These Streets.

Dave — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:15:26 +0000

Nighttime on the streets of Philadelphia.

So, I’ve had some tough times these past few weeks that have prevented me from really posting. Really not tough times–more mitigating circumstances. The hard drive in my computer started to shit the bed, so I was two weeks without great access to my music, which really put a damper on things. Local area baseball also recently came of note, then, much to the dismay of me and everybody around me, just as quickly went out of note. Now, my hard drive is starting to shit the bed again, which means lots of messy cleanup, and probably another two weeks without great access to my music. Goodbye, for another two weeks. Perhaps this is why my mood is slightly down.

It could also be because I’m listening to “The Streets of Philadelphia” on repeat. I was up in New York last weekend to watch my teams (Phillies, Eagles) beat their teams (Yankees, Giants). Somewhere in the process of watching that become only partially true, someone clued me in to the brilliance of Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” (which of course the Show covered blog years ago). It’s like a modern, rap update of “New York, New York!” It is what foxy bingo online and other computer games are to old-school things like Scrabble and a deck of cards. Revolutionary. Exciting.Returning to Philadelphia, I set out on a quest to try to find a song that matched its spirit in anyway.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, nothing. We’ve got something that blares at almost every event here in Philadelphia in Elton John’s “Philadelphia Freedom,” but honestly, that song was irritating twenty years ago, and much more so today. Also dated: “Motown Philly” by Boyz II Men. Sorry, it’s true. What else do we have? A semi-good re-dub of “Empire State of Mind” called “Ill State of Mind?” It’s not bad, but it’s lyrics are not nearly as timeless. In fact, they’re irrelevant now, having called for the Phillies to repeat their bid for the World Series. Also, the video is balls to watch. Willy Nelson’s “Philadelphia Lawyer?” Not exactly flattering. G. Love & The Special Sauce (remember them?) came out with a song called “I-76″ that’s actually really a pretty solid song, but it focuses on basketball, which has been dead to the average Philadelphian for the last decade. So that leaves “Streets of Philadelphia,” whose sound is always relevant, and whose lyrics are always depressing–but not more so than the fact that this song best represents Philadelphia at this juncture in time. And that leaves me. Where I am. Eventually I’ll snap out of it. Or move…

For Philadelphia, there’s hope for the next year, and another parade. But, more pressingly in my mind, there’s another year to come out with something as kick-assingly Philadelphia as “Empire State of Mind” is kick-assingly New York. But in the spirit of area-based pessimism, I won’t get my hopes up.

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These Streets.