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Soul Coughing — Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago
Album: Ruby Vroom
Avg rating:
5.4

Your rating:
Total ratings: 245









Released: 1994
Length: 3:47
Plays (last 30 days): 0
A man drives a plane into the Chrysler Building...
A man drives a plane into the Chrysler Building...

Saskatoon is in the room...
Poulsbo is in the room...
Bennetsville is in the room...
Palmyra is in the room...

Is Chicago! Is not Chicago!
Is Chicago! Is not Chicago!

A man cuts in half just like he snaps a pencil...
A man cuts in half just like he snaps a pencil...

Khartoum is in the room...
Phnom Penh is in the room...
Pyongyang is in the room...
Cairo is in the room...

Is Chicago! Is not Chicago!
Is Chicago! Is not Chicago!

A man drives a plane into the Chrysler Building...
A man drives a plane into the Chrysler Building...
Comments (70)add comment
hippiechick wrote:
BTW, it seems this group complains about mainstream music, but then also complains about something innovative and different. Hmmm, could it be they just like to complain.
Aw, quitchyer complaining already.
Is this song about Cory Lidle?
sweet, soul coughing! thanks!
Mike + Doughty = not good. (I'm a math major)
hippiechick wrote:
Chrysler building...not Chicago. BTW, it seems this group complains about mainstream music, but then also complains about something innovative and different. Hmmm, could it be they just like to complain.
This group tends to like great music, no matter what it is and bitches about when the music isn't great. Not to mention, being that this station is crazy eclectic the listener base is also crazy eclectic. Most people on here really enjoy 60% of whats played, tollerate 35% and really hate another 5%. Might not sound great, but still beats the hell out of just about everything else out there.
bobrk wrote:
This song is very excellent, in fact, I'm bumping it up to Outstanding.
That should compensate for the 1 I gave it. This song is the *WORST* piece of trash I've heard.
wow quite a dichotomus opinion here. I'll give another listen....I usually need that with S.C. but they grow on me like warts..funny looking and hard to get off. Is Mike Doughty a seer? ...plane into the Crysler Building...
Significantly better than anything else I've heard from them, but that really doesn't say much. Solid 3.
dmax wrote:
Saskatoon is in the room! More more more!!!!
YES! more more more!!!! (saskatoon was a nickname for me, once)
one of the better 'just under the radar' mid-90s albums... in my humble opinion of course! definitely an acquired taste though.
This is not the worst song of all time. But it is close.
hippiechick wrote:
Chrysler building...not Chicago. BTW, it seems this group complains about mainstream music, but then also complains about something innovative and different. Hmmm, could it be they just like to complain.
We've got a building that kinda looks like the Chrysler buliding though.
Wow this is the most hated song I have seen on here. It's better than some I have heard, it is pretentious, but not 3 bad. I'll go 6.
hippiechick wrote:
Chrysler building...not Chicago. BTW, it seems this group complains about mainstream music, but then also complains about something innovative and different. Hmmm, could it be they just like to complain.
Different isn't always better. If the X-Men were real, there would be X-Men who were, for instance, super talented at growing underarm hair. Different. But not better. Just like this ''song.''
For the first listening, I'd say it's pretentious crap. However, I'll give them another chance. One day.
I like the music...it's his voice that is grating.
This song Mike Doughty's solo stuff
Mike Doughty's new stuff is MUCh MUCH better than this...check it out.
Chrysler building...not Chicago. BTW, it seems this group complains about mainstream music, but then also complains about something innovative and different. Hmmm, could it be they just like to complain.
Cool stuff, very beatnik/rap/jazz poet stuff...Great bass playing....
Da da da. Just Kant get into this one, sorry.
Stunningly awful.
ehhh.
Seen them live four times. And if your wondering, they always sounded awesome. What was really cool was seeing Mark De Gli Antoni play all of those samples and board parts live.
as the little rating graph depicts... most people either love Soul Coughing, or hate 'em. I, for one, love 'em, and this album is a Top 10 for me. The best Soul Coughing track for me is True Dreams of Wichita... thanks for playing these guys and Mike Doughty's solo stuff RP!! much respect!
Daveinbawlmer wrote:
This shit just gets on my nerves.
This song is very excellent, in fact, I'm bumping it up to Outstanding.
damn this website is da bomb. i thought KEXP.ORG in Seattle was the only good internet radio station. they have more alternative programming but these guys definitely know what they're doing. and this website is great. and oh yeah Soul Coughing rules.
This shit just gets on my nerves.
Govi wrote:
It's just good jazz, with a nice rolling beat maintained by the bassist. Interesting singing. Way cool.
This is not jazz. Even though the term "jazz" has some stretch, it also has limits.
Driving a Chrysler building.. or driving into the Chrysler building.... OH yes... drives a plane... He needs to share whatever he is on... Mom should have taught him that..
It's just good jazz, with a nice rolling beat maintained by the bassist. Interesting singing. Way cool.
wondertoofar wrote:
Yeah but since it't the Chrysler building you drive it. I guess anyway. Still sucks as a song. I would be interested to find out whether this song was written before or after 9/11. I don't mean recorded or released , I mean written. If it was post 9/11 not only does the song suck but this idiot is making bank on allot of other's misery in which case his soul should be coughing and expiring soon. BTW that's a lousy name for band too. Now, anything redeeming about this band. Haven't heard it yet.
This band is awesome and incredibly unique. This is their first album, it came out in 1994, so no need to get hysterical about 9/11.
wondertoofar wrote:
Yeah but since it't the Chrysler building you drive it. I guess anyway. Still sucks as a song. I would be interested to find out whether this song was written before or after 9/11. I don't mean recorded or released , I mean written. If it was post 9/11 not only does the song suck but this idiot is making bank on allot of other's misery in which case his soul should be coughing and expiring soon. BTW that's a lousy name for band too. Now, anything redeeming about this band. Haven't heard it yet.
Album was released in 1994. No idea when the song was written, but logic would dictate.... you get the picture.
Not one of Soul Coughing's best efforts.
This guy did so much LSD that I get trippy just listening to the song. Anyone want to lick the CD and report the results to the group?
Yééé! One of my favorite (dead) bands!
Well, guess it was before. As Emily used to say, "Never Mind".
gadfly wrote:
just would love to see a man drive a plane into the chrysler building - I think you would have to FLY it-crap
Yeah but since it't the Chrysler building you drive it. I guess anyway. Still sucks as a song. I would be interested to find out whether this song was written before or after 9/11. I don't mean recorded or released , I mean written. If it was post 9/11 not only does the song suck but this idiot is making bank on allot of other's misery in which case his soul should be coughing and expiring soon. BTW that's a lousy name for band too. Now, anything redeeming about this band. Haven't heard it yet.
Odyzzeuz wrote:
This is painful.
Seriously .. just not good.
Reminds me of the summer after graduating college. Very good memories. I think we wore this disc out that summer. Interestingly can't stand his solo stuff.
This is painful.
I think you really have to hear this entire album to understand the vibe of this song...it's part of a larger picture /I dig it.
Great song. Good taste. I like good taste.
I love this entire album! When it came out I played it for weeks over and over.
Wow. There's a lot of bad feeling toward this one. It's not my cup o' tea, but it is different and tries out some new stuff. Velvet Underground did the same thing with experimental music. That being said, I still don't really care for this.
Soul Coughing runs hot and cold. Anyone who played Grand Turismo has them etched into their brain. Yet they come out with songs like this. Its not a good thing.
It makes about as much sense as tieing the song to the NY twin towers ... the CD was released in 1994. *shrug* Laurelia wrote:
I'm guessing that the supposed connection with Tolkien is that the name of his book "The Two Towers" is close to the NY twin towers. Tolkien's book has been known by that name since it was published in 1954. It's not "poor taste" to give the movie its proper name.
Bought this CD because I heard Screenwriter's Blues on RP. Big mistake. I found that one track to be the only remotely worthwhile track on the disc. Oh well. They can't all be winners.
physicsgenius wrote:
This is dumb. And in as poor taste as that Tolkein movie "The Two Towers".
I'm guessing that the supposed connection with Tolkien is that the name of his book "The Two Towers" is close to the NY twin towers. Tolkien's book has been known by that name since it was published in 1954. It's not "poor taste" to give the movie its proper name.
physicsgenius wrote:
This is dumb. And in as poor taste as that Tolkein movie "The Two Towers".
I agree that this song is weak, but what is the connection with Tolkein?
This is dumb. And in as poor taste as that Tolkein movie "The Two Towers".
good catch Pharmgirl! Also, from Wikipedia "frell (slang) fuck (e.g "Frelling fool!") "
rgj13 wrote:
You lost me at "frelled."
Refer to Farscape @ https://www.farscape.com/ Not a Sci-fi fan, are you?
lotus_65 wrote:
detroit. this was so cool in concert.
huh?
you said it annie. soul coughing should be called 'ass farting'. its all smelly hot air.
anniebear wrote:
dude, the first lyric is totally frelled up. This band and this lead singer just suck so hard. "A bad smell is in the room" indeed.
You lost me at "frelled."
dude, the first lyric is totally frelled up. This band and this lead singer just suck so hard. "A bad smell is in the room" indeed.
I had the opportunity to see them live at the Aragon (in Chicago) back in `97. Other than the fact that Digital Underground opened for them, they rocked (i.e they 'IS CHICAGO").
laozilover wrote:
The Chrysler Building is in NYC!
detroit. this was so cool in concert.
Dave Matthews covers this song. And well. As far as the Chrysler building, I'm betting he was talking about the Amoco Building.
The Chrysler Building is in NYC!
Jacques wrote:
Whoa... totally creepy... when was this penned? Great song though... the lyrics don't bother me at all, even if it is evocative of something quite terrible. We can't pretend it didn't happen simply because it did... can we? Cheers,Jacques Radio Paradise - What Radio Could Have Been
Creepy is right, I had this in my CD player on 9/11 and switched over to the radio on the way to work.
The song, written circa \'94, was described by the lead singer -- M. Doughty -- as the experience he had driving around Chicago, late at night, completely tripping on LSD. Apparently, he kept saying to himself \"Is Chicago\" to things he realized where real, and \"Is not Chicago\" about things that were LSD-fueled. I\'m not sure about the Chrystler Bldg reference, tho. Soul Coughing is the beez kneez! More pleez!
Whoa... totally creepy... when was this penned? Great song though... the lyrics don\'t bother me at all, even if it is evocative of something quite terrible. We can\'t pretend it didn\'t happen simply because it did... can we? Cheers,Jacques Radio Paradise - What Radio Could Have Been
Well it wasn\'t the Chrysler Building, but close enough. f*cking eerie. :(