this song is about Nicky Scarfo and the Philadelphia Mob wars of the 70's & 80's.
the opening line is a direct reference of Phillip chicken man testa. who was the boss of the Philadelphia Mob at the time.he was killed by a pipe bomb ordered by Peter casella. which lead to Nicky Scarfo becoming mob boss of Philadelphia. he ran the Philly mob from Atlantic City.
the second verse is about how jersey legalized gambling in 1976. and brendan Byrne making a public speech about keeping the mob out of Atlantic City. Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade tonight is also a direct reference to scarfo. who had a contracting company Scarfo inc that did the foundation for the first 6 hotel/casinos in Atlantic City and also killed a rival contractor for bad mouthing Scarfo in publicans the gambling commission hanging on by the skin of their teeth.he also ran local 54 which was the bartenders and hotel workers union and would threaten to strike if they didn't pay his kick backs.
the chorus has a double meaning everything dies that's a fact but everything that dies someday comes back. is the reference of the 2 mob bosses Anthony bruno & Phillip testa getting murdered and being replaced. it could also reference Scarfo directly. bruno banished him from philadelphia to Atlantic City only for him to return to Philadelphia as the boss.
the second part of the chorus is a reference to his mistress Chicago. who was a cocktail waitress from Chicago who would fly into Atlantic City and would check herself into her suite as Chicago.
the third verse is again a direct scarfo reference. in 1963 scarfo killed a long shoreman in a Philly dinner. then boss Angelo Bruno banished scarfo to Atlantic City in 1964. scarfo tried to make a living doing petty crimes but had to take a bartending job just to try to pay his bills and send his cut back to bruno.
the next verse is how in 1979 jersey granted Atlantic City over 1 billion dollars to build and renovate casinos. Scarfo inc had the contract for most of the construction. which is referred to by sands turning to gold. sands was also one of the casinos in Atlantic City.
the last verse is about the murder of sal testa. down here its just winners and losers is referring to the scarfo/riccobene war. which was led by testa because scarfo was in prison at the time. well I'm tired of coming out on the losing end is the jealousy scarfo had of testa winning the gang war while he was in prison. the last two lines are about scarfo hiring help outside of the mob to kill testa. scarfo made 17 attempts to kill testa but failed every time. so he hired someone who had no mob ties to kill testa in a candy store in the Philadelphia Italian market.
this song is about Nicky Scarfo and the Philadelphia Mob wars of the 70's & 80's.
the opening line is a direct reference of Phillip chicken man testa. who was the boss of the Philadelphia Mob at the time.he was killed by a pipe bomb ordered by Peter casella. which lead to Nicky Scarfo becoming mob boss of Philadelphia. he ran the Philly mob from Atlantic City.
the second verse is about how jersey legalized gambling in 1976. and brendan Byrne making a public speech about keeping the mob out of Atlantic City. Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade tonight is also a direct reference to scarfo. who had a contracting company Scarfo inc that did the foundation for the first 6 hotel/casinos in Atlantic City and also killed a rival contractor for bad mouthing Scarfo in publicans the gambling commission hanging on by the skin of their teeth.he also ran local 54 which was the bartenders and hotel workers union and would threaten to strike if they didn't pay his kick backs.
the chorus has a double meaning everything dies that's a fact but everything that dies someday comes back. is the reference of the 2 mob bosses Anthony bruno & Phillip testa getting murdered and being replaced. it could also reference Scarfo directly. bruno banished him from philadelphia to Atlantic City only for him to return to Philadelphia as the boss.
the second part of the chorus is a reference to his mistress Chicago. who was a cocktail waitress from Chicago who would fly into Atlantic City and would check herself into her suite as Chicago.
the third verse is again a direct scarfo reference. in 1963 scarfo killed a long shoreman in a Philly dinner. then boss Angelo Bruno banished scarfo to Atlantic City in 1964. scarfo tried to make a living doing petty crimes but had to take a bartending job just to try to pay his bills and send his cut back to bruno.
the next verse is how in 1979 jersey granted Atlantic City over 1 billion dollars to build and renovate casinos. Scarfo inc had the contract for most of the construction. which is referred to by sands turning to gold. sands was also one of the casinos in Atlantic City.
the last verse is about the murder of sal testa. down here its just winners and losers is referring to the scarfo/riccobene war. which was led by testa because scarfo was in prison at the time. well I'm tired of coming out on the losing end is the jealousy scarfo had of testa winning the gang war while he was in prison. the last two lines are about scarfo hiring help outside of the mob to kill testa. scarfo made 17 attempts to kill testa but failed every time. so he hired someone who had no mob ties to kill testa in a candy store in the Philadelphia Italian market.