# Songs with historical errors that bug you **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [August 28, 2023, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246 "2023-08-28T21:37:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/21 "2023-08-29T00:29:35Z")
It’s called a joke. Technically, Windsor Canada is on the south side of Detroit. (another joke). 🙂 And for those who are not getting the referance, its from the song Don’t Stop Believin by Journey. “Just a city boy, born and raised in sout Detroit”. They sing it at ball games here. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2023, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/22 "2023-08-29T00:36:16Z")
Well, it wasn’t a joke to the rich kids I went to school with. They were _born ‘n’ raised in South Detroit:_ Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Park, Grosse Pointe Shores and Grosse Pointe Woods. They claimed that Bob Seger, who was from Detroit, must’ve meant that the guy in _Don’t Stop Believin’_ wore Topsiders, and a pink Raplh Lauren polo shirt with the collar popped. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/23 "2023-08-29T00:42:59Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Park, Grosse Pointe Shores and Grosse Pointe Woods. Those are just south of 8 mile, which I would think of as north Detroit since 8 mile is the northern border. Not following the geography here. I’ve never hard anyone say that GPS was south Detroit when it was north of downtown. Kind of getting off topic here, so I’ll relent. But I always took south Detroit to be like old Corktown or Downriver. The working class white side of town at the time the song was written. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/24 "2023-08-29T00:54:53Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > WTF? LIncoln was shot April 14 and went to Richmond after it fell, so it’s perfectly obvious it fell well before May 10. It’s factually accurate. By May 10, Richmond had fallen. The line doesn’t say it fell that day. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/25 "2023-08-29T01:08:31Z")
True enough, but why single out May 10? Just a matter of syllables? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/26 "2023-08-29T01:23:39Z")
When would planting begin in that location? April? May? The song makes it clear that they were running out of food, and it was after the Richmond and Danville railway had been cut in April. Plus, the song mentions that Robert E. Lee is passing by. Maybe it was a fictional account of Lee travelling by after the war, in early May? ---
**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, 2023, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/27 "2023-08-29T02:48:29Z")
I predict Zager and Evans will get it all wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/28 "2023-08-29T14:22:25Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Neil Young in Cortez The Killer completely ignoring that Montezuma was likely much more of a murderer than Cortez was bugs me a lot more. I like the song, but come on, Neil! “They offered life in sacrifice/so that others could go on”. They were butchers, not noble warriors doing what was necessary. I bet you wouldn’t like it if they thought ol Neil needed to be put down. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > The “walking in the sunshine” part is the worst. They were cold blooded murderers, I wouldn’t have cared if they were sitting on the toilet. I don’t get the romantic fascination with B&C. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > the song mentions that Robert E. Lee is passing by I always thought the song said “there goes THE Robert E Lee”, the riverboat, but I see the lyrics do omit the definite article. And really! I’m so annoyed at this SD smugness! Do you all think Detroit and Chicago exist in some four-dimensional hypershape, looping back upon themselves? They have south and east sides! If you live on the lakeshore, you live on “the east side of Chicago”. Give it a rest already! ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/29 "2023-08-29T14:36:51Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I always thought the song said “there goes THE Robert E Lee”, the riverboat, but I see the lyrics do omit the definite article. That’s what I thought but I watched The Last Waltz on the weekend and no “the” in the closed captions or in the way it was sung that time. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/30 "2023-08-29T14:43:48Z")
_The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald_ says “they left fully loaded for Cleveland”. The Fitzgerald’s destination was actually Zug Island, near Detroit. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/31 "2023-08-29T14:46:48Z")
Was there a riverboat named the Robert E. Lee as of May 10, 1865? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/32 "2023-08-29T14:56:51Z")
Nope, not until 1866. But the song does say “in the winter of '65”, could be November, so I’m not sure we can say when the singer is singing. The song takes some temporal artistic liberties. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/33 "2023-08-29T14:59:07Z")
Are you saying there is no Eastside Nome district? ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/34 "2023-08-29T15:01:24Z")
Damn lawyers! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/35 "2023-08-29T15:02:54Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > _The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald_ says “they left fully loaded for Cleveland”. The Fitzgerald’s destination was actually Zug Island, near Detroit. Also, the Maritime Sailors Cathedral wasn’t musty. Fortunately Gordon admitted that error and changed the lyrics to ‘rustic’ at his live performances. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/36 "2023-08-29T15:06:51Z")
Don’t you start with me! The lyric isn’t “southeast Nome”, it’s “southeast OF Nome”, which is water. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/37 "2023-08-29T15:35:52Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > The Fitzgerald’s destination was actually Zug Island, near Detroit. Technically south Detroit, (I say smugly). 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/38 "2023-08-29T15:42:40Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > > the song mentions that Robert E. Lee is passing by > > I always thought the song said “there goes THE Robert E Lee”, the riverboat, but I see the lyrics do omit the definite article. That was the Joni Mitchell cover. She learnt the song by listening to it. Didn’t actually have the lyrics. However, her cover got a lot of airplay. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/39 "2023-08-29T15:43:52Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > Damn lawyers! 🙂 We pick nits. It’s in our heart, it’s in our soul. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/40 "2023-08-29T15:57:10Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > That was the Joni Mitchell cover. Ah, yes thanks. ( is that why I think the “May the 10th” line is “I took a train to Richmond that fell”, or is that just me? 🙂 ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246.md?page=3)