# Why did she run calling "Wildfire"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 1, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502 "2005-03-01T22:42:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/41 "2005-03-02T22:07:03Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > I still don’t know why the hell Judy the runt and Jackie the punk went to Berlin to join the Ice Capades or why the KKK would have any compelling interest in taking my baby away. If you want to know [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Ramones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ramones) ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/42 "2005-03-02T22:30:25Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > It is my firm belief that there are some songs out there that everyone likes, but no one will admit to liking, and “Afternoon Delight” tops the list. Go ahead, deny that you love it. I, for one, do not believe you! > > “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” is another. I will go to my grave denying it!!! You can prove nothing!!! 😉 I do enjoy “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, though. My best friend in high school had an uncle who was a very talented singer (and a cross-dresser). They played “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” at his funeral while they were bearing in the movie poster size picture of him dressed as Carmen Miranda.\* \*I was not there. This was told to me by my bestest friend who would never lie to me. I could, though, tell you about the funeral I attended wherein the daughter of the deceased was wearing cut-off jeans and a tube top. I think I recall Willie Nelson being played at that funeral, “Poncho and Lefty”. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/43 "2005-03-02T22:46:02Z")
> [@Scott\_plaid](#): > > He insulted Billy Joel in one column, and was amazed by the amount of negative responses received. He went on to say a series of increasingly impossible positive thing about Billy Joel, each one more impossible than the last. I’m pretty sure it was Neil Diamond he insulted. The official worst rock/pop song in the world (according to readers of Dave Barry’s column) is Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park.” Interestingly, I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/44 "2005-03-02T22:50:07Z")
::Scott runs off upon seeing Sauron, a great big freaking flaming eyeball whom Scott thought died before recorded history .:: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/45 "2005-03-02T22:53:07Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > If your guilty pleasures are sappy ballads you have a fate of your own making. Mind you I’m not holding myself up on a pedestal, I own every single E.L.O. Album. :rolleyes: :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/46 "2005-03-02T22:59:18Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > I was about 26 when I heard “Afternoon Delight” for the first time in years (my dad listened to a lot of older stuff when I was a kid, but I think that one wasn’t on most stations’ playlists) and realized what it was about. Somehow I managed to avoid driving off the road laughing – what’s the big deal about having sex during the day??? Beats the crap out of working. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/47 "2005-03-03T00:14:37Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > After listening to the godawful song Wildfire, Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge. No, he jumped sometime before 1967 (if you really think about it, the timing of the song is impossible. A year has come and gone since the 3rd of June but her father, who was alive at the time, died last spring? WTH?) and so he missed out on Wildfire by at least 8 years. They’re both good songs though. And so’s The Lion Sleeps Tonight, although I’m partial to Robert John’s 1972 cover. And so’s MacArthur Park. 😉 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/48 "2005-03-03T00:28:34Z")
> [@Scott\_plaid](#): > > ::Scott runs off upon seeing Sauron, a great big freaking flaming eyeball whom Scott thought died before recorded history .:: He has that effect on a lot of posters. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/49 "2005-03-03T00:34:44Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > The official worst rock/pop song in the world (according to readers of Dave Barry’s column) is Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park.” Interestingly, I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song. To really do the song justice you have to hear the Anthony Newley version (the original?) _Sommmme one, left the caaake ooouuuttt in the raaaiinnn_ ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/50 "2005-03-03T00:56:04Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > “Awingaway” I’ll be meeting you in GD shortly. I do agree however that the song is a terrific one. I found this tidbit at a website called “Song Facts”: > [@](#): > > Seeger thought they were saying “Wimoweh” on the original, and that’s what he wrote down and how it was recorded in English. They were actually saying something like “Uyimbube.” It (isn’t in) any language, it means absolutely nothing, the equivalent of “shooby dooby” or “doo wop.” _The legend lives on, from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they call Gitchee Gumee. The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead When the skies of November turn gloomy._ ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/51 "2005-03-03T01:22:41Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Isize=1]_The legend lives on, from the Chippewa on down > Of the big lake they call Gitchee Gumee. > The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead > When the skies of November turn gloomy.[/size]_ Now don’t be dissin’ the Lightfoot. * * * I can see her lyin’ back in her faded dress In a room where you do what you don’t confess * * * Her name was Ann and I’ll be damned if I recall her face She left me not knowin’ what to do… * * * If you could read my mind, love What a tale my thoughts could tell Just like an old time movie 'Bout a ghost from a wishing well The man’s a musical GOD. ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/52 "2005-03-03T03:08:57Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > If you could read my mind, love > What a tale my thoughts could tell > Just like an old time movie > 'Bout a ghost from a wishing well …In a castle dark or a fortress strong with chains upon my feet, you know that ghost is me… It’s been so long since I heard that song. It’s one of my mom’s favorites, and I listened to it endlessly as a child. It’s an earworm, but it brings back good memories, too. So I don’t know whether to hate you or love you, **Dooku** 😛 ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/53 "2005-03-03T03:35:01Z")
**Dooku** I happen to like the song “Thunder Island”. But I didn’t say that just to start a brouhaha. Somehow, when people talk about horrible songs, “Thunder Island” _never_ crops up in the conversation. By the way the link you posted seems to have favorable reviews for that entire album. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/54 "2005-03-03T03:42:25Z")
How could anyone _not_ like Thunder Island? It belongs in the same category as Ridin’ The Storm Out and Carry On Wayward Sun. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/55 "2005-03-03T05:07:39Z")
There have been times when I’ve started signing purely to annoy the people near me. Songs that have proved effective have been “I’m a Lonely Little Petunia in an Onion Patch” (in response to someone indulging in self-pity, sung starting with a barely audible humm, getting gradually more disticnt until they get my drift),“Bicycle Built for Two,” sung in a slow, gutteral homage to HAL from _2001 Space Oddysey_, and, ad nauseum, Shari Lewis’ _“This is the song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends. Some people started singing it not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue singing it forever just because: this is the song that never ends…”_. At other times, I’ve found it usefull to “sing” the signature song of obscure Frank Zappa protege Larry “Wild Man” Fisher. I will not attempt to convey the grunt and squeeks of his glottal instument here. Of course, I’m just an amature in these things. What would a true master of the artform choose? Well, we have the example of Groucho Marx’s visit to the New York Stock Exchange, years after he’d lost almost all his money there. According to various accounts, he chose either “Lydia the Tattooed Lady” or “When Irish Eyes are Smiling.” ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/56 "2005-03-03T05:59:42Z")
Thanks a lot, you guys. Now I’ve got an endless loop in my head. “Sha-la-la-la-la-la my lady, in the sun with your dress undone…” ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/57 "2005-03-03T10:56:33Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > After listening to the godawful song Wildfire, Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge. As has been pointed out, the timing doesn’t quite work out, but there’s an interesting connection between the two songs in that the same people produced movies on _both_ tunes. The Wildfire film (working title same as the song) was made at a cost of about twenty-eight million dollars (a lot at the time) and was by all accounts a very good film that everybody would enjoy seeing. It was pulled from distribution at the last minute because of first amendment concerns, to wit : _You just can’t call “Wildfire” in a crowded theater_! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/58 "2005-03-03T12:45:28Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > I was about 26 when I heard “Afternoon Delight” for the first time in years (my dad listened to a lot of older stuff when I was a kid, but I think that one wasn’t on most stations’ playlists) and realized what it was about. Somehow I managed to avoid driving off the road laughing – what’s the big deal about having sex during the day??? I went to a fundie private school as a kid (in the seventies, that is) and when I was in fourth or fifth grade we all attended a seminar about the eeeee-vils of popular music. Afternoon Delight was eeee-vil because it was talking about sex. (Another goody from the seminar: My Sweet Lord, because of the names of pagan gods being spoken in the background.) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/59 "2005-03-03T13:03:01Z")
> [@umop ap!sdn](#): > > No, he jumped sometime before 1967 (if you really think about it, the timing of the song is impossible. A year has come and gone since the 3rd of June but her father, who was alive at the time, died last spring? WTH?) I don’t see any problem with the timeline. Billie Joe jumps off the bridge in June . . 1966, let’s say, and Papa and the family talk about it at dinner that day. Papa dies in spring 1967. The singer is singing in June 1967 (“A year has come ‘n’ gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe”). What’s the problem? ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502/60 "2005-03-03T13:54:22Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > I’m pretty sure it was Neil Diamond he insulted. > > The official worst rock/pop song in the world (according to readers of Dave Barry’s column) is Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park.” Interestingly, I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song. I beg to differ. The worst song in the world, hands down, is “Sometimes When We Touch,” by Dan Hill. Lyrics here: [URL=http://users.cis.net/sammy/danhill.htm] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-she-run-calling-wildfire/292502.md?page=4)