Chicago Art Institute
They got these two big stone lions
fronting Michigan Avenue
in downtown Chicago
Inside are oil paintings
by Edward Hopper -
mostly city scenes
you know the kind I mean?
empty streets
lonely rooms
deserted buildings
There I was in one of those offices-
feet up on a battered desk
cigarette smoke curling up-
I'd already downed a slug
of good booze that burned its way down
lighting a blaze in my gut
the 38 Smith & Wesson snugged
in a shoulder holster.
Like Philip Marlowe the private eye
I too got big baby blues that kill the broads-
I'm always ready for a fight!
poem by Michael Pruchnicki
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Related quotes
Marlowe Between the Lions
Imagine reading between the lions?
I mean the two standing stony vigil outside
the Art Institute of Chicago on Michigan Avenue.
A novel by Raymond Chandler and paintings by
Edward Hopper are celebrated within -
laconic detective and barren cityscapes
set the theme of big city angst and anomie
I checked through The Big Sleep -
*He sat behind a desk, a middle-aged plump
man with clear blue eyes
He puffed evenly and stared at me level-eyed,
a funny little hard guy
His neat well-kept face looked as if it had been shaved
within the hour
A small man in a big man's world
He looked ready for a fight*
Look closely at Hopper's oils-
*Night Shadows* *Nighthawks*
*Night Windows* *Empty Room*
Then I lit a cigarette and downed a good slug
of booze. The 38 Special nested snugly in its
holster. That night I felt like a big tough guy
ready for a fight within the hour.
Sure, I got big baby blues
and a swinging dick
like Marlowe!
poem by Michael Pruchnicki
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Southside Chicago Blues
Stumbled out of bed this mornin'
Don't know where I been.
Don't know what the haps last night
But it must have been a sin.
‘Cause today I got the lowdown blues,
The Southside Chicago mind-numbin' blues
I know my baby left me
That much I will confess.
Said I was a no-good worthless bum
And my life was in a mess.
Gave me the sorrowful blues,
The Southside Chicago pate-scramblin' blues.
Got out the frying pan
Made me some eggs and ham.
What a miserable life you lead
When you're livin' on the lam.
It's enough to give an old ex-con the lowlife blues
The Southside Chicago brain-dead blues.
Got to get my act together
Got to get my baby back
‘Cause I'm no good without her
And that's a goddurn fact.
Got to shake these dreadful blues,
These Southside Chicago drivin'-me-crazy blues.
Called her on the phone today
Begged her come on home
Promised I would shape up good
And never more to roam.
These awful blues are killin' me
These Southside Chicago ball-breakin' blues
She said Don't call me up no more
You're just a no-good cheatin' liar
I wouldn't even piss on you
If you was caught afire
I hope you keep your freakin' blues
Those Southside Chicago pot-smokin' blues.
Please don't give up on me
Try to show some pity
‘Cause without you life is empty
In this lonely windy city
While I suffer with these desolation blues
These Southside Chicago mind-numbin',
Pate-scramblin' brain-dead, drivin'-me-crazy,
Ball-breakin', pot-smokin' BLUES!
poem by George Hunter
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The Downtown Lights
Sometimes I walk away
When all I really wanna do
Is love and hold you right
There is just one thing I can say
It's all right, can't you see
The downtown lights
In love we're all the same
We're walking down an empty street
And with nobody callin' your name
Empty streets, empty nights
The downtown lights
*How do I know you feel it
How do I know you feel it
How do I know you feel it
How do I know it's true
Can't you see
Nobody loves you this way
It's all right
Tonight and every night
Let's go walking down the city streets
Let's walk in the cool evening light
Wrong or right, the endless sight
The downtown lights
It will be all right
It will be all right
The downtown lights
Yeah, yeah, yeah
(*Repeat)
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Downtown lights
The neons and the cigarettes
The rented rooms and rented cars
The crowded streets, the empty bars
Chimneytops, trumpets
The golden lights, the loving prayers
Colored shoes, the empty trains
I'm tired of cryin' on the stairs
Downtown lights
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
song performed by by Rod Stewart
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Elsa and The City View
Elsa sits on the edge
of the roof of the building
smoking a cigarette
her thoughts on Bolright
her feelings on the downside
her get up
in the morning
and have a good look
out on the city
still intact
the stone on the rooftop
is warmed by the morning sun
and warms her butt
and thighs
and so what
she thinks
if he doesn't
come back again
what the heck do I care
I had a good time
had a good night
the bed rocking some
the Miles Davis CD
oozing from the hifi
rising in the air
and he was a cool lover
had that way about him
that make the most of
this baby because
you won't feel
the same again
kind of sensation
and she looks
at the passing traffic
the ant like people below
the smell of the city
the sensation
of the warm stone
beneath her
the warmth rising
through her skin
the touch pretty much
like his
but softer
more gentle
and she inhales deeply
on the cigarette
sensing the smoke
against the back
of her throat
sensing it take up
in her lungs
and thinking of him
trying to remind herself
of each moment with him
the touches
the kisses
the sex
oh yes the sex
and she exhales
the smoke
and laughs to herself
as if remembering
a private joke.
poem by Terry Collett
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Requiem: Armistice Day 1995
This year
the dead are blind
and do not seem to hear
our prayers.
Nor do they seem to mind
that we now own
what they once thought was theirs.
Here
they shed no tear
at all the pain
they left behind.
Now,
when they come again,
they only find
echoes of the long-ago,
and landscapes that they hardly know;
deserted buildings, unpeopled streets,
lonely corridors, empty rooms,
where each his own image meets
in every shape it now assumes.
poem by Brian Taylor
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Requim: Armistice Day 1995
This year
the dead are blind
and do not seem to hear
our prayers.
Nor do they seem to mind
that we now own
what they once thought was theirs.
Here
they shed no tear
at all the pain
they left behind.
Now,
when they come again,
they only find
echoes of the long-ago,
and landscapes that they hardly know;
deserted buildings, unpeopled streets,
lonely corridors, empty rooms,
where each his own image meets
in every shape it now assumes.
poem by Brian Taylor
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You'd never think of taking a cab if you had to walk a mile down Chicago's Michigan Avenue. But in a bad city you take a cab just to go around the corner.
quote by Helmut Jahn
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Butte was once a grand city. To me, that city is like one big stage for Edward Hopper. You could put your camera anywhere, and you felt you were looking at his paintings.
quote by Wim Wenders
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Blues
Hes gonna tell you bout his dear old mother
Burned up in a factory in springfield, mass.
Hes gonna tell you bout his baby brother
Hustlin down the city streets
And selling his ass for a dollar bag
Hes gonna tell you bout his uncle neddy
Locked up in a prison out in oregon
Hes gonna tell you bout his best friend eddie
Killed in a bar fight with a pair of marines
And a sailor
Oh
Hes got the blues, this boy
Hes got the blues
You can hear it in his music
Hes got the blues, this boy
Hes got the blues
You can hear it, you can hear it
When I was nine years old
My daddy ran away
With a woman he met on a train, oh
His little boy
Ran to the room
Where his piano
Lay in wait for him
He played and he played
He played and he played
Hes got the blues, this boy
Hes got the blues
You can hear it, you can hear it
Hes got the blues, this boy
Hes got the blues
A year ago, I met a girl
I thought wed hit a massive groove
But she dumped me
And all wed hit were the blues
Hes got the blues, this boy
Hes got the blues
You can hear it in his music
Hes got the blues, this boy
Hes really got the blues
song performed by by Randy Newman
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Chicago Streets
So good to be home
and out of the heat.
All those excess people reminded I'm alone
as I explored the busy Chicago streets.
So good to be mild
and not full of heat.
All those old buildings reminded I'm only a child
as I explored the ancient Chicago streets.
So good to be recognized
and not sweating in the heat.
All those dollars spent reminded me of the love I'm still denied.
as I explored the poor Chicago streets.
So good to be back from running away
and back from the heavy, humid heat.
All of the luggage and vacations reminded me problems come to stay.
as I left, for a long time, those Chicago streets.
poem by Delilah Miller
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Under The Bridge
Sometimes I feel
Like I don't have a partner
Sometimes I feel
Like my only friend
Is the city I live in
The city of angels
Lonely as I am
Together we cry
I drive on her streets
'Cause she's my companion
I walk through her hills
'Cause she knows who I am
She sees my good deeds
And she kisses me windy
I never worry
Now that is a lie
I don't ever want to feel
Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all the way
It's hard to believe
That there's nobody out there
It's hard to believe
That I'm all alone
At least I have her love
The city she loves me
Lonely as I am
Together we cry
I don't ever want to feel
Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all that way
Under the bridge downtown
Is where I drew some blood
Under the bridge downtown
I could not get enough
Under the bridge downtown
Forgot about my love
Under the bridge downtown
I gave my life away
song performed by by Red Hot Chili Peppers from Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Chicago Fire
On October 8th at 9 pm a fire flared from O’Leary’s farm,
In the city of Chicago, fires from hell raged at 9: 40 am when someone pulled the alarm,
Firefighters were sent out to the left when the fires flared to the right,
One flame caught onto another where screams were heard from fright,
The fires spread to houses and sheds from superheated winds,
Winds so powerful it burned through human skin,
From the West of the Chicago River it burned down the local church,
The house of God lit up in flames that in rapid pace flared and lurched,
Until it swarmed southbound to the branch of the river,
Reality was hell on earth the devastation it delivered,
With firewood packed closely next to wooden buildings the storm never calmed,
From Sunday night through Monday morning hell raged fury in napalm,
The flame got bigger and spread across the land,
While the city burned hundreds fell into the fire that ran,
A catastrophe that will forever scar Chicago land,
Fires that grabbed hundreds of innocent lives from hells hand,
Embers from the fire flooded the city streets,
Burned down buildings, houses, and the grounds beneath,
Hell on Earth the fires burned everything in sight,
The sky burned above fires that lit the night,
Firefighters tried to wash it away but couldn’t,
A natural disaster from hell that could cease but wouldn’t,
For two days the Chicago land was lit in flames,
The Great Chicago fire that destroyed the city and took names,
It was until later Monday night that drizzles from the tears in sky calmed the storm,
The beautiful Chicago city to destruction and ruin was the aftermath of transform,
The causalities claimed about 300 lives,
Where fires caught the 300 in a natural disaster comprised,
Never will Chicago forget the flames the scourged the land,
A false tale of a cow kicking over a lantern from the barn that was a scam,
The lives that ate the superheated winds when they ran,
Never will Chicago forget when hell won over the 300 lives of man.
poem by Kurt Kacich
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City Boy Blues
Fireflies in dogfights
Runnin hot in the heat
Street noise, another bribe
Things too hard to believe--so head out
My hearts in the country
My feets in the city with you
All my friends are eatin sushi
Talkin bad about you know who-who-who
My tongues talkin riddles
But I just cant seem to find a clue
So I take a swig of whiskey
And jump into the saddle with you-you-you
And I just cant seem to break the shackles of the city boy blues
I got the city boy blues
I got the city boy blues
I got the city boy blues
I got the city boy blues
And I just cant seem to break the shackles of the city boy blues
Cats in the alley
Rats in my snakeskin boots
All my neighbors think Im crazy
And my girl thinks Im losin my cool-cool-cool
And I just cant seem to break the shackles of the city boy blues
I got the city boy blues
I got the city boy blues
I got the city boy blues
I got the city boy blues
And I just cant seem to break the shackles of the city boy blues
Dont look to jesus to change your seasons
Its the american dream
Souls of gypsies, road of stone
Cant seem to find no peace--so head out
And I just cant seem to break the shackles of the city boy blues
And I just cant seem to break the shackles of the city boy blues
I got the blues, I got the blues, got the city boy blues
And I just cant seem to break the shackles of the city boy blues
And I just cant seem to break the shackles of the city boy blues
And I just cant seem to break the shackles of the city boy blues
I got the blues, I got the blues,
I got the blues, I got the blues
I got the blues, I got the blues,
I got the blues, I got the blues
song performed by by Motley Crue
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Chicago Samba
I live in chicago
A very windy city
But tonight I will dance the Chicago samba
Once again
But when I dance the chicago blues
I sweat like crazy
And I feel like a kid again
But when I hear the chicago samba being played by the local musiciams
In the streets of chicago I get very excited
Because I know that their music cam be heard also from faraway
And bring me back memories of home
poem by Aldo Kraas
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Spiders
Spiders are singing in the salty breeze
Spiders are filling out tax returns
Spinning out webs of deductions and melodies
On a private beach in Michigan
Why can't they wish their kisses good
Why do they miss when their kisses should
Fly like winging birds fighting for the keys
On a private beach in Michigan
This recent rash of kidsmoke
All these telescopic poems
It's good to be alone
Why can't they say what they want
Why can't they just say what they mean
Come clean, listen and talk
Hello private callers, IDs blocked
The sun will rise, we'll climb into cars
The future has a valley and a shortcut around
Who will wear the crown of drowning award
Hold a private light on a Michigan shore
You fool me with a kiss of kidsmoke
From a microscopic home
It's good to be alone
I'll be in my bed
You can be the stone
That raises from the dead
And carries us all home
There's no blood on my hands
I just do as I am told
song performed by by Wilco
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cabin on Loon Lake
INTERIOR kitchen of rustic cabin
in remote region of northern Michigan
wind howling snow swirling visible
through small window at left
Disheveled man sits at makeshift desk
sorting through stacks of paper
Angular woman leans against iron sink
smoking cigarette after cigarette
MAN> You use the checkbook?
Woman looks around room, smiling.
She gestures toward a cabinet against the wall.
WOMAN> There's some Wheaties in the cupboard.
Man looks startled as he rises to his feet
MAN> You know what I'm saying?
Woman stubs out cigarette in a chipped coffee cup.
She fishes out another from the pack in her shirt pocket.
Man comes around desk and hands her a folded sheet.
Woman unfolds paper and studies it.
WOMAN> This is just plain crazy.
Man turns to desk and unrolls a length of blueprint.
He smooths it and points at the center of the sheet.
WOMAN> I like it.
CURTAIN
poem by Michael Pruchnicki
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Need-a-man Blues
Another monday morning
Another five day week ahead
Such a lonely weekend
Sleeping in a half filled bed
Got those need-a-man blues
I need a man so bad
Got those need-a-man blues
And its driving me mad
All the evening people
Dressing up just to get undressed
And me Im stuck at home
Losing more and gaining less
Got those need-a-man blues
I need a man so bad
Got those need-a-man blues
And its driving me mad
Emptiness inside
Empty as a glass in my hand
Whisky friend of mine
Help me make it easy without
Got those need-a-man blues
I need a man so bad
Got those need-a-man blues
And its driving me mad
Baby baby baby
Goes the singer on my hi-fi
Honey honey honey
My reply
Got those need-a-man blues
I need a man so bad
Got those need-a-man blues
And its driving me mad
Emptiness inside
Empty as a glass in my hand
Whisky friend of mine
Help me make it easy without
Got those need-a-man blues
I need a man so bad
Got those need-a-man blues
And its driving me mad
Another monday morning
Another five day week ahead
Such a lonely weekend
Sleeping in a half filled bed
Got those need-a-man blues
I need a man so bad
Got those need-a-man blues
And its driving me mad
song performed by by Donna Summer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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No Vacation From The Blues
(Gary Rossington, Travis Tritt)
I took some time down by the ocean
Just to try and shake the notion
That my world could not continue without you
So I took a long vacation
Traveled all around the nation
Trying hard to rearrange my point of view
I went from Birmingham all the way to Boulder
And when I looked over my shoulder
All I could see was your sweet face shining though
And no matter how hard I try
To fight off the urge to cry
It seems there ain't no vacation from the blues
And I can run but I can't hide
From the pain I feel inside
And there's no one but myself left to accuse
So with all these bridges burned
There's no pages left to turn
And there ain't no vacation from the blues
Baby, don't misunderstand me
I'm not playing any games
I'm trying to find a rainbow
But I can't find it for the rain
So with all these bridges burned
There's no pages left to turn
And there ain't no vacation
Said there ain't no vacation
Said there ain't no vacation
From the blues
song performed by by Travis Tritt
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Welcome To The Chicago Commercial Club
January 14, 1880
CHICAGO sounds rough to the maker of verse;
One comfort we have--Cincinnati sounds worse;
If we only were licensed to say Chicago!
But Worcester and Webster won't let us, you know.
No matter, we songsters must sing as we can;
We can make some nice couplets with Lake Michigan,
And what more resembles a nightingale's voice,
Than the oily trisyllable, sweet Illinois?
Your waters are fresh, while our harbor is salt,
But we know you can't help it--it is n't your fault;
Our city is old and your city is new,
But the railroad men tell us we're greener than you.
You have seen our gilt dome, and no doubt you've been told
That the orbs of the universe round it are rolled;
But I'll own it to you, and I ought to know best,
That this is n't quite true of all stars of the West.
You'll go to Mount Auburn,--we'll show you the track,--
And can stay there,--unless you prefer to come back;
And Bunker's tall shaft you can climb if you will,
But you'll puff like a paragraph praising a pill.
You must see--but you have seen--our old Faneuil Hall,
Our churches, our school-rooms, our sample-rooms, all;
And, perhaps, though the idiots must have their jokes,
You have found our good people much like other folks.
There are cities by rivers, by lakes, and by seas,
Each as full of itself as a cheese-mite of cheese;
And a city will brag as a game-cock will crow
Don't your cockerels at home--just a little, you know?
But we'll crow for you now--here's a health to the boys,
Men, maidens, and matrons of fair Illinois,
And the rainbow of friendship that arches its span
From the green of the sea to the blue Michigan!
poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes
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In Michigan
Well my mother rolled over and died in michigan
My dog got hit by a truck and I cried in michigan
I got drunk and puked up my guts in michigan
But Im alright, Im alright, Im alright, Im alright
And man Im riding here tonight in michigan
I ran a race and came in dead last in michigan
Yeah, I shot myself in the ass in michigan
I was lookin for someplace to feel free but they busted my for just
Being me in michigan
But alright, its alright, its alright, its alright
And baby Im riding high tonight in michigan
I ran into a little bad luck in michigan
I met a woman ? ? ?
Baby Im running late but you got here one hell of a state
In michigan
Oh michigan
This song has been played in a few towns in the us, each time the
Title has been changed and some of the lyrics as well.
(gotj tour)
song performed by by Bruce Springsteen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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