# Rate This 1970's Rock Group "America" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048 "2009-05-29T17:11:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [May 29, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/21 "2009-05-29T18:15:50Z")
> [@Lunar\_Saltlick](#): > > I don’t think they wrote _Muskrat Love_. Pretty sure it was written and recorded by someone else, then covered by, among others, America and C&T. [Willis Alan Ramsey.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Alan_Ramsey) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/22 "2009-05-29T18:18:34Z")
In their days, they were popular but critically derided. Their music is pretty bland and they were considered akin to Bread. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/23 "2009-05-29T18:20:47Z")
[Here’s a great clip of them playing Tin Man.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-VGxYAVx-0) I love everything about it - the beards, the hair, the band t-shirt being worn by the singer of the band (awesome) and the little guitar riff the guy plays while they’re tuning before the song starts. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/24 "2009-05-29T18:20:58Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > [Willis Alan Ramsey.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Alan_Ramsey) Okay, I consider my ignorance fought. They still recorded it!! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/25 "2009-05-29T18:21:09Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > [Willis Alan Ramsey.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Alan_Ramsey) If I was guilty of writing the worst song ever, I wouldn’t let them put a picture with my biography either. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/26 "2009-05-29T18:21:55Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Their music is pretty bland and they were considered akin to Bread. Blander. Even Bread had a “Let Your Love Go” in them. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/27 "2009-05-29T18:22:40Z")
\*We used to laugh, we used to cry. We used to bow our heads then, wonder why. \* It’s like an anthem for the bi-polar. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/28 "2009-05-29T18:25:24Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > Some very nice melodies: _Ventura Highway, Sister Golden Hair, Don’t Cross the River…_ > > Lyrics that ranged from bland to portentious to painfully clumsy: _Ventura Highway, Sister Golden Hair, Don’t Cross the River_ That’s my take. I enjoy them musically but lyrics like “Alligator lizards in the air” just make my brain hurt. I remember in a thread questioning the “Tropic of Sir Gallahad” digging up a cite where they admitted to just stringing words together they thought flowed compositionally even if they were nonsensical. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/29 "2009-05-29T18:32:55Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I remember in a thread questioning the “Tropic of Sir Gallahad” digging up a cite where they admitted to just stringing words together they thought flowed compositionally even if they were nonsensical. I also tend to suspect there were recreational pharmaceuticals involved. That’s what I blame a lot of Yes lyrics (e.g., “In and around the lake / mountains come out of the sky and they stand there”) on. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/30 "2009-05-29T19:11:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Pop lyrics written by space aliens > > Veteran readers of this blog, from way back when it began in 1983, will know that I haven’t yet taken any of those “Which Paradise Lost Character Are You?” quizzes or surveys that ask one to express one’s preferences for Thomas Mann or James Joyce, boiling oil or the cat o’ nine tails, that sort of thing. But maybe it’s finally time for a little fun around here. > > I’m asking readers to submit examples of pop lyrics so strange, so opaque, that they could not possibly have been written by members of our species. By my reckoning, fully one-quarter of the BeeGees’ oeuvre is eligible, which is no surprise, because everyone knows that the brothers Gibb are originally from the planet Zantok 6. Hence their famous line, “we can try to understand the New York Times’ effect on Man” from the quasi-autobiographical “Stayin’ Alive,” which many listeners have interpreted as a wry commentary on the Gibbs’ struggles to cope with the hostile gravity and atmosphere of Earth. And then, of course, as Janet has often pointed out, there’s the all-too-obvious > > I looked at the skies, running my hands over my eyes > And I fell out of bed, hurting my head from things that I’d said > ‘Till I finally died, which started the whole world living > Oh, If I’d only seen that the joke was on me. > > But to start things off, I’m going to suggest the first verse and chorus of America’s “Tin Man”: > > Sometimes late when things are real > And people share the gift of gab between themselves > Some are quick to take the bait > And catch the perfect prize that waits among the shelves > > But Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man > That he didn’t, didn’t already have > And Cause never was the reason for the evening > Or the tropic of Sir Galahad. > > OK, so these are the rules: the lyrics have to be written by actual or suspected space aliens. They can’t be about space aliens, so all those early Bowie songs don’t count. They can’t be merely stupid, like “mountains come out of the sky and they stand there,” because if we opened the field to stupid lyrics we’d be dealing with 80 to 90 percent of all songs ever written. And they can’t simply make no sense, like Aretha’s immortal, “let’s go back, let’s go back, let’s go way on way back when/ I didn’t even know you, you couldn’ta been too much more than ten (just a child),” which, after all, bears no discernable relation to whatever events have led her to demand that her addressee “think, think about what you’re tryin’ to do to me” (because, after all, she didn’t know him then, right?). The lyrics have to be so utterly bizarre that they elude (or exceed) human understanding altogether; they have to sound like real words in real phrases, but there must be something really wrong with them, something that gives them away as the product of advanced hominid life forms from other star systems. > > Or from the tropic of Sir Galahad. Have fun– [http://www.michaelberube.com/index.php/weblog/pop\_lyrics\_written\_by\_space\_aliens/](http://www.michaelberube.com/index.php/weblog/pop_lyrics_written_by_space_aliens/) ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/31 "2009-05-29T19:11:32Z")
I saw them do a college concert in 1975. At the time I liked the songs. At the concert - 3 guys playing acoustic guitars, all playing the same chord. Made no sense to me. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/32 "2009-05-29T19:26:00Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > That’s what I blame a lot of Yes lyrics (e.g., “In and around the lake / mountains come out of the sky and they stand there”) on. 🙂 That line, yes; that’s exactly the kind of thing that you might “see” under the influence of strong hallucinogens. The thing about the Tropic of Sir Galahad, though I think has less to do with drugs; it just seems like deliberately calculated nonsense to throw into the song to fit the form of the rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/33 "2009-05-29T19:26:43Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > [Here’s a great clip of them playing Tin Man.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-VGxYAVx-0) I love everything about it - the beards, the hair, the band t-shirt being worn by the singer of the band (awesome) and the little guitar riff the guy plays while they’re tuning before the song starts. Including the fact that the maraca-playing guy makes me think of Will Ferrell playing cowbell? ---
**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:** [May 29, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/34 "2009-05-29T19:39:04Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > That line, yes; that’s exactly the kind of thing that you might “see” under the influence of strong hallucinogens. Actually, that particular line has a more prosaic explanation–it was inspired by seeing real mountains rising out of low-lying mist while touring in Scotland. This is not to say that a large proportion of Yes lyrics _weren’t_ written under the influence of assorted herbs and/or chemicals. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/35 "2009-05-29T19:43:27Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Great band. I always enjoy hearing them, though it’s always through pure chance when I do. > > One nitpick: You’re out in the desert, there’s no one around to talk to, give the damn horse a name already! My brother used to sing, “I’ve been to the desert with a song with three chords, and there ain’t no way to tell you how I been bored.” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/36 "2009-05-29T19:56:40Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I also tend to suspect there were recreational pharmaceuticals involved. That’s what I blame a lot of Yes lyrics (e.g., “In and around the lake / mountains come out of the sky and they stand there”) on. 🙂 Oh piffle. Back in those days I was a big fan of Yes ripoff group Starcastle. They gave us such gems as this: Morning, is just a broken wind in my glass sight Hand-me-down upon the sea When the morning is icy Won’t you come to me? You were turning to ‘nothing is the key’ ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048/37 "2009-05-29T20:20:53Z")
America ROCKS! The only problem I had with them was in concert, they sounded just like they were in the studio. I coulda turned my stereo up real loud at home and saved money! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rate-this-1970s-rock-group-america/498048.md?page=1)