# Historical and or factual inaccuracies in song lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473 "2008-04-22T23:21:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/1 "2008-04-22T23:21:36Z")
The Idol does Andrew Lloyd Webber thread had me thinking of possible song choices, which made me think of the title number from _Sunset Blvd_ (as a David Cook song) which reminds me of one of my biggest factually inaccurate lyrical lines: “L[os] A[ngeles]'s changed a lot over the years/since those brave gold rush pioneers/came in their creaky covered wagons…” L.A. was not founded by the California Gold Rush. Don’t know why this irks me, but it does. In the Charlene drag-queen’s dream song _Never Been to Me_ the title character sings “I’ve been to Nice/and the isle of Greece/where I sipped champagne on a yacht…” While it’s possible to sip champagne on a yacht in the Mediterranean or Aegean, GREECE IS NOT **AN** Island! It’s a peninsula and an archipelago of many many islands! From [You Give Me] _Fever_: “Captain Smith and Pocahontas/had a very mad affair…” and if they had a call would have been made/and CPS would soon have been there/ because Pocahontas was of course a child and was never involved romantically with John Smith. What are some others? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/2 "2008-04-22T23:43:47Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] “L[os] A[ngeles]'s changed a lot over the years/since those brave gold rush pioneers/came in their creaky covered wagons…” L.A. was not founded by the California Gold Rush. Don’t know why this irks me, but it does. [/QUOTE] Ah, doesn’t say it was… ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/3 "2008-04-22T23:49:37Z")
Neil Young - Hey hey, my my. “The king is gone, but he’s not forgotten/Is this the story of Johnny Rotten/It’s better to burn out 'cause rust never sleeps/The king is gone, but he’s not forgotten” Has anyone explained to Neil that it was Sid Vicious who died, not Johnny Rotten? The Tragically Hip - The Hundredth Meridian “Me debunk an American myth? And take my life in my hands? Where the great plains begin, at the hundredth meridian. At the hundredth meridian, where the great plains begin.” I think they’re confusing the hundredth meridian (which is just west of Brandon, Manitoba, where I grew up.) with the Prime meridian, which is just west of Winnipeg, and from whence all of the section and township lines for the prairies are drawn. If you’re headed west out of Winnipeg, you’d think that you had been on the great plains for quite some time already when you went past Brandon. It’s a brilliant song, but the geography doesn’t work out. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/4 "2008-04-23T00:28:58Z")
U2’s “Pride (In the Name of Love)” - one of the lyrics refers to MLK Jr’s assassination as being “Early morning, April 4…” when it was in the evening. According to the [Wiki article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_%28In_the_Name_of_Love%29), Bono will sometimes sing it as “Early evening” in concert. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/5 "2008-04-23T00:31:17Z")
[QUOTE=Le Ministre de l’au-delà] Neil Young - Hey hey, my my. “The king is gone, but he’s not forgotten/Is this the story of Johnny Rotten/It’s better to burn out 'cause rust never sleeps/The king is gone, but he’s not forgotten” Has anyone explained to Neil that it was Sid Vicious who died, not Johnny Rotten? [/quote] The King is Elvis - although the National Enquirer sometimes says he didn’t die either. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/6 "2008-04-23T01:06:18Z")
The date in the title of the song “April 29, 1992 (Miami)” by Sublime, about the LA riots and how they affected the entire country, is correct. However, the singer sang “April 26 1992/there was a riot on the street/tell me where were you” and that’s how it was recorded and will live on forever. That date is wrong. (It’s also my cousin’s birthday!) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/7 "2008-04-23T01:20:20Z")
There’s quite a bit of WWI inaccuracies in “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda” as I understand it - the Australians weren’t at Suvla, the protagonist wouldn’t have been issued a “tin hat” at that time, etc. However, it’s extremely evocative of the waste of the war and I don’t mind a few changes to make the rhyme scheme work. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/8 "2008-04-23T01:35:05Z")
> [@Dramarama](#): > > It’s April 21st and everybody knows today is Earth Day > Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday to whoever’s being born > And now I’m trying hard to think of something > meaningful and worthy, kind of earthy > to make everybody ask themselves just > > What are we doing here? Shopping for a calendar, maybe? April 21st isn’t Earth Day. On the other hand, it isn’t Christmas, either, so maybe there’s something else going on here. > [@Sparks](#): > > When you want the art to start > You cue the left side and the art will > Start to flow and flow and flow > And leave a stain on all your carpets > > Chorus > > When you want the intellect > You cue the right side and you can > Collect the Nobel Prize in person > Or have someone mail it to you Great novelty song. Too bad they switched sides. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/9 "2008-04-23T02:26:07Z")
[QUOTE=TWDuke] Shopping for a calendar, maybe? April 21st isn’t Earth Day… [/QUOTE] Unbelieveable. I came in here to post that song. I found the question appropriate since today is Earth Day. I remember hearing that song when it came out and, iirc, Earth Day was on April 21st back then. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/10 "2008-04-23T02:45:22Z")
[QUOTE=Le Ministre de l’au-delà] I think they’re confusing the hundredth meridian (which is just west of Brandon, Manitoba, where I grew up.) with the Prime meridian, which is just west of Winnipeg, and from whence all of the section and township lines for the prairies are drawn. If you’re headed west out of Winnipeg, you’d think that you had been on the great plains for quite some time already when you went past Brandon. It’s a brilliant song, but the geography doesn’t work out. [/QUOTE] I think I’m confused. What Prime Meridian is it that cuts through the Western hemisphere rather than Greenwich? ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/11 "2008-04-23T03:04:54Z")
[QUOTE=Jackknifed Juggernaut] I remember hearing that song when it came out and, iirc, Earth Day was on April 21st back then. [/QUOTE] I checked this and I was completely wrong. But interestingly, the date should have been April 21st. It was supposed to be on the date of John Muir’s b-day, which the organizers of the original Earth Day erroneously thought was April 22, but was actually April 21st. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/12 "2008-04-23T03:21:26Z")
You can’t beat “The Battle of New Orleans” for historical inaccuracy. > [@](#): > > Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the > brambles > And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn’t go > They ran so fast that the hounds couldn’t catch 'em > On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico > > We fired our cannon till the barrel melted down > So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round > We filled his head with cannon balls and powdered his behind > And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind! Outrageous. Everybody knows that brambles grow in more temperate climate zones. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/13 "2008-04-23T03:25:57Z")
Time to bring up my pet peeve again: “It was down in Louisiana, just about a mile from Texarkana In them old cotton fields back home.” – “Cotton Fields,” Credence Clearwater Revival (although written by others, I believe). Texarkana is a good 30 miles from the Louisiana state line. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/14 "2008-04-23T03:28:00Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] The date in the title of the song “April 29, 1992 (Miami)” by Sublime, about the LA riots and how they affected the entire country, is correct. However, the singer sang “April 26 1992/there was a riot on the street/tell me where were you” and that’s how it was recorded and will live on forever. That date is wrong. (It’s also my cousin’s birthday!) [/QUOTE] I was always utterly baffled by that. Why on earth did that mistake happen? I used to love that song when I was younger, but now when I think about it, the message of it seems so shallow and stupid. “Killing cops is cool, social inequality is a justification for looting, and all of our cities should be burned down.” Unless the song is all supposed to be satirical or something and not actually endorsing the rioting even though it’s from the perspective of someone participating in it, which I doubt. I still love Sublime though and it is still the all time best summer music. ---
**Author:** ![slanted\_zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@slanted\_zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slanted_zipper)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/15 "2008-04-23T03:38:10Z")
[QUOTE=Le Ministre de l’au-delà] Neil Young - Hey hey, my my. “The king is gone, but he’s not forgotten/Is this the story of Johnny Rotten/It’s better to burn out 'cause rust never sleeps/The king is gone, but he’s not forgotten” Has anyone explained to Neil that it was Sid Vicious who died, not Johnny Rotten? . [/QUOTE] Rotten rhymes with forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/16 "2008-04-23T03:57:14Z")
Well, contrary to what the Gershwins told you “they” DIDN’T “all laugh” at Christopher Columbus for saying the world was round. Even in 1492, every educated person KNEW the world was round. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/17 "2008-04-23T05:01:25Z")
Paper Lace, _The Night Chicago Died_: Daddy was a cop On the east side of Chicago The “east side” of Chicago is a lake. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/18 "2008-04-23T05:18:15Z")
[QUOTE=Lucky 13] Paper Lace, _The Night Chicago Died_: Daddy was a cop On the east side of Chicago The “east side” of Chicago is a lake. [/QUOTE] plus IIRC Al Capone was jailed for tax evasion, not after a furious battle with the police that left ‘‘about a hundred cops dead’’ Billy Joel’s ballad of billy the kid refers to a judge saying ‘‘string him up for what he did.’’ However Billy the kid was shot by Pat Garret ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/19 "2008-04-23T05:21:31Z")
Aerosmith, “Sweet Emotion”: > [@](#): > > _I pulled into town in a police car > Your daddy said I took it just a little to far > You’re telling me things but your girlfriend lied > You can’t catch me cause the rabbit gone died_ In the [rabbit test](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_test) for pregnancy, the rabbit _always_ died — it was killed so that its ovaries could be biopsied. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473/20 "2008-04-23T05:22:39Z")
[“The Ballad of Billy the Kid”](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-Ballad-of-Billy-The-Kid-lyrics-Billy-Joel/D29ACA26566E97164825687000174C9E) by Billy Joel is full of them. > [@](#): > > From a town known as Wheeling, West Virginia William Bonney, or Henry McCarty, or whatever his true name was, is believed to have been born in Manhattan, not West Virginia. > [@](#): > > Well, he started with a bank in Colorado Billy the Kid never was a bank robber. > [@](#): > > Well, he never traveled heavy > Yes, he always rode alone The Kid rode as a part of the Regulators, a group out for revenge for the killing of John Tunstall, a rancher who Billy worked for, during the Lincoln County War. > [@](#): > > Well, one cold day a posse captured Billy > And the judge said, “String 'im up for what he did!” As everyone knows, Billy was just not well hung. 😃 He was shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-and-or-factual-inaccuracies-in-song-lyrics/446473.md?page=2)