We Built This City [On Rock an' Roll]

just the idea of going to a minor key and deciding that the line was 'Ma Coley plays the mamba' .. i need an oral history of this

I thought it was 'Marconi plays the mamba' (because it's followed by 'listen to the radio)? Though I guess that doesn't really make much more sense. Is there a person called Ma Coley?

I got a bunch of hoopla stuck to my shoe.

Also, a mamba is a snake.

The use of this song in the dead animal montage of Fall of the House of Usher was fantastic.

yeah i thought it was marconi!

it's Marconi. but it still doesn't make sense

Especially because he's playing a mamba.

a mamba can be an instrument, you can shake it and then emit a piercing yell when it bites the shit out of you

one of the all time great bullshit lines in pop history

xp That's metal

Thomas: Bernie didn’t say “mambo,” he said “mamba,” which is a snake. Marconi created the radio. Maybe Bernie meant to say “mambo.” Maybe it means: If you don’t like this music, some really angry snakes are gonna come out of the speakers. (...)

At one point I did start to sing “mambo,” to try and be more grammatically correct, and after a while I thought, “Fuck it,” and went back to “mamba.”

who knows what kinda weird shit marconi was into

people love to hate this song but I don't mind it. it's Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now that I hate

what's going on with the timing in the chorus? why does the second part of the refrain seem to slam into the first in a hilariously awkward way?

ultimately the song doesn't really hang together but it's trying its best and you have to respect that

Marconi played your mama
listen to the radio

Stuck a feather in his cap and called it marconi played the mamba

It's no "White Rabbit."

what's going on with the timing in the chorus? why does the second part of the refrain seem to slam into the first in a hilariously awkward way?

I might not be thinking of the same thing

at the time it was very punk

Police got the chokehold

we built this city, here's your invoice

https://dangerousminds.net/content/uploads/images/made/content/uploads/images/slicksynth1_465_471_int.jpg

Grace don't give two forks

Starship - We Built This City vs Jefferson Airplane - Planes

a popist and a malpropist

*mala

Speaking of punk, this reminds me of one of my favorite Creem moments. This guy otm. Kinda NSFW.

Speaking Of Boy Howdy!

https://gifer.com/en/BkdU

https://gifer.com/en/BkdU

what's going on with the timing in the chorus? why does the second part of the refrain seem to slam into the first in a hilariously awkward way?

This is the most clever bit in the song! They knew that it would be redundant to say the entire phrase "We built this city" four times in a row, so the third time they just say "built this city", but they sing "built" on the offbeat before the one where they usually sing "we", which keeps the chorus rolling nicely.

...before the one beat, that is.