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.
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.
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.
It’s factually accurate. By May 10, Richmond had fallen. The line doesn’t say it fell that day.
True enough, but why single out May 10? Just a matter of syllables?
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?
I predict Zager and Evans will get it all wrong.
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.
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.
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!
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.
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald says “they left fully loaded for Cleveland”. The Fitzgerald’s destination was actually Zug Island, near Detroit.
Was there a riverboat named the Robert E. Lee as of May 10, 1865?
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.
Are you saying there is no Eastside Nome district?
Damn lawyers! 
Also, the Maritime Sailors Cathedral wasn’t musty. Fortunately Gordon admitted that error and changed the lyrics to ‘rustic’ at his live performances.
Don’t you start with me! The lyric isn’t “southeast Nome”, it’s “southeast OF Nome”, which is water.
Technically south Detroit, (I say smugly). 
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.
We pick nits. It’s in our heart, it’s in our soul.
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? )