The other day an old acquaintance from Europe was telling me how much she’d like to visit San Francisco because of this song by Train, which I might add was not the reason I originally came to San Francisco:
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And that’s when I realized that the first line mentions our dear neighborhood as a past lover:
I used to love The Tenderloin
’till I made some tender coin
then I met some ladies from Marin
The song is by no means about the Tenderloin specifically, but generally about San Francisco and it has some other amazing displays of poetic literature for the ages:
I never knew all that I had
Now Alcatraz don’t sound so bad
at least they’d have a hella fine merlot
But it made me wonder if there are many songs out there either about the Tenderloin or at least mentioning it in the lyrics and no, Scott McKenzie’s – “San Francisco” mentions little else beyond “flowers”, “hair”, and “wearing”. Anyone else know of any Loin lyrics?
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Belle and Sebastian, “Piazza, New York Catcher”
“We hung about the Tenderloin and tenderly you tell about the saddest book you ever read, it always makes you cry. The statue’s crying, too, and Willie Mays.”
“Tenderloin” by Rancid
Some I just found with a quick Google – Rancid: Tenderloin; Obo Martin: The Tenderloin Song.
Another vote for Rancid’s Tenderloin
“Realize you’re dehumanized
You critisize your existance
It’s your demise when no sun arise
When you’re paralized by your lack of resistance
She know she is
She knows she’s going
Down below where the fire’s glowing
Tenderloin Tenderloin Tenderloin
The tricks she gets them she’s not a victim
She makes a list of them and reads them all alone
For money she’s walking down on larkin’
In T.I. they’re rocking all night long”
[...] we didn’t have to lie about enjoying the tunes like we do about other groups from SF (hint: Train). It turned out that they’re really awesome and we found ourselves listening over and over to [...]