Chicago’s water intake cribs are in the lake, and Chicago police/lifeguards/etc. exercise some authority over some parts of the lake - if you feel that supports your interpretation.) Yours strikes me as an odd perception, but you are certainly welcome to use it. I’ve never heard anyone else express the same. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/65 "2024-07-15T14:33:55Z")
I’m just surprised a Hollywood producer hasn’t made a movie based on the song. And in the typical Hollywood manner, bastardize the the meaning of the song beyond recognition. Oh, and lots of CGI that has nothing to add. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/66 "2024-07-15T14:38:57Z")
An interesting and unique perspective. By that geometric perspective you’d also consider Chicago’s city center to be somewhere near Western and Madison? For most of us, whether we live in a city or not, the “center” is not the geometric center and “sides of town” relative to that. It’s the business center and relative to that. Anyway anyone referencing someone being on Chicago’ east side is someone who clearly does not know the city. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/67 "2024-07-15T14:44:15Z")
Just thought of another (sorry - crushingly bored with work!) What about a location that HAS an east side? Like Manhattan. If someone says something exists on the upper or lower east side, do you say, **“Nuh-uh! The east side of Manhattan is the East River!”** (Or, depending on the area covered by the map you are looking at, do you say the east side of Manhattan is Brooklyn/Long Island?) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/68 "2024-07-15T14:45:56Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > “Brandy wears a braided chain, of the finest silver from the north of Spain. A locket that bears the name of the man that Brandy loves.” So many posts focusing on the “finest silver from the north of Spain” part but ignoring the bigger clue: the locket bears the man’s _name_, not his photograph. Photography was inexpensive enough by the 1860s for Civil War privates to stand for their photos\* and certainly inexpensive enough by the 20th Century for any locket worth its salt as a love token to contain a photo. So early 19th Century or earlier it is. \*Slight exaggeration. Many got lucrative recruitment bonuses and had plenty of money in hand to blow a decent chunk of it on their photograph. Which, war being war, may end up being their only remaining memento so they were more willing to spend some of that bonus on it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/69 "2024-07-15T14:47:51Z")
Saint Louis MO is another major city w no uppercase “East Side” because downtown abuts a river to the east. There’s of course a companion city across the river in IL. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/70 "2024-07-15T14:50:45Z")
Because **Ode to Billy Joe** is such a timeless classic. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/71 "2024-07-15T14:53:48Z")
Late Age of Sail, pre-20th century for Brandy. At least, that was always the image in my head with ocean travel still being romanticized. Stuff like the historical popularity of the name “Brandy” or port town crime statistics don’t bother me here because it’s a soft rock one-hit wonder from the 70s. The image evoked for me is one from the past. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/72 "2024-07-15T15:02:57Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Until this thread it never occurred to me that the song was about any time other than 1968-1975. As far as details, it’s a song. I doubt the band did a lot of research. Ditto. And the name, Brandy, fits. And all the lyrics work. I grew up in Massachusetts, and always assumed it was some port on a western coast of Cape Cod. Easy to get to Spain from there. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/73 "2024-07-15T15:05:12Z")
Funny, I also pucture it as being in Massachusetts. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/74 "2024-07-15T15:08:22Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Easy to get to Spain from there Well, I never been to Spain but I kinda like the music. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/75 "2024-07-15T15:16:44Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > _Well, I never been to Spain but I kinda like the music._ They say the ladies are insane there. (And they sure know how to use it!) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/76 "2024-07-15T15:17:59Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Because **Ode to Billy Joe** is such a timeless classic. The real reason Hollywood hasn’t turned that into a movie is that no matter what they decided to throw off the Tallahatchee Bridge, 3/4ths of social media pundits would disagree with their choice, tanking ticket sales. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/77 "2024-07-15T15:18:29Z")
You’re misunderstanding- I’m not at all saying the east side is the river or the lake or the ocean, I’m saying if someone says the east side of whatever to mean the part nearest the river they aren’t wrong in the way that calling the eastern part of a city the west side would be. It’s not wrong, it’s just not what it’s called ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/78 "2024-07-15T15:18:57Z")
I never considered the story was set in anything but contemporary times (~1972), however, the song never struck me as being particularly interesting musically, so I never really listened to the lyrics. I’ve not read the entire thread so forgive me if this has already been mentioned, but after reading the lyrics for the first time I see a line in there - “She serves them whiskey and wine”. When was the last time you saw a bunch of drunken sailors ordering wine? I’ve seen plenty of sailors drunk on hard liquor and beer but I can’t recall ever seeing any sailor at any bar I ever went to ordering wine. So, yeah, I guess that sounds like an earlier age to me. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/79 "2024-07-15T15:22:06Z")
You better sit down; it was a movie with Robby Benson and Glynnis O’Connor from 1976. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235/80 "2024-07-15T15:24:19Z")
Port wine, maybe? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brandy-you-re-a-fine-girl-but-when-did-you-live/1004235.md?page=5)