I've always assumed "Wheeling" referred to Wheeling, Illinois. I knew they were from Chicago, but I didn't know Kinsella actually went to high school there. Wheeling's a very generic suburb. It's not as wealthy as Northbrook and stuff, but it's also not relatively rough like Aurora or Joliet. It's just sort of in between and not really noteworthy.
And I kind of think that's what's in this song. It depends on how you interpret "delicate sin," but it's likely referring to the evils of vanity and superficiality. At the same time, it's made one of those ironic statements by "everybody knows," in that no one would randomly say that off the top of their head, nor would it be the subject of any general knowledge. It's sort of like in the ad on TV when the farmers are working on a tractor and start talking like financial planners about their investment portfolios: it's ironic because the language does not meet our expectations of the scenario or setting.
I've always assumed "Wheeling" referred to Wheeling, Illinois. I knew they were from Chicago, but I didn't know Kinsella actually went to high school there. Wheeling's a very generic suburb. It's not as wealthy as Northbrook and stuff, but it's also not relatively rough like Aurora or Joliet. It's just sort of in between and not really noteworthy. And I kind of think that's what's in this song. It depends on how you interpret "delicate sin," but it's likely referring to the evils of vanity and superficiality. At the same time, it's made one of those ironic statements by "everybody knows," in that no one would randomly say that off the top of their head, nor would it be the subject of any general knowledge. It's sort of like in the ad on TV when the farmers are working on a tractor and start talking like financial planners about their investment portfolios: it's ironic because the language does not meet our expectations of the scenario or setting.
*aesthetics