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Chicago In Song: Algren Holds SteadyIn this special edition of Chicago In Song, we take an in-depth look at one song from The Hold Steady and see how it illustrates the connection to what could be the ultimate source of the ubiquitous Chicago-bashing in modern song lyrics and pop culture - our very own Nelson Algren. * The Hold Steady/Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night
Nelson Algren came to Paddy at some party at the Dead End Alley. Okay. Here's what NPR says. "Paddy" is actually a reference to Patrick Costello, the frontman of Minnesota's long-preeminent punk rock group, the Dillinger Four. "Dead End Alley" is what they called the South Minneapolis house that Costello lived in, the scene of many a party and also early band performances. And, according to NPR, Finn has said that the Nelson Algren reference in his song was actually an homage to a Dillinger Four lyric from their own song "Doublewhiskeycokenoice." That lyric goes, Nelson Algren came to me Lastly, the reference to "Sunday Nite Dance Party" is a shout-out to the legendary downtown Minneapolis venue, First Avenue, which in the early '90s used the big club as an eclectic disco hosted by DJs PD Spinlove and Roy Freedom. Finn's inclusion of Algren into this seemingly ultra-local lyrical lexicon, I believe, is a commentary on the power of literature (and by extension, its modern-day counterpart, rock music) to create and sustain myths that pertain to place. Finn has done that with Minneapolis just as Algren, he seems to be saying, did it for Chicago. He amplifies on that thought in the next passage: We mix our own mythologies. We push them out through PA systems. Algren's odes to Chicago's hardscrabble Polish and Ukrainian neighborhoods took an almost universally despised culture tied strongly to a specific place and revealed its hidden depths, nuances and passions, humanizing it while at the same time turning its hardships (poverty, alcoholism, corruption) into perverse strengths. Maybe Finn feel punk rock embodies that same kind of spirit and that it's a way to tell the world about the humanness of Midwestern punkers, who have been absolutely marginalized in a part of the country where suburban culture holds tremendous sway. Finn finishes the song with: Hey Nelson Algren. Chicago seemed tired last nite. They had cigarettes where there were supposed to be eyes. Having "cigarettes where there were supposed to be eyes" could mean... what? Coupled with seeming "tired," it could be he's saying that a run-down city, perhaps hung over from the ordeals of the 20th Century, doesn't have the life it once did, if we can equate "eyes" with "life." And now, instead of being the determined "city on the make" of Algren's era, its life force has been replaced by comforting addictions like cigarettes, which, of course, are also associated with alcoholism and depression. When you're tired, you fall back on those addictions that help you through your depression and low spirits. So, ultimately, maybe what we understand here is that Algren is the one who's responsible for the hundreds of rock song lyrics that have portrayed Chicago in such a negative light (in addition, of course, to all the all the references in The Blues about Chicago's hardships). It could be that Finn is hitting on the point that it was Algren who was one of the first to mix up the drugs, despair and poverty of the city with an accepted media form and come up with an enduring legacy - Chicago-bashing in modern pop culture. * Comments? Write Don. * From "Cubs 'N Roses" to "The O'Hare Blues," Chicago In Song explores the myriad and fascinating ways our fair city is portrayed in popular music. Check out the whole collection. Posted on November 19, 2007 |
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