When I called you last night from Glasgow... －昨夜、グラスゴーからあなたに電話した時－

Has your home town ever been mentioned in a famous song?  If you are from a big city like London or New York or Tokyo, of course, your city will have been mentioned in many different songs.  Songwriters will mention it to look cool.

As one small example, a band from my home town of Glasgow have a song called “I’m a cuckoo.”  They sing, “I’d rather be in Tokyo./ I’d rather listen to Thin Lizzie-o/ And watch the Sunday gang in Harajuku.  There’s something wrong with me./  I’m a cuckoo.”  Pretty cool, huh?

But if you’re from a smaller town or an industrial area then it might be harder work trying to find a mention of where you were born.  There might be some songs about your town, but not many which are famous outside of it.

There is one very famous song which mentions Glasgow.  I’ll bet even if you don’t listen to much music that you have heard of Abba?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t make Glasgow sound so cool.  The song is about a successful singer who is tired of travelling around the world performing.  She calls her lover from Glasgow because she is so tired and wants to come home.  It sounds like Glasgow is making her depressed, like she is stuck at the end of the world.  She could be singing, “I was feeling tired and all alone/ When I called you last night from Timbuktu.”

Are Abba insulting my home town?  Have a listen and decide for yourself.  I’ll include the lyrics below and a cover version of the song by the Glasgow band Camera Obscura.  They play the song quite slowly and it’s easy to catch the lyrics. 

 

I was sick and tired of everything
When I called you last night from Glasgow
All I do is eat and sleep and sing
Wishing every show was the last show

I was glad to hear you're coming
Suddenly I feel all right
And I know I'll feel so different
When we're on the stage tonight

Super Trouper lights are gonna blind me
Shining like the sun
Smiling, having fun
Feeling like a number one

Facing twenty thousand of my friends
How can anyone feel so lonely
Part of a success that never ends
Still I'm thinking about you only
There are times when I think I'm going crazy
But I'm gonna be all right
And I know I'll feel so different
When we're on the stage tonight

Super Trouper lights are gonna find me
Shining like the sun
Smiling, having fun
Feeling like a number one
Super Trouper beams are gonna blind me
But I won't feel blue
Like I always do
'Cause somewhere in the crowd there's you
 

So I'll be there when you arrive
The sight of you will prove to me I'm still alive
And when you take me in your arms
And hold me tight
I know I'm gonna feel so good tonight

(chorus)
 

Vocabulary:

A cuckoo – A kind of bird.  It is famous for stealing other birds’ nests.

Thin Lizzie – The name of a rock band from the 1970s.

Timbuktu – The name of a town in Mali in Africa.  English speakers often use it as an example of somewhere very far away.

Super Trooper – I’m not sure that this has any meaning.  A trooper is a kind of soldier.  Maybe the singer feels she is working hard like a soldier.