# 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:** 90
**Author:** ![Tess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@Tess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tess)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1781 "2014-01-12T02:24:31Z")
In the final chapter of _Soul Music_ one of Susan’s school friends mentions there’s a new guy a the chip shop and adds “Swear he’s Elvish.” I read that bit and immediately thought, “Kirsty MacColl reference!” …:smack: Up until then I thought when characters kept asking Imp if he was Elvish, they were simply saying he had a slightly non-human appearance. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2014, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1782 "2014-01-12T08:33:37Z")
Hmm, in Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s novel _Good Omens_, there’s a scene where one of the characters sees someone who is clearly supposed to be Elvis working in a fast food restaurant called a Burger Lord in Des Moines, Iowa. Does this also relate to the Kirsty MacColl song? Or is that just a general reference to the “Elvis is still alive” rumors?: > **[There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's_a_Guy_Works_Down_the_Chip_Shop_Swears_He's_Elvis)** > > "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" is a song by British singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl, which was released as the lead single from her debut studio album Desperate Character. The song was written by MacColl and Philip Rambow, and produced by Barry Farmer. It reached No. 14 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the charts for nine weeks. In the US, the song's British chip shop reference was changed to truck stop. > Norwegian singer Elisabeth Andreasson covered the song o... ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1783 "2014-01-12T18:07:59Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > . . . There is nothing there that I can tell related at all to masturbation, solo sex, or anything else for that matter, . . . Then there’s Weird Al’s song, **One More Minute**. I listened to it for years before I twigged to the full meaning of the line “You’ve got me feeling down in the dumps 'cause I’m stranded all alone at the gas station of love and I have to use the self service pumps.” ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1784 "2014-01-12T18:15:11Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Hmm, in Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s novel _Good Omens_, there’s a scene where one of the characters sees someone who is clearly supposed to be Elvis working in a fast food restaurant called a Burger Lord in Des Moines, Iowa. Does this also relate to the Kirsty MacColl song? Or is that just a general reference to the “Elvis is still alive” rumors?: > > [There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's_a_Guy_Works_Down_the_Chip_Shop_Swears_He's_Elvis) Well, _Good Omens_ was published in May 1990 and the song charted in 1981. So it’s possible. But the song was part of a wash of Elvis rumors, so not necessarily. Elvis also appeared in a diner in _Mostly Harmless,_ on 1992. (Fifth HHGG book.) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1785 "2014-01-12T18:31:02Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Hmm, in Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s novel _Good Omens_, there’s a scene where one of the characters sees someone who is clearly supposed to be Elvis working in a fast food restaurant called a Burger Lord in Des Moines, Iowa. Does this also relate to the Kirsty MacColl song? Or is that just a general reference to the “Elvis is still alive” rumors?: > > [There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's_a_Guy_Works_Down_the_Chip_Shop_Swears_He's_Elvis) Probably not. “Elvis is alive and working in a diner,” is a specific trope associated with Weekly World News, Fortean Times, and similar “news” papers. In _Good Omens_, Adam, the young anti-Christ is obsessed with these sorts of stories, and thinks they’re true. Gaiman and Pratchett undoubtedly were aware of this trope independently of the McColl song, just from the knowledge they display of the other tropes associated with those periodicals. The _Soul Music_ version of the trope, though, is directly echoing McColl’s song lyric: which makes sense, as _Soul Music_ was basically an exercise by Pratchett to see how many music-related puns he could cram into a single novel. Now, here’s something I hadn’t really considered until I wrote this post: during the course of _Good Omens_, as Adam’s powers grow, he starts altering reality around him to match his understanding of the world - which includes a belief in things like the Loch Ness Monster and alien abductions, which he read about in the collection of conspiracy mags and woo-woo science he got from Anathema Device. Almost certainly included in those magazines were stories about Elvis being alive, and working in a greasy spoon. So, did Adam unconsciously resurrect Elvis as one of the earliest manifestations of his powers? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1786 "2014-01-26T20:25:19Z")
Not a pun but: I was watching Major League for the umpteenth time, it finally occurred to me, they never play a road game! ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1787 "2014-01-27T15:42:53Z")
This came up on Mythbusters, and it never occurred to me before. The old trope of a car crashing through a pane of glass carried by two workmen is because the glass is clear, and the driver didn’t see it! He just thought he was navigating between two pedestrians. I had always assumed that the workmen could have been carrying anything, and the driver just didn’t have time to avoid them, and they chose glass because it looked more impressive shattering than, say, a bookcase or sofa table. ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1788 "2014-01-28T14:26:01Z")
This was pointed out on Facebook recently… The waitress on the cover of Supertramp’s “[Breakfast In America](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/Supertramp_-_Breakfast_in_America.jpg)” album stands there like a famous statue… ---
**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:** [January 28, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1789 "2014-01-28T14:36:05Z")
> [@Mixolydian](#): > > This was pointed out on Facebook recently… > > The waitress on the cover of Supertramp’s “[Breakfast In America](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/Supertramp_-_Breakfast_in_America.jpg)” album stands there like a famous statue… Really? That seemed completely obvious to me the first time I saw the album cover. ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1790 "2014-01-28T14:52:42Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Really? That seemed completely obvious to me the first time I saw the album cover. I know, pathetic, right? But I did get Jackson Browne’s “Redneck Friend” on my own, so I got that going for me… ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1791 "2014-01-28T14:53:41Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Really? That seemed completely obvious to me the first time I saw the album cover. Have you forgotten the title of this thread? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1792 "2014-01-28T15:29:20Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Really? That seemed completely obvious to me the first time I saw the album cover. I’ve never owned the _Breakfast in America_ album, and I never really looked at the cover consciously, but of course I’ve seen it in passing a million times. So I never noticed until someone mentioned it that the NYC cityscape behind the waitress is made up of restaurant items. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1793 "2014-01-28T17:31:21Z")
I have to admit that Little Richard’s songs went over my head until I was an adult and I used to listen to an oldies station when I was working my second job late at night: \*\*Keep On Knockin’ \*\* Keep a knockin’ but you can’t come in Keep a knockin’ but you can’t come in Keep a knockin’ but you can’t come in Come back tomorrow night and try it again **Long Tall Sally** Well, long tall Sally, she’s built for speed She got everything that Uncle John needs I also didn’t “get” the drug references in the 1970s live action series \*\*H.R. Puffingstuff \*\*and **Lidsville.** Finally, I missed a lot of the Christian allegories in the Narnia series until I was in my late teens. I enjoyed the stories and completely missed the biblical references ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1794 "2014-01-28T17:40:11Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > “Andy Capp” is the local pronunciation of “handicap.” It also describes his gambling habit. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1795 "2014-01-28T17:50:41Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > You may be reading too much into the name “Corleone”: > > [Corleone - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corleone) > > Corleone is a real town in Italy where many Mafioso come from. The Godfather’s name was Vito Andolini until he went to Ellis Island. He was _ **from** _ Corleone.They changed his last name there to Corleone. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1796 "2014-01-29T02:18:46Z")
Excuse me, but did you read my post carefully? Yes, I know that he’s from Corleone. I’ve read the book and seen the movie. I know that the people at Ellis Island misunderstood when they looked at the information he was carrying with him (a badge around his neck, if I recall correctly). They saw the word “Corleone” on the badge and thought that that was his last name, although actually it was the town he came from. I was replying to Hermione two posts before mine. She said that Puzo may have chosen that name for Don Corleone because of the translation “lion heart.” My point was that Corleone just happens to be a real town in Sicily where a lot of Mafia members came from. It’s not necessarily true then that Puzo meant the pun on “lion heart.” ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1797 "2014-01-29T04:52:44Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > I also didn’t “get” the drug references in the 1970s live action series \*\*H.R. Puffingstuff \*\*and **Lidsville.** If it helps, as far as I know the creators still insist there weren’t drug references in either. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1798 "2014-01-29T05:37:38Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > If it helps, as far as I know the creators still insist there weren’t drug references in either. Puffingstuff could easily be pot. Tobacco as well, I guess, but it sounds more like a pot thing. As for Lidsville, a “lid” in some quarters was slang for a half an ounce of pot. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1799 "2014-01-29T08:09:51Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Puffingstuff could easily be pot. Tobacco as well, I guess, but it sounds more like a pot thing. As for Lidsville, a “lid” in some quarters was slang for a half an ounce of pot. Well, yes. And the shows themselves are nonstop psychedelic mayhem. I’m just saying that Sid and Marty Krofft still publicly insist they didn’t do drugs and didn’t make drug references in their shows. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/1800 "2014-01-29T13:25:05Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > Is that the only point of the name “Diagon Alley”? I always thought the name a bit weak and “so-what?”, on the author’s part. Knockturn Alley’s significance, I get – it’s where dark, dodgy, and illicit (“nocturnal”) dealings of the wizarding kind, are carried on (as opposed to the “legit” and above-board stuff in Diagon Alley). It’s maybe a quirk of mine, that wordplay has to be “about” something, for me to find it funny: if it’s pointlessly for its own sake, it strikes me as lame and silly. Diagon Alley exists at a diagonal to the muggle world. [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=89) [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=91)