I have just finished wreaking havoc with Mollucca's (Rich) Slicing thread and I was talking about how
romantic the names of US Railroad companies sound to someone from the UK.
Burlington Northern sounds like a cool name, whereas Virgin First Great Western just doesn't cut it.
It is the same with place names, Rialto, La Cienega, Alberquerque,
Laredo and Baton Rouge all sound much cooler than Radstock, Burnley and Basingstoke. I can think of one small english town that sounds romantic, Midsomer-Norton, which conjures up visions of a Constable painting, all cottages with roses around the door.
I apologise in advance for anyone who hails from here, or is associated with the place, but it's a dump.
A severe disappointment if it evokes the aforementioned visions for you. A mining town near Bath,
in Somerset it is quite probably one of the ugliest towns on earth, or even in the known and unknown
universe, with the possible exception of Trowbridge, (Wiltshire) where even the locals are proud to be
referred to as inhabitants of "The Arsehole of the Universe".
Anyway, preamble over, the main thrust of this post is why is it that songs from the States often refer to place names;
"I Left My Heart In San Francisco", "Wichita Lineman", "New York, New York" and "Madison Blues".
the names don't sound out of place in song, but why?
"I Left My Heart In Bognor Regis"? - Nah. Same number of syllables, although as it's virtually at sea level I dont think it has anywhere that is "high on a hill".
The Electric Light Orchestra's "Birmingham Blues" has a ring of fidelity about it, it actually seems to work, but can you think of any song featuring an English village, town or city that doesn't sound vaguely silly?
Saludos,
Bob.