Songs With Historical Errors In Their Lyrics

Donnegan's version is quite a missed opportunity. He was in a perfect position to cleverly recast the song from a British perspective, but instead he mostly sings the exact same lyrics as Horton's version (from the American perspective), except that he calls their leader "Col. Packham" (huh??) and also describes the cannon as a "musket" (lame!).

 

Through our 21st century eyes it is obvious that the fall of Richmond marked the end of the Confederacy but the fog of war is thick for both the armies and civilians alike at the time. The last major battle of the war was The Battle of Bentonville on March 19-21 about 3o miles from where I sit. The largest surrender was weeks after Lee's surrender of the Army of Virginia. On April 26th Gen. J. E. Johnston surrendered the Army of Tennessee at Bennett Place (present day Durham NC). Even then there were skirmishes in isolated areas for weeks afterward. Also, fortunately for everyone involved Gen. Johnston had been ordered by President Davis after the Bentonville defeat to scatter the army and continue to fight using guerrilla warfare tactics, but Johnston defied his president's order and surrendered.

 

"Pride" doesn't mention Martin Luther King, either.

 

Both London and Liverpool versions are on All the Hits. The London version is retitled Music City.

 

Similarly, in Kim Wilde's "Kids in America", she sings, "New York to east California, there's a new wave coming, I warn ya." Most of the population and major cities in California, particularly the ones that would have kids interested in New Wave, are in the western part of the state. Eastern California is mostly national parks and desert.

 

Good evening, Mr Dawkins... nice to have you on the forum. Thanks for your reasonable, rational, courteous, and logical scientific response.

Stay classy .

 

I don't believe Puff the Magic Dragon ever truly existed.

 

True. However, the picture sleeve that accompanied the 45 (which was probably one of the last singles I ever bought) features the iconic photo of Dr. King. That, plus the April 4 date and Memphis mentioned in the lyrics, makes things pretty unambiguous, eh?

 

Your case would be stronger if you could provide a "rational, logical scientific" cite for your original assertion that comes from a source other than a creationist publication.

 

There's a reason for that, if you think about it. Imagine the songwriter is coming from a perspective of someone in the "hip" Western California, where New Wave was mostly getting started. That person is looking to the rest of the country, "New York to East California" which is still unhip and in the dark about this new movement. It makes perfect sense to me that way.

 

XTC - Living Through Another Cuba

Incorrectly alludes to the missile crisis occurring in 1961 instead of 1962

 

How is that wrong? If it fell in April, it had still fallen by May the tenth.

 

... It's not me who killed the Kennedy's...!

 

The difference is that "Pride" is clearly a song about MLK's death, regardless of whether his name is mentioned in the song. Whereas "A Day in the Life" is not a song about Tara Browne or his death. A newspaper account of Browne's death was the inspiration for some of the lyrics, but that verse is not intended as a literal account of Browne's death. The song is not about Browne any more than "She Said She Said" is about Peter Fonda.

 

If you don't want to be challenged then don't make claims which are not supported by the available evidence, OK?

You have evidence that the KT extinction did not happen, then get on and publish it and see how it stands up to scrutiny.

You didn't present anything and you still haven't...And now we go for the ad homs?

How about YOU stay classy?

PS He's either Dr or Professor Dawkins and I do know people who studied under him at Oxford and saw him speak when I was a zoology undergrad...And I think he has become a bit of a berk, even though some of his early books are undeniably influential

 

"After a night in the cells" is not what the song says. It says he was bailed out in minutes, which isn't true regardless of what else the song gets right or wrong.

And in the Beach Boys' version there's "I got you/baby who needs cotton?" Erm, you do, if your livelihood depends on harvesting and selling it. (Yeah, not a historical error, but neither is placing Texarkana within a mile of Louisiana. That's a geographical error.)

 

According to Levon Helm, it was about the man himself:

WOYM: The Band's song about the last days of the Confederacy inspires reader's question

Clement Eaton, one of Viney’s contributors, dismisses discussion of the supposed riverboat connection by quoting Helm’s 1993 autobiography “This Wheel’s On Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of The Band.” Helm talked about how he helped Robertson with the lyrics.

“I remember taking him to the library so he could research the history and geography of the era and make General Robert E. Lee come out with all due respect."

It appears that Lee never visited Tennesse after the war, either:

Peter Viney: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

The article also mentions the phenomenon of false sightings of Lee throughout the South during the post-war period as well (which could be what the song was referring to).

 

The "false sightings" is a terrific explanation for the seeming historical inaccuracy. It also adds even more of a sense of the defeated spirit of the Southerners, seeing ghosts of their past glory.

 

Yep.
There was a previous thread re: this.
Levon referred to Lee the person, not Lee the boat

 

Redgum's 1983 song about an Australian soldier's experiences in Vietnam - "I Was Only 19" (aka "A Walk in the Light Green") - contains the lines

And Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon
God help me
He was goin' home in June
​

John Schumann explained that he was aware that the first moon landing occurred on 20 July 1969, and that he used artistic license to change the month to one that rhymed.

 

yes

 

That's a good rationalization. I can make a defense for "The Night Chicago Died", too. Technically, there is a bit of an "east side" to Chicago... everything east of State street has an east address. Sure, it's only a couple blocks, but there you go.

 

I'm a little surprised that we've gotten this far without anyone mentioning "Cortez the Killer" (including me, ha!).

One of the greatest songs of the 1970s, but a real dog's dinner of historical misinformation ("Hate was just a legend", etc.).

 

"April 4" "Memphis" and "Free at last" all make it pretty clear it's about MLK. So yep, it's a historical inaccuracy.