Are there any Americanisms in lyrics that we can explain to you non-Americans?

Good question already.

 

I can't think of instances of the word already at end the end of sentences.
Exception - I would say "Alright already!" if someone kept repeating themselves to me.

 

That's the major instance. A variant would be "Enough, already!"

 

Interesting thank you, here's the ones I don't (didn't) get (including the ones you listed), I must admit I was once puzzled by the 'homeless vets' one I imagine a few of these are 'Nam or Korea related?


Johnnie Ray
Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Rosenbergs, Panmunjom
Marciano, Santayana goodbye
Nasser and Prokofiev
Campanella
Roy Cohn, , Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu falls,
"Peyton Place"
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle,
Starkweather,
Edsel is a no-go
Syngman Rhee, payola
Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Liston beats Patterson
Sally Ride,
Bernie Goetz

 

I'll take a crack at a few (the ones I care about, anyway):

Johnnie Ray – Pop singer of the early 1950s, known for "Cry" and other songs. Very emotional style of singing.
Walter Winchell – Hollywood reporter of the 30s and 40s, known for hard-hitting exposés and gossipy stories
Joe DiMaggio – Great outfielder for the New York Yankees. At one point married to Marilyn Monroe.
Marciano– Rocky Marciano, boxer
Campanella – Roy Campanella, catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Career ended when he was paralyzed in a car accident.
Little Rock – site of the first school in the American South to be integrated. It took the president sending in the National Guard to do it
Mickey Mantle – successor to Joe DiMaggio on the New York Yankees. Switch-hitting center fielder known for his prodigious home runs.
Edsel is a no-go – a car introduced with great hype and fanfare by Ford in 1958 that proved to be a colossal flop
Payola – the practice of record labels paying (or giving gifts to) radio DJs to play certain songs. Investigated by Congress in 1959 and ruined Alan Freed's career, even though it was a widespread practice on the part of many others.
"Stranger in a Strange Land" – science fiction novel by Robert Heinlin, much-read on college campuses in the late 60s/early 70s
Liston beats Patterson – heavyweight boxers. Liston was subsequently beaten by Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali)
Sally Ride – astronaut, first American woman to fly in space, and also the youngest astronaut

 

America was actually made up of US kids who had been raised in England while their dads were in service. Not sure where they were based, though, given that George Martin produced several of their best albums, they obviously continued to spend at least some time in England.

 

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Executed for passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.
Nassar is more your own history. 2nd Ruler of Egypt after the end of British colonialism.
Peyton Place: A, for the time, controversial novel due to it's sexual themes, that was later adapted into a film and successful TV series.
Eichmann was the highest ranking Nazi official to escape Germany after the war. He was a primary arcitect of the Holocaust. He fled to Argentina and lived under an assumed identity until the 1960's when Israeli agents found him, kidnapped him and brought him back to Israel, where he was tried and executed. (Billy Joel's father escaped from Germany after Hitler rose to power).
Bernie Goetz shot four black teenagers who were harassing him for money in a threatening manner on the New York subway in 1984.

 

Of the ones that haven't already been covered by others, I was only familiar with a few. With some help from Wikipedia:

Panmunjom - town in Korea where the truce that ended the Korean War was signed

Santayana goodbye - philosopher George Santayana; known for the sayings "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" and "Only the dead have seen the end of war"; born in Spain but came to the U.S. as a child and lived most of his life here; "goodbye" seems to be a reference to his death in 1952

Prokofiev - Russian composer of Classical music and ballet; left Russia at the time of the 1918 revolution and lived abroad for a number of years, including some time spent in the U.S., but eventually returned to Russia (by then part of the Soviet Union) in the 1930s; based on where his name appears in the song, may be a reference to his death in 1953

Roy Cohn - prominent lawyer; based on where his name appears in the song, seems to be a reference to his role as counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy (of "McCarthyism" infamy)

Toscanini - Italian-born orchestra conductor; spent much of his professional life in the U.S., leading the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, and NBC Symphony Orchestra; based on where his name appears in the song, probably a reference to his radio and TV appearances in the '40s and early '50s; he died in 1957

Dacron - a type of polyester or plastic; presumably a new thing back in the '50s

Dien Bien Phu falls - 1954 battle which ended French colonial rule in Vietnam

Pasternak - Russian novelist; wrote "Dr. Zhivago"; won 1958 Nobel Prize for literature, though Communist authorities in the Soviet Union would not allow him to accept it; based on where his name appears in the song, probably a reference to "Dr. Zhivago" and/or the Nobel Prize; he died in 1960

Syngman Rhee - president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960; had spent time in the U.S. at various times earlier in his life and had a strong relationship with U.S. authorities; was apparently a bit of an authoritarian ruler; went into exile in 1960 in the face of a revolt driven by accusations of electoral rigging; flown out of South Korea by the CIA and lived the remaining five years of his life in Hawaii

 

Awesome, thanks

You have to wonder what would be in that song were it written today...

 

You should have asked Rory Gallagher about the bullfrog -- he had the Bullfrog Blues for years!

 

Is this really true?! How horrifying! I'm a Yank, but I'd hate to see the English accent fade away.

 

Don't worry, they don't.

 

I've still got the pink slip for my '67 Mustang.

 

One thing I've always been stuck by about this song: It has four verses. It takes Joel until the end of the third verse to get from the late 1940s (I guess Joel's birth in 1949 is the starting point) to the mid 1960's, a period of about 15 years. The remaining 25 years until the time the song was recorded (1989) are then covered in just a single verse.

 

There's definately a hole in the late 60s and 70s.

 

Which one?

I'm currently in Suffolk and have had a few locals confused by my mild North Eastern accent and pronunciations.

 

Thats because what happens to you innyour childhood and teenage years impact you more than what happens to you as an adult. The experiences i mean.

 

And what's wrong with that .... ? ♫

 

Sometimes I read just the word 'This' as a reply to an earlier post. What's the meaning of it ?

 

I agree with this.

 

Aha, so it's one of those internet shortcuts. THX.

 

I would say it indicates particularly strong agreement with what is being cited. To use another (American?) phrase: "You've hit the nail right on the head."

 

This past Thursday AM, while waiting for the local Avondale to open so that I could buy my two daily newspapers, AM 1440 WJJL Niagara Falls NY played this song. I was reminded of this thread and thought, "There's lottsa stuff in this song's lyrics that makes it interesting". Rather than copy/paste the lyrics, I linked to song to its lyrics: "GTO" - Ronny and the Daytonas.

 

I wonder if the internet has lead to these curiosities to fade among younger generations
I've never heard a recent song from a British artist that made me wonder "huh, I wonder what that means".

 

I don't think anyone in England sounds American. There is, however, that f'ing awful cod Jamaican accent young people speak in.