We Built this City on Rock and Roll
@pgiblett (6524)
Canada
May 28, 2016 6:24am CST
Listening to the radio this morning the song wit this line it was played. I think these words to be one of the greatest metaphors of all time.
We know cities don't literally get built of the music playing on the radio, or do they? It could certainly be argued that the builders would have loved rock and roll music, maybe even the architects loved this music, Yes most cities are older than rock and roll music, so the original cities were not built on rock & roll music. Go figure?
Yet building a city is more than building the physical constructs, it is about building a community and of course much of our modern communities grew up with rock & roll music, so maybe it is the people that are the heart of the city?
What metaphorical song lines do you love?
13 people like this
8 responses
@Macarrosel (7498)
• Philippines
31 May 16
Maybe this one, "Speaking words of Wisdom, let it be."
4 people like this
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
12 Jun 16
Detroit could be said to owe a sizable chunk of its economy to the music industry - so could Nashville
3 people like this
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
13 Jun 16
@pgiblett Liverpool too after Beatlemania
2 people like this
@pgiblett (6524)
• Canada
13 Jun 16
@arthurchappell True, but not one of them has rock and roll as the sole reason for their foundation. Not even Cleveland (where the Rock & Roll hall of fame is located).
2 people like this
@Ceerios (4698)
• Goodfellow, Texas
13 Jun 16
@pgiblett - Brother Peter - I go for "Stuck a feather in his cap and called it Macaroni." Whereas "love" may be too strong a word to use , I go for that song line because the vast number of people who have voiced that line do not have the foggiest notion of what it is actually describing. It is my sin of pride that causes my enjoyment of that line. 
2 people like this
@Ceerios (4698)
• Goodfellow, Texas
14 Jun 16
@pgiblett - Brother Peter - "Macaroni" was, at that time, a famous and "exclusive" Italian clothing maker. Sticking a feather in his cap was what the pretentious Yankee Doodle Dandy (another insult...) would do to pretend that he was wearing a real "Macaroni."
I hope that saves you a lookup. 
1 person likes this
@Katlynn (366)
• United States
9 Jun 16
I haven't listened to 'We Built This City on Rock and Roll' for a long time. Thank you for the memory. I love the metaphorical line in 'The Dance' by Garth Brooks - the reference to 'the dance' isn't about an actual dance.
'And now
I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end
The way it all would go
Our lives
Are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss
The dance
3 people like this
@quantum2020 (12040)
• Ciudad De Mexico, Mexico
9 Jun 16
Deacon Blues by Steely Dan.
Is the unfullfilled dream of a simple man, living a dull life in the city.
2 people like this
@BACONSTRIPSXXX (14351)
• West Haven, Connecticut
13 Jun 16
I love that song! Makes me want to go jogging lol
1 person likes this
