Okay, for about two weeks, I’ve been trying to remember a phrase that’s stuck just behind the tip of my brain. I can’t remember the context, the meaning, or the speaker. It’s driving me crazy.
In fact, about the only thing I can remember clearly about it is the middle 3-5 words. I believe the phrase is something like the title of this thread.
Does anybody have any idea what I’m talking about? (I’m not even certain about the three-syllables and one-syllable, but I think that’s what it is)
Daniel
Daniel, darling.
We need a bit more to go on than that. What is the context? Is it a helluva race/face/space?
You see what I mean. 
If I had any more to go on, believe me, I’d provide it. My hope is that someone will read that and say, “Of course, that’s a line from a song by *They Might Be Giants: ‘Do-re-mi, it’s a helluva scale,’” or something like that, and I’ll immediately recognize it. If what I’m saying is completely vague and unrecognizable to you, I completely understand; I don’t expect anyone will be able to figure out what I’m talking about. But as I said, it’s been bugging me for a couple of weeks, and I figured it couldn’t hurt to try.
Daniel
Is it the song Hell of a Hat by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones?
No. There’s a clause in front of it with a comma (at least, the comma is implied).
For some reason it feels vaguely Dan Rather to me.
Daniel
Chicago, hell of a town?
I’m pretty sure that’s not it (when I googled, that was the most common result). It’s also possible that the last word has a long /i/ sound in it. “High” was my first thought, but I can’t find any plausible phrase with that structure.
Daniel
Is it, “Cocaine, it’s a hell of a drug!”. First said on Dave Chapelle’s show by Rick James. I’ve been looking for the clip on YouTube but can’t seem to find it.
Could you be thinking of the opening line "“New York, New York, it’s a helluva town: the Bronx is up and the Battery’s down” from the song “New York, New York”. The song is from the 1944 musical “On the Town,” which was later made into a film starring Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly. “Helluva” was changed to “wonderful” for the film version.
Goddamn, I’m pretty sure that’s it! It combines the right amount of smarmy enthusiasm, crazy, and drug-reference that my memory is vaguely holding. If I can find someone saying it, I can confirm, but I’m pretty sure you’ve got it.
Much thanks–I don’t know why this was stuck in my head, but it’s a relief to figure it out!
Daniel
You might also be thinking of the Simpsons parody of the song.
Here is the full episode of that show. Rick James says it during Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories sketch. Tried to find just a clip of it but couldn’t.
This is a helluva thread.
Oh ye of little faith, this is a helluva board.
Daniel
I keep thinking of Tony Shalhoub’s line in Galaxy Quest: That was a helluva thing.
I was sure this was it. Never heard of the other one.