Never heard of the song but I'm sure you'd probably have to live in Winnipeg to get the song. I don't get it.
It is more of a "local" song for people who actually live in WinterPig.
Canadians don't hate Winnipeg, they just hate living in Winnipeg.
Years ago there was an episode of The Simpsons where Homer and his father go to Canada to get cheap prescription drugs. They drive into Winnipeg and the sign says:
Welcome to Winnipeg
We were born here
What's your excuse?
My friend, the woman who sat next to me at work at the time, was from Winnipeg and I asked her if she'd seen it. She had and she thought it was hilarious!
It's also known as Winterpeg and Windypeg. It has the coldest street intersection in the world (Portage and Main). There isn't anything horrendously wrong with Winnipeg but it's incredibly cold in the winter, rampant with mosquitoes and bugs in the summer, large chunks of it (north and west I believe) are stricken by poverty (mostly areas with natives), and there isn't a lot that's positive about it either.
I have visited Winnipeg several times and I happened to go at freakish times when the weather was warm but the bugs were still dead and I quite enjoyed my trips. Still, I'm not rushing to live there!
That said, I'm amused that you like the song. The words are very specific... do you want an explanation? I don't know all of the portions, but I get most of it.
I *loved* Winnipeg when I was there! Mind you, I have friends there and they were great tour guides and hosts and showed me the best Winterpeg had to offer. In the middle of the summer, no less.
Winnipeg is known for having the windiest intersection in the world (Portage and Main) and Randy Bachman wrote a song about it (I think it's called "Portage and Main, 50 Below" or something like that. They also have a large native population, drug and gang problems (in Canada, gangs tend to be native, not Black), as well as a lot of poverty, with blistering cold winters. Parts of the city are very economically and socially depressed. That is probably what the song is about. (Much like I hate Hamilton.) Like any big city... chunks of good and chunks of bad.
Here are the two dorky videos I made in Winnipeg on my road trip:
Intro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZwAyvCnIsM
Grant's most excellent walking tour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOjFMQcAmdY
Here's the lyrics - Ziggy if you can "translate" that would be great.
I think it has a really catchy tune and somehow it appeals to me. I get it stuck in my head a lot, too...
Late afternoon, another day is nearly done
A darker grey is breaking through a lighter one
A thousand sharpened elbows in the underground
That hollow hurried sound, feet on polished floor
And in the dollar store, the clerk is closing up
And counting loonies trying not to say
I hate Winnipeg
The driver checks the mirror seven minutes late
The crowded riders' restlessness enunciates
The Guess Who sucked, the Jets were lousy anyway
The same route everyday
And in the turning lane
Someone’s stalled again
He’s talking to himself
And hears the price of gas repeat his phrase
I hate Winnipeg
And up above us all
Leaning into sky
Our golden business boy
Will watch the North End die
And sing, “I love this town”
Then let his arcing wrecking ball proclaim
I
Hate
Winnipeg
On a related note - anyone familiar with this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtJzeq7NZ...re=related
Love it - "Connecticut's for Fucking"
Oh! I know that there are several underground tunnels in the downtown core (actually, under Portage and Main) that link the corners together so you don't have to walk outside. The workers probably shuffle around on those polished floors.
The Guess Who was the band with Randy Bachman in it (Winnipeg heros that I guess are not universally loved by Winnipeggers --
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guess_Who ) and the Jets were their NHL hockey team.
OH! Sorry Zig and I posted at the exact same time. I'll like to see how she 'translates' it. I've only been there the once.
Jo knows most of what I know -
I'm assuming that 'darker day breaking through a lighter one' refers to their bad weather
As Jo said, they have underground tunnels everywhere downtown so that you can go from one block to another while avoiding the cold weather. Sharpened elbows would refer to people trying to make space for themselves (I'm sure it gets crowded in the winter) and the feet on the polished ground is again describing the tunnels. The dollar store would refer to the poverty of the place, loonies to the fact that it's canadian (our dollar is a 'loonie').
Sounds like the bus drivers there run as late as they do in my city. Jo has it right, the Guess Who are form there, and the Jets were a hockey team that left years ago and they never did well. I'm not sure about the stall in the turning lane, but the guy talking to himself is probably not unusual there (same as Hamilton, right?
I'll ask my colleague about the last paragraph...
Very interesting!! Thank you! I look forward to the final paragraph translation. I now appreciate this song much more. I have never been to Winnepeg, don't know anything about it!
There's another wierd thing about super cold places: the cars have to plugged in when parking. Cars/vehicles have block heaters to prevent the oil and antifreeze from freezing and damaging the engine, so they have to be plugged in and the block heater keeps the engine at a certain temperature above the freezing point of oil. I've never been there, but I heard that the parking lots in malls and plazas have electrical outlets at each parking spot to allow people to plug in their car.
Dog,
I've heard the same thing, and it wouldn't surprise me. Winter weather reports there list the amount of time it takes for unexposed skin to freeze (I think it's 2 minutes at -40C or something like that).
I remember talking about really cold temperatures (because we get them where I'm from as well, although not as consistently really cold) and whether or not it's possible to tell the difference between -30 and -40C, and it is totally possible!
I had a plug in my Subaru when I lived in the Adirondacks. It commonly gets -35F there so it's helpful if you can't garage your car. My next door neighbor had an incandescant bulb on a plank that he put under his car every night. It gave of enough heat to keep the engine warm enough to start. But there aren't plugs around town - it was just for overnight use. If the car is only not starting for a few hours, especially during the day, you're OK.
And up above us all
Leaning into sky
Our golden business boy
This is talking about the golden boy statue on top of the Manitoba legislature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Boy_%28Manitoba%29
(07-28-2010 07:27 PM)Dog Holliday Wrote: [ -> ]There's another wierd thing about super cold places: the cars have to plugged in when parking. Cars/vehicles have block heaters to prevent the oil and antifreeze from freezing and damaging the engine, so they have to be plugged in and the block heater keeps the engine at a certain temperature above the freezing point of oil. I've never been there, but I heard that the parking lots in malls and plazas have electrical outlets at each parking spot to allow people to plug in their car.
No parking lots in malls and plazas have plug ins. You'd only need it if you were shopping for a long time.
Work places will have plug ins for you to plug your car in and people plug their car in at home.
This isn't an exclusively Canadian thing - I'm sure parts of the US have this as well.
Thank you, Samantha! Another piece of the puzzle!!
From my coworker:
"The golden boy is our famous statue that sits on top of our Provincial legislature building. Turning lane I assume relates to the fact that many of our streets have these short extensions in the road to assist when one wants to make a turn on to another road( turning lane of a multi-lane road). We have both left turng lanes and right turing lanes just to make things confusing and it wouldn't be fun if a car was stuck in them."
OH! That reminds me of that insane intersection!!! I can't really remember what it was called... let me look it up...
CONFUSION CORNER! LOL
Ah ha! It all has meaning. I love it. Thanks for the updates!!