18 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Southtown Girls Lyrics
southtown girls won't blow you away
but you know that they'll stay.
take lyndale to the horizon.
take nicollet out to the ocean.
take penn ave out to the 494.
meet me right in front of the fabric store.
don't look me in the eye.
look over at the theater.
I'm a little bit surprised.
you didn't tell me there'd be three of you.
hey bloomington, what'd you let them do to you?
I think they're almost through with you.
southtown girls wont blow you away
but you know that they'll stay.
take lyndale back to the southside.
take nicollet up to the vietnamese.
take penn ave back up to the northside.
take lowery east to the quarry.
meet me right in front of the rainbow foods.
I got a brown paper bag and black buckle shoes.
if anything seems weird then just cruise.
meet me right in front of the party city.
that two sided tape it gets way too sticky.
I got a bad case of noisemaker blues.
southtown girls won't blow you away
but you know that they'll stay.
but you know that they'll stay.
take nicollet out to the ocean.
take penn ave out to the 494.
meet me right in front of the fabric store.
don't look me in the eye.
look over at the theater.
I'm a little bit surprised.
you didn't tell me there'd be three of you.
hey bloomington, what'd you let them do to you?
I think they're almost through with you.
but you know that they'll stay.
take nicollet up to the vietnamese.
take penn ave back up to the northside.
take lowery east to the quarry.
I got a brown paper bag and black buckle shoes.
if anything seems weird then just cruise.
that two sided tape it gets way too sticky.
I got a bad case of noisemaker blues.
but you know that they'll stay.
Song Info
Submitted by
kemekongka On Oct 20, 2006
More The Hold Steady
Stuck Between Stations
You Can Make Him Like You
First Night
Citrus
Chillout Tent
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Growing up in a variety of places in the North and Midwest, I see a few things in this song. "Southtown Girls" could be the girls you return to see if you've moved away; you may have dated some, loved others or suspect you really should be with the one who's dating the asshole but can't seem to put aside certain hang ups that made you leave in the first place. "You know that they'll stay" might mean the girls are loyal (to whatever guys decides to be with them) or it could be that they'll always stay - in the same place, the same time, unchanging; perhaps there's allusion to a memory of them always "staying" unchanged. In that way, they always "stay" with you. There's a lot of romantic notions in that, similar to walking back into the townie bar of a city you have roots in but have ignored for so long. I read a homecoming in this song, a familiarity but also a knowing; acceptance of the way the city and its regions work and how they have affected you.
WHaaaTT!!?? this is waaay too clinical! Get a grip, it is about drug deals. Two sided tape (adhere a package to oneself). "if anything seems weird then just cruise" The girls? Just part of the scene.
WHaaaTT!!?? this is waaay too clinical! Get a grip, it is about drug deals. Two sided tape (adhere a package to oneself). "if anything seems weird then just cruise" The girls? Just part of the scene.
Yes, these are all places in the Twin Cities. Most, if not everything mentioned is in Richfield an immediate suburb of Minneapolis. As for asking if Minnesotans say "The" before referring to an interstate, I think he picked that up from somewhere else. I can't recall anyone else around here doing that.
I'm from MPLS too, and I've never heard it called "the 494," or any highways called"the ___." It's just 494. I have no idea what inspired Craig to say it differently, like someone else said he must've picked it up living somewhere else. Also, for those not from the twin cities, Bloomington is a suburb south of Minneapolis, so it fits with the "southtown" references. Three of the streets he name-drops, Lyndale, Nicollet, and Penn, will take you down there. Most of the MN references aren't terribly important to understanding Hold Steady songs though, it's just nice to hear when your'e a local...
This song is all about the town I live in: Bloomington. It talks about all the great things about it, not just the Mall of America which everyone associates the city with. Brings back such good memories. :)
I always thought Nicollet and Lyndale should be swapped in these lyrics.
Only because Lyndale Ave. actually ends at the entrance to Minnesota River Bottoms Park, right near a boat slip. So you could literally take Lyndale out to the ocean if your car could float.
Nicollet just ends at a T intersection by a sporting goods store.
this song is awesome to hear live.
Oh God, I love this band. I've been to these places. I live on Lowry. Oh gosh.
i saw them tonight, and he said he gave a copy of the cd to his mother, and she had a question for him. something to the effect of 'do you go for easyer things because they're easy?'
he said, 'no, but I know people who do'...
hilarious
i love how you can replace southtown with basically any area, and you know what he's talking about...
I assume these are all places in the Twin Cities? Because if so, I have a dorky linguistics-major question for all you Minnesotans... Craig Finn sings "Take Penn. Avenue out to the 494," and yet I've never heard anyone except Californians refer to highways as "THE 494," "THE 5," etc., rather than just "494" or maybe "interstate 494" or "route 494" or whatever. Do Minnesotans stick the THE in there too, or did Craig just pick this up from somewhere else?