Monday, July 25, 2011

Songs about home: Anne Arbour

Back when we were going to school in Kalamazoo, we came back to visit Ann Arbor on the weekends pretty frequently. Every time we made it a point to listen to one of our favorite tunes, Anne Arbour by the Get Up Kids (of recent reunion fame), as we drove in on I-94 East.

Eventually even my dad even picked up the habit, and to this day whenever I'm coming home to visit he has a copy or asks if I want to put it on in the car.

Tonight, some of my fellow Damn Arbor writers and my oldest friend are picking me up from DTW; you can bet I'll be listening to this song:


See you tonight, Ann Arbor.

P.S. I never figured out if this song is literally about Ann Arbor, MI, but what are some other great songs about our little city?

5 comments:

  1. A) Hooray!

    B) It’s always seemed to me to be a song about that girl who went off to school in Ann Arbor, and he's referring to her by that pen name. She left, he writes letters apologizing to bring her back. He still has her heart necklace on, she took his heart with her in hand off to school. I wonder if "He's sure she'd work his words out / If she ever knew" is an oblique reference to the song itself?

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  2. Is this the first time we've referenced Anne Arbour on Damn Arbor? I can't believe it hasn't happened sooner.

    @Phil, what if it's about a girl named Anne Arbour who goes off to school in Ann Arbor? Pretty deep, eh?

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  3. I don't know of any good Ann Arbor songs, but the Ragbirds' "Ypsilanti Song" is excellent: http://youtu.be/xAnuxVzjKTc (though this copy is so-so).

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  4. What about bands named after Ann Arbor?: http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/anarbor/

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  5. @Chris Yeah, haven't been able to figure that one out, either!

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