# Songs about being a fan **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [September 9, 2022, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-a-fan/971271 "2022-09-09T14:46:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Levolor\_the\_Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@Levolor\_the\_Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Levolor_the_Blind)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-a-fan/971271/41 "2022-09-17T22:18:32Z")
The ultimate: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/16kh-AP4OCU/hqdefault.jpg "Reunion - Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16kh-AP4OCU) ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-a-fan/971271/42 "2022-09-20T17:17:49Z")
I always assumed “You Spoke to Me” was about the singer/storyteller talking about going to see their favorite band. Not someone singing about the Popes. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-a-fan/971271/43 "2022-09-20T17:20:12Z")
ETA— damn… already mentioned. And “When Smokey Sings” by ABC is about the feeling the singer has when Smokey Robinson sings and then extends that and name drops a lot of other Motown / R&B acts. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BTV5FvNCbhk/maxresdefault.jpg "ABC - When Smokey Sings") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTV5FvNCbhk) ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-a-fan/971271/44 "2022-09-20T18:17:00Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > I always assumed “You Spoke to Me” was about the singer/storyteller talking about going to see their favorite band. Not someone singing about the Popes. Actually, we’re both wrong. While the Caterers _were_ actually born in Carpentersville, Josh wrote the song about fans’ devotion to Jawbreaker, a band the Popes frequently opened for: > **[The Pope Who Found Jesus - Chicago Reader](https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/the-pope-who-found-jesus/)** > > After chasing stardom with his band, the smoking popes, Josh Caterer traded life in the spotlight for a spot in the choir. > For Jawbreaker this resentment was the flip side of an almost irrational devotion: the kids that clustered around [Jawbreaker frontman Blake] Schwarzenbach after every show treated the singer like some kind of guru. > > The experience provided Josh with a lyric of his own–the singer of “You Spoke to Me,” which ended up on Destination Failure, tells his hero, “I drove all the way from Carpentersville to see you here tonight / And it was worth it.” ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-a-fan/971271/45 "2022-09-20T18:34:21Z")
The Replacements’ “Left of the Dial” is a gorgeous track about Paul Westerberg hearing a great band on a college radio station while on tour, and the song fades out as the road goes on. I’m at work and can’t google which band it was based on, but the song really captures that early-80s college radio circuit magic. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-a-fan/971271/46 "2022-09-20T20:40:07Z")
[According to this](https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-replacements/left-of-the-dial), it was [Lynn Blakey](https://www.reverbnation.com/lynnblakey), who toured with Let’s Active in 1983. Agree, it’s a gorgeous song. Thanks for inspiring me to look more deeply into it! ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-a-fan/971271/47 "2022-09-26T16:16:19Z")
Nickel Creek’s “Green and Grey” is a little of both musician and fan perspectives. “We paid and we cheered. Now we’re gone and to us that feels right. But for him every one of those evenings turns into a night.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uYmDXWPPBdI/maxresdefault.jpg "Nickel Creek - Green and Gray") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYmDXWPPBdI) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-a-fan/971271/48 "2022-09-26T16:53:49Z")
Oh, I just remembered this short little gem by Barbara Manning - Mark E. Smith & Brix: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/z3pSuGMGmRU/hqdefault.jpg "mark e smith & brix") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3pSuGMGmRU) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-a-fan/971271/49 "2022-09-26T16:57:36Z")
Mark E. Smith reminded me of Germany’s veteran indie band Tocotronic and their song “Ich habe geträumt, ich wäre Pizza essen mit Mark E. Smith” (I dreamed I was out eating pizza with Mark E. Smith), definitely a sort of fan song. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/IRNc8UeQLOE/hqdefault.jpg "Tocotronic - Ich habe geträumt, ich wäre Pizza essen mit Mark E. Smith") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRNc8UeQLOE) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-being-a-fan/971271.md?page=2)