This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Nelson Algren came to Paddy at some party at the Dead End Alley
Yeah, he told him what to celebrate
And I met William Butler Yeats, Sunday night dance party, summer 1988
At first I thought it might be William Blake
We mix our own mythologies, we push them out through PA systems
We dictate our doxologies and try to get sleeping kids to sit up and listen
And I'm not saying we could save you
But we could put you in a place where you could save yourself
And if you don't get born again at least you'll get high as hell
Yeah, and sweet St. Paul, that must be the hardest luck saint of them all
We met him at some suburban St. Paul mall
Yeah, and St. Theresa came to Holly, but I wasn't even at that party
I'd already moved out to New York City
Yeah, when Judas went up and kissed him
I almost got sick
I guess I knew what was coming
I guess I knew it was coming
We gather our gospels from gossip and bar talk then we declare them the truth
We salvage our sermons from message boards and scene reports
And we sic them on the youth
We try out new testaments on the guys sitting next to us
In the bars with the bars on the windows, alright
And even if you don't get you converted tonight
You gotta admit the band's pretty tight
They did "She's Got Legs" into "Ain't Too Proud To Beg"
Into something by the Dixie Dregs
And they faked their way through "Fairytale of New York"
When the band stopped playing we howled out for more
Hey Nelson Algren, Chicago seemed tired last night
They had cigarettes where there were supposed to be eyes
Hey William Butler Yeats, all the Irish seemed wired last night
They tried to separate our girls from our guys
They had cigarettes where there were supposed to be eyes
Yeah, he told him what to celebrate
And I met William Butler Yeats, Sunday night dance party, summer 1988
At first I thought it might be William Blake
We mix our own mythologies, we push them out through PA systems
We dictate our doxologies and try to get sleeping kids to sit up and listen
And I'm not saying we could save you
But we could put you in a place where you could save yourself
And if you don't get born again at least you'll get high as hell
Yeah, and sweet St. Paul, that must be the hardest luck saint of them all
We met him at some suburban St. Paul mall
Yeah, and St. Theresa came to Holly, but I wasn't even at that party
I'd already moved out to New York City
Yeah, when Judas went up and kissed him
I almost got sick
I guess I knew what was coming
I guess I knew it was coming
We gather our gospels from gossip and bar talk then we declare them the truth
We salvage our sermons from message boards and scene reports
And we sic them on the youth
We try out new testaments on the guys sitting next to us
In the bars with the bars on the windows, alright
And even if you don't get you converted tonight
You gotta admit the band's pretty tight
They did "She's Got Legs" into "Ain't Too Proud To Beg"
Into something by the Dixie Dregs
And they faked their way through "Fairytale of New York"
When the band stopped playing we howled out for more
Hey Nelson Algren, Chicago seemed tired last night
They had cigarettes where there were supposed to be eyes
Hey William Butler Yeats, all the Irish seemed wired last night
They tried to separate our girls from our guys
They had cigarettes where there were supposed to be eyes
Lyrics submitted by The Prof, edited by rhysthuryn2003
Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night Lyrics as written by Franz Nicolay Craig Finn
Lyrics © Songtrust Ave, Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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how does this song not have more comments? it's epic. such an awesome commentary on today's youth.
the first line, "nelson algren came to paddy at some party at the dead end alley. he told him what to celebrate." is a reference to the Dillinger Four song, "doublewhiskeycokenoice". Paddy is the leader sing in D4 and in the song he says that "NELSON ALGREN CAME TO ME AND SAID CELEBRATE THE UGLY THINGS"
my favourite, maybe.
The Dead End Alley was a basement punk club in Minneapolis in the 1990's. Paddy refers to Patrick Costello the bassist/singer for (most notably) Dillinger Four...D4 was band that played and hung out at the Dead End Alley regularly. The lyric "told him what to celebrate," refers to the D4 song DoubleWhiskyCokeNoIce off their first LP in which Patrick sings that "Nelson Algren came to me and said Celebrate the Ugly Things." The song DoubleWhiskyCokeNoIce is also mentioned in in THS song Constructive Summer.
First Avenue, a concert Venue in downtown Minneapolis, hosted Sunday Night Dance parties in the 80's and 90's.
At the time this song was released, I seem to remember Craig Finn reporting that it was the only song to date in which he referenced real people in his life (Patrick Costello).