# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/141 "2023-09-01T21:27:18Z")
Kim Wilde’s “Kids in America” was another song written by Brits, and includes the lines “New York to East California/ There’s a new wave coming, I warn ya” which shows some confusion about which part of California was where the cool kids equal to those in New York were located in the left coast. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2023, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/142 "2023-09-01T21:45:31Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > which shows some confusion about which part of California was where the cool kids equal to those in New York were located in the left coast. Or maybe they were just really hyped up about freshwater surfing in Lake Tahoe > **[Surf's Up in Lake Tahoe! - Visit Lake Tahoe](https://visitlaketahoe.com/water-sports/surfs-up-in-lake-tahoe/)** > > Surfing culture across the golden state runs deep in its veins. So, when the legislature declared September 20th as California Surfing Day and the state’s ---
**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:** [September 1, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/143 "2023-09-01T22:01:18Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > in North Ontario, they get eaten by Big Birds Neil Young also breaks the news that these Big Birds fly “across the sky,” unlike the Tiny Birds elsewhere that must burrow through the earth to get where they’re going. ---
**Author:** ![Dialo\_Malison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dialo_malison/32/14734_2.png) [@Dialo\_Malison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dialo_Malison)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/144 "2023-09-02T07:00:45Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Thank you- very interesting! You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![AmbushBug](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ambushbug/32/4600_2.png) [@AmbushBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmbushBug)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/145 "2023-09-02T08:10:03Z")
In the musical & movie 1776 there’s a song, originally cut from the movie as a favor to Nixon (but that’s another story) - “Cool, Cool, Considerate Men” - where the lyrics > To the right, ever to the right. Never to the left, forever to the right. Let our creed. Be never to exceed. To the right, ever to the right. Never to the left, forever to the right. Let our creed. Be never to exceed. Regulated speed. No matter what the need… …espouse conservatism- but the terms “right wing” and “left wing” denoting conservative and liberal didn’t come around until the French revolution… ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/146 "2023-09-02T08:23:32Z")
Welcome back. Where ya been? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/147 "2023-09-02T17:57:44Z")
Waiting in Ambush, I would think. Remarkable patience. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/148 "2023-09-02T18:08:47Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > Kim Wilde’s “Kids in America” was another song written by Brits, and includes the lines “New York to East California/ There’s a new wave coming, I warn ya” which shows some confusion about which part of California was where the cool kids equal to those in New York were located in the left coast. That line always bothered me when I was a kid. What? The cool kids are in San Berdoo? Nah. ---
**Author:** ![ZamboniAce1000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f19dbf/32.png) [@ZamboniAce1000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZamboniAce1000)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/149 "2023-09-02T18:12:52Z")
Next you’ll be telling me Snoopy never was never shot down by the Red Baron. 🙂 ---
**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:** [September 2, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/150 "2023-09-02T18:18:52Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > I just listened to the Joan Baez version, and she sings, “the Robert E. Lee.” That must be why I, too, thought _the_ Robert E. Lee was a ship or maybe a train. “Waiting for the Robert E. Lee” was a famous song. It was done in “Hellzapoppin” and in “I Want to Go Back to Dixie” Tom Lehrer mentioned that the people waited for the Robert E. Lee - “it was never there on time.” Baez would have known the song. I think her bigger sin was singing “so much cavalry came.” ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/151 "2023-09-02T18:23:37Z")
As I remember it she started singing the “So much Cavalry” line after she got tired of people ridiculing her for sing the line as “Stonewall’s cavalry came” But she still didn’t care enough to get the damn song right. It was Stoneman’s cavalry who actually wrecked the railroad. And Grant was as pissed off about it as Virgil Caine was. ---
**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:** [September 2, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/152 "2023-09-02T18:28:02Z")
I remember the Rolling Stone review of the album with it dinged her for that. And it sounds like so much in the studio version, but I assume she did it live many times before she recorded it. ---
**Author:** ![AmbushBug](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ambushbug/32/4600_2.png) [@AmbushBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmbushBug)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/153 "2023-09-02T19:43:19Z")
I’m just the lurker type 😄 ---
**Author:** ![joper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47774/32.png) [@joper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joper)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/154 "2023-09-02T23:28:49Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I say, it’s a joke son. The South Toronto - US border is undefended, for now. ---
**Author:** ![joper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47774/32.png) [@joper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joper)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/155 "2023-09-02T23:59:20Z")
o[quote=“Ludovic, post:140, topic:989246”] That’s because in North Ontario, they get eaten by Big Birds. It’s a grand conspiracy masterminded by the Children’s Television Workshop and Neil Young to bring about equality for the letter “Zed”. [/quote] Not “fish only live in South Toronto.” Only fish live in South Toronto. The only inhabitants of South Toronto are fish. What were we talking about? Oh right, historical inaccuracy. Well, Neil Young lived in Omemee, which is not in North Ontario for two reasons. One, it’s in Southern Ontario, and two, there’s nowhere called North Ontario. This is on the borderline between historical and geographical inaccuracy, but Neil’s childhood is thought to be the topic of Helpless, and his childhood is history, so there’s that. The truth is, South Ontario sounds just as good as North Ontario, but it’s also just as inaccurate. Blind River is in Northern Ontario, but Neil was just passing through. He said “up in Blind River.” To him it was north. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/156 "2023-09-03T01:48:10Z")
Back to the OP. Kokomo is in Indiana. Why the hell are The Beach Boys singing about it? ---
**Author:** ![Mars\_Horizon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mars_horizon/32/2804_2.png) [@Mars\_Horizon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mars_Horizon)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/157 "2023-09-03T03:20:09Z")
I imagine because it sounds cool? “ The lyrics describe two lovers taking a trip to a relaxing place on Kokomo, a utopian island off the Florida Keys. In addition to the fictional Kokomo, the song also makes references to many real Caribbean islands…” > **[Kokomo (song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokomo_(song))** > > "Kokomo" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from the 1988 film Cocktail and album Still Cruisin'. Written by John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, Mike Love, and Terry Melcher, the song was released as a single on July 18, 1988 by Elektra Records and became a number one hit in the U.S. and Australia. It was the band's first original Top 20 single in 20 years and their first #1 hit in 22 years. > The lyrics describe two lovers taking a trip to a relaxing place on Kokomo, a utopian isla... ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/158 "2023-09-03T03:31:59Z")
In Theory Of a Deadman’s “Lowlife” the singer says “I got an '82 Fiero with a car seat in the middle…”. Fieros were built model years 1984-1988. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/159 "2023-09-03T03:35:43Z")
Also, I’ve been inside a Fiero, and they are two-seaters with no place in the middle where you could put a car seat. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2023, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246/160 "2023-09-03T23:42:32Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > Kokomo is in Indiana. Why the hell are The Beach Boys singing about it? I was born in Kokomo (the one in Indiana). Occasionally when I’ve told people that, they haven’t believed me, thinking that the Beach Boys made up that word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-historical-errors-that-bug-you/989246.md?page=7)