# Songs With Factual Inaccuracies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 25, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650 "2012-08-25T22:46:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [August 29, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/121 "2012-08-29T02:59:54Z")
> [@Rollo\_Tomasi](#): > > It would have been even later in those places; they’re all ahead of the U.S., time-wise. By the time MLK was shot, it was even April 4 in a lot of places anymore. It would have been morning of the 4th on some islands east of the International Date Line. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/122 "2012-08-29T03:06:40Z")
Okay, if Bono was indeed writing the song from the perspective of a fisherman in American Samoa, then I yield. But until then, I’m going to have to call a penalty on that accuracy of that line :). ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/123 "2012-08-29T03:08:35Z")
The Chalmette battlefield is six miles downriver from New Orleans. The British marched upriver towards New Orleans, along the river, because that’s the only place high, dry and firm enough to support the soldiers, wagons and cannons. When they were defeated they retreated back downriver, along the river for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/124 "2012-08-29T03:13:56Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > **Bargain** (Who) “In life one and one don’t make two, one and one make one.” One man and one woman make one child… 🙂 > [@flodnak](#): > > It’s minor, but it’s annoying: Slade’s “Far Far Away” includes the line: > Not without pharmaceuticals, you haven’t (at least on Earth). The sun will always appear to rise in the eastern half of the sky, and appear to set in the western half. It cannot set in the east. Well, what if he meant “I’ve seen the sun set in Asia, and in Europe”? Where he was at the time, not where the sun was? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/125 "2012-08-29T04:29:51Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Don Black & Andrew Lloyd Webber’s song "Take That Look Off Your Face (from) “Tell Me On A Sunday”) has a British woman living in New York singing this line “He’s doing some deal up in Baltimore now.” > > Baltimore is not “up” from NYC. Depends on your definitions and your verbal ticks. I know people who go “up” from Tudela to Saragossa (because Saragossa is bigger), others who go “up” from Saragossa to Tudela (because Tudela is upriver), and others who always go up - they may even go up from Tudela to Saragossa and come back up in the same day. Several of my American coworkers would speak of people being “up in Toronto” and “up in Houston”, but if someone was at Home Office it was “at Home Office” (no up, different preposition); apparently Home Office was Ground Zero and any other company location was “up”. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/126 "2012-08-29T04:55:34Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > One man and one woman make one child… Sure enough. But one man and one woman can make _two_ children, which would contradict the first line of the metaphor in question. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/127 "2012-08-29T07:01:16Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Bob Dylan’s songs are full of factual errors. I’ll give just a few examples. > Quote: > Originally Posted by 115th Dream > > Well, the last I heard of Ahab > He was stuck on a whale > That was married to the deputy > Sheriff of the jail > But the funniest thing was > When I was leavin’ the bay > I saw three ships a-sailin’ > They were all heading my way > I asked the captain what his name was > And how come he didn’t drive a truck > He said his name was Columbus > I just said, “Good luck” > > People were not allowed to marry cetaceans even in pre-Puritan America. Them old dreams are only in your head. I said that. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/128 "2012-08-29T07:26:43Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > You could spend all day pointing out every misapplication of irony in that song. (As someone more witty than myself once observed) the only thing that’s really ironic about the song, is that that Alanis Morissette doesn’t seem to know what _ironic_ means. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/129 "2012-08-29T07:40:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The one in the OP sounds fine to me: The whole trip is coast-to-coast. The first leg of the trip starts on one coast in the city of angels, heads north to I-80 or I-90, then across to Chicago, and from there, the trip continues to Key Largo, on the other coast. [hijack]I can’t imagine going North from Lala to go East. It’s actually North_west_. I can _see_ I-80 out my window (and hear it) and I take I-5 **South** to get to I-40 (old Route 66) or I-15 then I-70 to go to most points East. I-80 is a great way to get to Wyoming if you don’t mind mind-numbing miles of Nevada and Utah along the way. I suppose if you somehow found Nebraska and Iowa scenic or something you and your sanity might survive all the way to Chi-town. I’d rather go through Sin and Mile High or The Great Southwest and St. Lou and see some memorable sights, but maybe that’s just me.[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Coustralee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Coustralee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coustralee)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/130 "2012-08-29T13:49:55Z")
AC/DC I’m TNT… I’m dynamite… TNT and dynamite are 2 different things. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/131 "2012-08-29T14:44:58Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Almost all native Deer in North Americas lived in the Rockies, so in the ranges not on the range. Somebody forgot to tell the whitetails I see every morning biking in Illinois, or all the mule deer I saw in South Dakota. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/132 "2012-08-29T14:55:16Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Somebody forgot to tell the whitetails I see every morning biking in Illinois, or all the mule deer I saw in South Dakota. Plenty of deer in Michigan, too. According to [their Wikipedia page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer), white-tail deer can be found in most parts of the US. They range from Canada to as far south as Peru. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/133 "2012-08-29T15:31:15Z")
I was wondering why deer hunters in Maine usually only came back with empty cases of beer from their excursions. It’s got to be hard to shoot a deer in the Rockies from the east coast, I imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/134 "2012-08-29T19:26:28Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I was just listening to U2’s “Rattle & Hum” earlier today. “Pride (In The Name of Love)” has the line: > > _Early morning, April 4. A shot rings out in the Memphis sky._ > > Except MLK was shot in the evening, not in the morning. I was just listen to a live recording of _Pride_, and the lyrics clearly say “evening”. Someone must have clued them in. Did you send them an email? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/135 "2012-08-29T20:45:57Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Depends on your definitions and your verbal ticks. I know people who go “up” from Tudela to Saragossa (because Saragossa is bigger), others who go “up” from Saragossa to Tudela (because Tudela is upriver), and others who always go up - they may even go up from Tudela to Saragossa and come back up in the same day. Several of my American coworkers would speak of people being “up in Toronto” and “up in Houston”, but if someone was at Home Office it was “at Home Office” (no up, different preposition); apparently Home Office was Ground Zero and any other company location was “up”. Nobody in the NYC area would ever say “up” to Baltimore. Baltimore is always down. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/136 "2012-08-29T21:14:16Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Buffalo are Asian, Antelope African. Almost all native Deer in North Americas lived in the Rockies, so in the ranges not on the range. The exception is the Elk which is technically a deer, Houston has no Rockies, but it does have deer. And the elk I saw was in the Rockies (Denver). And while, technically, bison are not related to asiatic buffalo, and pronghorn deer are not really related to african antelope, settlers mangled the language pretty well and called the big grazing beast a “buffalo” and the small antelope-looking pronghorn as “antelope”. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/137 "2012-08-29T23:53:18Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I was just listen to a live recording of _Pride_, and the lyrics clearly say “evening”. Someone must have clued them in. Did you send them an email? :o Back in 1984 I actually sent a fan letter to U2 about this. So you can give me the credit. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/138 "2012-08-30T04:46:27Z")
> [@MarkD](#): > > King Bee Slim Harpo, Muddy Waters and others. > > “Well I’m a king bee > Want you to be my queen > Well I’m a king bee, baby > Want you to be my queen” > > King Bee? > > What is that? A “King Bee” is a “H-bee” or a Drone. Every kid knew that as they didnt sting. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/139 "2012-08-30T04:49:59Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Houston has no Rockies, but it does have deer. And the elk I saw was in the Rockies (Denver). And while, technically, bison are not related to asiatic buffalo, and pronghorn deer are not really related to african antelope, settlers mangled the language pretty well and called the big grazing beast a “buffalo” and the small antelope-looking pronghorn as “antelope”. Right. The USA has LOTS of deer. And there really isnt any such animal as a “Buffalo” anyway, so the American Bison might as well be one, in fact the Wisent was called a “Buffalo” before White men saw the first Mbogo or Cape buffalo. > **[Buffalo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo)** > > This is an accepted version of this page > Buffalo most commonly refers to: > Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: But yes the Pronghorn isnt a “true antelope”. So?:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650/140 "2012-08-30T04:51:51Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > “Seven Nation Army”: > > _Everyone knows about it > From the Queen of England to the hounds of hell_ > > There’s no queen of England. Mind you, I doubt there any hounds of hell either, so… Certainly there is, Elizabeth II is Queen of England too, as well as the rest of GB, plus lots more. She’s Queen of London for that matter. The whole fucking island, in fact. :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-factual-inaccuracies/632650.md?page=8)