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Your Favorite Sprawl/Suburban Songs

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Started 9 months ago by Walker
Latest reply from Chicken

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Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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An interesting post today over at Rust Wire about the music of the suburbs. Anyone here have a favorite tune?

Sprawl’s Greatest Hits: A History of Suburban Protest Ballads
1 AUGUST 2011
This post originally appeared on Streetsblog.

The protest movements that have changed the world — for peace, civil rights or labor justice — have always had rallying songs that inspired devotees and informed the masses. The smart growth movement is no exception: sprawl and the general shortcomings of the American suburb have been a favorite theme among musicians ever since the invention of the cul-de-sac.

READ MORE: http://rustwire.com/2011/08/01/sprawls-greatest-hits-a-history-of-suburban-protest-ballads/

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Posted 9 months ago #
Pablo
Crestview Addition
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Rush - Subdivisions

Any escape might help to smooth the unattractive truth
But the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth

Posted 9 months ago #
Mercurius
First Avenue
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There are the Little Boxes covers from Weeds:
http://www.deafindieelephants.com/2007/07/23/weeds-little-boxes-covers/
http://www.deafindieelephants.com/2007/11/27/weeds-little-boxes-covers-season-3/

Talking Heads - The Big Country

L.A. Freeway - Guy Clark

Wilco - Hate it Here

Kinks - Apeman

Beach Boys - Sloop John B (not specifically suburbs - but the tagline fits)

John Prine - Living in the Future

Leonard Cohen - The Future

Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia

Kinks - Complicated Life

Pavement - Range Life

Posted 9 months ago #
CatariFuriosa

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Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi

Posted 9 months ago #
joev
Merion Village
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^Wow, when music isn't fun, it sure is dull.

Posted 9 months ago #
shadytree
clintonville
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Arcade Fire's The Suburbs is largely about... the suburbs.

Posted 9 months ago #
Cookie
Flyntonville
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I keep seeing favorite Scrawl songs and being disappointed.

Posted 9 months ago #
gramarye
In Exile
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Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb

(No?)

Posted 9 months ago #
jimbach
Short North (WP division)
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Richard Thompson's Mock Tudor album is largely about suburban life.

Posted 9 months ago #
DavidF
Elysium Fields
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Cookie said:
I keep seeing favorite Scrawl songs and being disappointed.

That was my first thought too!

Posted 9 months ago #
GCrites80s
5xNW
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gramarye said:
Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb

(No?)

Sure, why not? But the band is probably thinking it's about droll 1970s English urban still-recovering-from-WWII life. Or drugs. But I'd say your interpretation works as well.

There's always Descendents' "Suburban Home"

Now, think about Metallica's "Motorbreath" A really fast song about driving fast and adrenaline rushes, right? What if it was actually against auto dependency and how many have died in car crashes? Here's some lines.

Living and dying
Laughing and crying

Motorbreath
It's how I live my life
I can't take it any other way
Motorbreath
The sign of living fast
It is going to take
Your breath away

Don't stop for nothin'
It's full speed or nothin'
I'm taking down whatever's in my way.

Or Deep Purple's "Highway Star"

Nobody gonna take my car

Ooooh, it's a killing machine

I Love Her And I Need Her
I feel her
Yeah It's A Wild Hurricane
All Right Hold Tight
I'm A Highway Star

Now, speed that one up and have Starscream sing it. Then you get the Metal Church version from 1984. Vocalist David Wayne died in 2005 back due to injuries sustained in a car crash.

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Posted 9 months ago #
rus

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Posted 9 months ago #
beersie1
Weinland Park
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Smashing Pumpkins 1979 + video always had a real suburban feel to me.

Posted 9 months ago #
somebuckeye
Franklin Park
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+1 for Rush, and I would also like to add Jesusland by Ben Folds.

Posted 9 months ago #
ellenohio

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Jonathan Coulton "Shop Vac" - from JoCo Looks Back

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Posted 9 months ago #
Brant
Gahanna
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It's really more of a jab at Fred Durst, but still....

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Posted 9 months ago #
murfmurphy
Westgate
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Little Pink Houses by John Mellencamp. Or John Cougar or John Cougar Mellencamp or whatever he was going by at the time.

Posted 9 months ago #
ChrisSunami
King-Lincoln District
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Arcade Fire- Living in the Sprawl
Fountains of Wayne - Hackensack
Malvina Reynolds - Little Boxes

Posted 9 months ago #
Mercurius
First Avenue
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http://rustwire.com/2011/09/13/proof-of-clevelands-internal-combustion-here/

Posted 8 months ago #
lazyfish

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Mojo Nixon "Burn down the malls"

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Posted 8 months ago #