Something I've noticed about the lyrics in songs about the fair city of Reno, in which I lived for more than a decade.
They're damn depressing!
Some pointed examples, including a summary in parens:
"I lit out from Reno
I was trailed by twenty hounds
Didn't get to sleep that night
Till the morning came around"
(canine-induced insomnia)
--Grateful Dead "Friend of the Devil"
"When I was just a baby my mama told me. Son,
Always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns.
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die"
(recreational murder)
--Johnny Cash "Folsom Prison Blues"
"Baby's in Reno with the vitamin D"
(narocotic side-effect amelioration)
--Beck "Loser"
"She took off her stockings, I held them to my face
She had your ankles, I felt filled with grace
"Two hundred dollars straight in,
Two-fifty up the ass," she smiled and said"...
..."She poured me another whisky,
Said, "Here's to the best you ever had."
We laughed and made a toast
It wasn't the best I ever had
Not even close"
(disappointing sex with a prostitute)
--Bruce Springsteen "Reno"
"You know the Lady's a lot like Reno
She ain't got a heart
And she don't care when your down
Just like the lights of a casino
She'll pull you in
And play with you awhile
But there ain’t no way to win
I know, she’s a lot like Reno
They’re both out to break you
Take everything you got
When you finally win the hand
There ain’t nothing in the pot"
(Need I say more?)
--Doug Supernaw "Reno"
"It's a long long way down to Reno Nevada
It's a long long way to your home
And the ground underneath you it's beginning to crumble
And the sky up above you has grown
There's a time to be grievin' and a time to be screamin'
And a time just to scroll on the wall
And you ain't got the double
And it ain't worth the trouble
You're feeling you're going nowhere at all"
(OK, just take the damn pills already!)
--Sandy Denny "Reno, Nevada"
"All the way to Reno
You've dusted the non believers
And challenge the laws of chance
Now, sweet
You were so sugar sweet
You may as well have 'kick me'
Fastened on your sleeve
You know what you are
You're gonna be a star.
You know what you are
You're gonna be a star"
(now we're at least back up to false hope)
--R.E.M. "All The Way To Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star)"
"You take me on 80,
Along a California trail,
To Reno,
I know you're waiting there.
I passed the Sierra Nevada,
Like a Holy Grail,
You beckon a beacon,
There you are.
Magnetic, seductive, attractive, like no other love.
Reno, silver and gold.
You break me, you take me,
Into the valley of the Sun.
I'm helpless, no power, in your spell."
(I sense an overall theme of unfilled avarice in the air here)
--Asia "Reno (Silver And Gold)"
"Pour me another shot,
On my goddamn way to Reno I said
Cut me a rail home
Drinkin, f****n fighting
On my goddamn way to Reno
500 miles, Home"
(Oh, come ON now, no need for profanity! Just get to the point.)
--Tenafly Viper "Reno"
"It's no Las Vegas no Atlantic City
The streets are dirty and the girls are cocaine pretty
Put it all on black when there's no place left to go
There's only one road in and one road out
One road in an one road out of Reno
One road in, one road out, gonna bury my in, in this desert town
Sand in pocket, come on make it rain, can't stay alive in this slow drain"
(brief optimism, followed by suicidal depression. Ahem)
--Wayland "Reno"
"Wake up and welcome to the realization that it's over for everyone
We'll be bowling out...
Throwing it all away!
I'd say "without a doubt in mind,"
But I've never been so afraid...
Today's the day that you will see everything fade away
and down the drain.
It's closer than you think...
It's closer than you think."
(a pathetic cry for help in the high desert. Just get it over with, Mr. Songsmith...)
--The Flatliners "July! August! Reno!"
And finally, a whole album titled "Dead Man In Reno" by "Dead Man In Reno", including such timeless classics as "Goodbye Tomorrow, Hello Dead Letters", "The Devil Made Him Do It", "Cursed" and "Love Stained Razorblades".
Phew...
Keep in mind that these were from just the first couple of Google hit pages, and I found NOT ONE positive ditty about the city....
Oh, OK, two more:
"look at me a million times
you think my brain is rabid
cumin' back to me
they swear to god i am a savage
i don't like the faces well
i'm certain now you're clear
they begin to stop me
you won't like it when i stare"
(now we're past simple depression and well into the DSM-V)
--Headstones "Reno"
"In Reno town for a few dollars down
You can buy yourself a separation.
And say good-bye to the love
And the life that we shared together.
Sign it away with a stroke of a hotel pen.
All of the dreams that we had
Will be gone forever"
(quickie marriages and quickie divorces, Reno has it all!)
--Tony Christie "Don't Go Down To Reno"
New York:
"If you can make it there, you'll make it ANYWHERE!"
Chicago:
"It's my kind of town!"
Reno:
"lose everything, get wasted, fight, kill, get Herpes, slit your wrists..."
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Darron, temporary Florida Swamp Dweller
03 Sep 2023, 3:24 pm
