# Obvious things about a creative work you realize after the millionth time (OPEN SPOILERS POSSIBLE) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117 "2009-07-24T13:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 219
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4365 "2021-10-20T12:51:53Z")
The song “Midnight Train To Georgia”. She’d rather live with him in his world than live without him in her’s. But he’s all, “See ya, babe, been nice knowing ya.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4366 "2021-10-20T13:08:46Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I got confused by “heroine” and “heroin”… Not a coincidence. The drug is named for its supposedly “heroic” effects. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4367 "2021-10-20T13:12:23Z")
Some songs really deserve a follow-up. ‘Midnight Train Out of Cracker Hell’ would’ve been a burner. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4368 "2021-10-20T14:00:38Z")
I always thought it would be neat to record “Midnight Train to Soviet Georgia” (at least while the Soviet Union was still around), with balalaika music and a Russian accent. [sings] Moskva Proved too much for the man (Too much for the man) (He couldn’t make it) So he is leavink the life he’s come to know, oh [/sings] It would sing about him going back to the yogurt he loves (remember those Dannon yogurt commercials about the longevity of yogurt-eating Georgians?) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4369 "2021-10-21T09:50:01Z")
Fun fact: the song was originally “Midnight Plane to Houston”. True. > [@Turek](#): > > The song “Midnight Train To Georgia”. > > She’d rather live with him in his world than live without him in her’s. > > But he’s all, “See ya, babe, been nice knowing ya.” Eh, that’s not what I got from it. He’s leaving LA because “he couldn’t make it” and tried to be a “superstar, but he didn’t get far” and going back home to Georgia, and she (who presumably is not originally from Georgia) is going with him because she wants to be with him. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4370 "2021-10-21T11:52:25Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Eh, that’s not what I got from it. He’s leaving LA because “he couldn’t make it” and tried to be a “superstar, but he didn’t get far” and going back home to Georgia, and she (who presumably is not originally from Georgia) is going with him because she wants to be with him. I get that. The lyrics explicitly state that, for her, it’s more important to be with him than to stay in LA. But implicitly, for him, it’s more important to go home to Georgia than it is to be with her. That was the realization. It doesn’t bode well for their long-term outlook. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4371 "2021-10-21T13:00:13Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I always thought it would be neat to record “Midnight Train to Soviet Georgia” (at least while the Soviet Union was still around), with balalaika music and a Russian accent. Last night I heard _Whip It_ and thought “somebody should do a version of this about dogs.” ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4372 "2021-10-21T17:52:51Z")
In Boogie Nights, I didn’t realize that the girl at the party who asked if there was any coke was the same girl who OD’d later on. And I totally missed the part where she asked the guy at the pool if she could try some of his coke, which led to the OD. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4373 "2021-10-21T19:02:10Z")
Something they continue to do. Levitra, for example, is an ED drug that “levitates” the member. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4374 "2021-10-22T12:53:16Z")
FOUR and TWENTY black birds BAKED in a pie? 🤔 And they think this is fit for children?😋 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4375 "2021-10-22T14:10:13Z")
You’re worried about a veiled drug reference in a song that’s about _eating birds?_ ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4376 "2021-10-22T14:31:22Z")
Well. You know. _The children_. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4377 "2021-10-22T14:51:05Z")
> [@digs](#): > > You’re worried about a veiled drug reference in a song that’s about _eating birds?_ Well, if it’s a chicken **pot** pie…yes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2021, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4378 "2021-10-23T01:49:19Z")
One that I noticed a long time ago, but long after I should have, and I don’t know why I’m remembering it now: In the game Portal, there are a number of Easter eggs marked by the presence of a small portable radio on various maps, which one can recognize by hearing (faintly at first) the music it’s playing. The close captioning describes the song as, IIRC, “peppy music”. But it’s actually an upbeat instrumental arrangement of “Still Alive”, the game’s famous closing theme. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2021, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4379 "2021-10-23T21:31:40Z")
I was watching the 1971 version of Willy Wonka today, and I noticed that if Augustus Gloop and his mother had still been with them when they boarded the _Wonkatania_, they wouldn’t have had anywhere to sit. The Wonkamobile also only had enough seats for the Teevees and Charlie and Grandpa Joe. Willy Wonka _knew_ how many passengers he was going to “lose” at any given point. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2021, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4380 "2021-10-24T23:19:46Z")
I’ve watched Epic Rap Battles’ “Western Philosophers Versus Eastern Philosophers” any number of times, and take a certain amount of pride in getting all the references and puns. But I only just realized that Nietzsche’s line “Call me _Ubermensch_, 'cause I’m so driven!” was a pun on Uber. This one’s not obvious, but I found out about it in the comments, and thought it added one more level to an amazing line. Socrates says to Sun Tzu, “I’ll be taking apart your woo with my method, man”. So, references to woo, Method Man of Wu Tang Clan, and the Socratic method. Turns out “Tzu” is a honorific that means “Master Sun”. His first name? “Wu”. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2021, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4381 "2021-10-25T21:24:48Z")
There’s a guy named Farron Cousins with a popular Youtube channel about political commentary. I’ve been following it for a year, ever since the US Presidential election. It’s called [Farron Balanced](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5dUUCs748wCYQl682LX6bg). I straight away got that the channel is called **Farron** , because it is his name. But I only just today realised why it’s called ‘ **balanced** ’. ---
**Author:** ![Trisha\_Gaurav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Trisha\_Gaurav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trisha_Gaurav)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4382 "2021-10-25T22:08:14Z")
The Native American characters in Pocohantas aren’t hearing Native American noises as English, it’s just the viewers who are hearing it as English. Although with all the magical things going on in the movie, the interpretation that the Native American characters are actually hearing English when they make Native American noises at each other wasn’t that far-fetched. > [@JohnT](#): > > I was today years old when I learned the line > > _this little piggie went to market_ > > Meant the pig was slaughtered and sold at market, not that the pig took a shopping basket and bought some groceries. 🤦‍♂️ Wow. That’s pretty dark for a nursery rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2021, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4383 "2021-10-25T23:11:22Z")
Some depressing nursery rhymes: > **[10 Popular Nursery Rhymes That are Incredibly Depressing, Terrifyingly...](https://chez-ouam.foroactivo.com/t1298-10-popular-nursery-rhymes-that-are-incredibly-depressing-terrifyingly-violent-and-disturbingly-tragic-for-children)** > > In most cultures, nursery rhymes feature childrens verses and songs that are verbally passed down from one generation to another. But how many of us realize th ---
**Author:** ![Mr.E](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.e/32/8932_2.png) [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4384 "2021-10-26T01:45:06Z")
> [@Trisha\_Gaurav](#): > > The Native American characters in Pocohantas aren’t hearing Native American noises as English, it’s just the viewers who are hearing it as English. > > Although with all the magical things going on in the movie, the interpretation that the Native American characters are actually hearing English when they make Native American noises at each other wasn’t that far-fetched. I understand that the Disney movie was taking quite a few liberties in their portrayal of Native American culture, but Pocahontas was a real person and member of the very real Powhatan tribe, who in turn spoke the very real Powhatan language. They did not “make noises at each other” any more than the English-speaking colonists did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=218) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=220)