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Artist: Joni Mitchell

Released: 1970

Lyrical Relic: DDT

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that DDT now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!

Full lyrics

Joni Mitchell wrote “Big Yellow Taxi” on her first trip to Hawaii. The story goes that the first morning she woke up in her hotel, she opened the curtains and saw beautiful green mountains in the distance. But when she glanced down, she was dismayed to only see a huge parking lot. Not sure why she was so surprised: she was staying at a massive “pink hotel” (supposedly the Royal Hawaiian) in urban Honolulu, which has the highest population density in the state. If she had instead visited some of the other 90% of Hawaii that is classified as “rural”, this song may have never been written.

This environmental anthem mostly still rings true today, as we have never ceased in transforming our natural world into concrete. What has changed, however, is our use of DDT. At the time that Joni wrote this song,  DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichlorethane) was a widely used pesticide in the US.

DDT was the first of the modern synthetic insecticides developed in the 1940s. Initially, it was used by the military in WW II to control insect-borne diseases like malaria. Farmers soon began to use it on their crops because it was effective, relatively inexpensive, and long-lasting. It was also used indoors as a form of pest control.

Rachel Carson’s classic 1962 book Silent Spring raised major public concern about the harmful effects of DDT on living things, especially predator birds. In 1972, the US banned the use of DDT. Joni’s native Canada banned it two years later. Some developing countries still use DDT to control mosquitoes that spread malaria, a practice that continues to spark debate. Today, DDT is classified as a probable human carcinogen by US and international authorities. 

The farmer may have taken away the DDT, but because it is so stable and lasts a long time in the environment, its threat may persist for decades later. In 2019, researchers found “concerning” levels of DDT in remote lakes in north-central New Brunswick.

BONUS LYRICAL RELIC: “A dollar and a half” to see the trees in the tree museum

They took all the trees
Put 'em in a tree museum 
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em

The tree museum refers to the Foster Botanical Garden in downtown Honolulu. It’s the oldest of the Honolulu Botanical Gardens and includes several endangered historic trees. The cost of admission today is $5 for adults ($3 for Hawaii residents). Amy Grant’s 1994 cover version of “Big Yellow Taxi” overinflated the cost to “25 bucks”, so you’re still getting a fairly good deal!

Sources:

https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/ddt-brief-history-and-status

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/ddtgen.pdf

Artist: Tom T. Hall

Released: 1972

Lyrical Relic: The Carson show

Oh, his fame was universal, he was on the Carson show
People talked about him kindly everywhere he'd go
His insight was amazing, his philosophy was fair
He became a politician welcome everywhere

Imagine an American president capable of achieving world peace. Someone who doesn’t lie or deceive people. Tom T. Hall dreamed of such a leader and it’s a monkey. No, not the baboon that served as the 45th president. An actual, swinging through-the-trees primate. If this is the ideal for an American President back in the early 70s, I’d say public regard for the government has been historically rather low.

As it was, Tom was just about to live through an episode of serious presidential wrongdoing: the Watergate scandal. The song was released on June 19, 1972. Just two days earlier, there was a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, located in the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C. President Richard Nixon’s Republican administration tried to cover up their involvement in the break-in. The scandal that ensued ultimately led to Nixon resigning on August 9, 1974.

Tom’s imaginary president was so popular, he got to appear on the Carson show. Formally known as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, this late-night talk show was hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC. It ran from 1962 to 1992, and is credited with establishing the modern format of the late-night talk show. Carson’s ratings remain the highest in the history of late night television (which begs the question: how come such a likeable guy never considered running for president?)

Over the course of his 30 years at the helm of The Tonight Show, Carson interviewed thousands of personalities, including Mr. Nixon, as well as and impressive array of monkeys.

Artist: Sam Cooke

Released: 1962

Lyrical Relic: Gay [meaning happy and full of fun]

Let me tell you 'bout a place
Somewhere up a New York way
Where the people are so gay
Twistin' the night away

Were there gay nightclubs in New York in 1962? Yes. Was Sam Cooke referring to one of these establishments in his 1962 hit song? Highly unlikely. At the time, it was illegal for gay people to twist the night away together– or to dance together in any form — in New York. In 1962, it was a crime to display your homosexuality in public (not sure what that means…not concealing that big rainbow birthmark on your forehead?). It was also illegal for bars to serve alcohol to gay patrons. As a result, gay bars were forced underground to escape police and, ironically, it was the Mafia that ended up owning and operating many of these clandestine bars.

In 1962, “gay” was still widely understood as being a word that meant happy, lighthearted, carefree. This definition dates back to the 13th century. You’ll still find these definitions listed in dictionaries, but they’re qualified with labels such as “old-fashioned” or “dated.” However, the etymology of the word reveals that “gay” did have sexual connotations dating back to the 17th century. Ironically, a gay woman was a prostitute, a gay man was a womanizer, and a gay house was a brothel. It would not be until the 1960s that the word started to pick up steam in mainstream culture as as an adjective to describe homosexual men.

“Twisting the Night Away” has been covered a few times over the years. Twenty-three years after Cooke’s release, the song was finally given its overdue rainbow treatment when it was recorded by the drag queen Divine (more famously known for his over-the-top acting in John Waters films than his underwhelming musical career).

Sources

https://kimon.hosting.nyu.edu/sites/queering-the-web/2019/05/18/private-and-public-gay-bars-in-new-york-city-before-1970s/

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/gay

Artist: Kenny Loggins

Released: 1984

Lyrical relic: Punch card

Been working so hard
I'm punching my card
Eight hours, for what?
Oh, tell me what I got

Full lyrics

What you got is angst, Kenny. We can feel it.

If you were punching a card back in ’84, it was likely that you were working for the man. The card that Kenny is referring to was a punch card. You’d insert it into a punch card machine (also known as a time card machine) which would record the time you entered (punched in) and exited (punched out) the workplace.

Williard Le Grand Bundy invented the punch time clock back in 1888. Those that value the system claim that it ensures fairness for both employers and employees: it offers documented proof that employees got paid for the exact amount of time that they worked and, likewise, employers only shelled out for the exact amount of time worked.

Mechanical time card machines are still being used, but for the most part have been replaced by digital solutions. Today, employees can use their smartphones to clock in with apps like Clockify.

Sounds like Kenny was being an honest employee, working his requisite eight hours and punching his own card. However, the punch card system was susceptible to fraudulent behaviour, such as “buddy-punching,” in which one employee records time for a secretly absent colleague. Today, this kind of deceit can be thwarted with sophisticated biometric systems that use fingerprint and iris recognition to identify and register employees. Thanks technology! Turns out it probably was a lot easier to be footloose back in 1984.

Sources:

https://nationaltoday.com/punch-the-clock-day/#how-to

Artist: Rupert Holmes

Released: 1979

Lyrical relic: Answering Machine

A little while ago I went and placed a call
To tell this girl I know that she could have it all
The wedding, the ring, the whole darn thing, I was willing to tie the knot
So I called her up, and this is the answer I got:

"I'm so sorry you have just reached my answering machine,
I'm not in at present, I'm sure you know the whole routine.
Leave your name and number, and I'll try to get back to you;
You have 30 seconds to talk to me before you're through."

Rupert Holmes is best known as a one-hit-wonder for his song “Escape (The Pina Colada Song),” profiled on this site for its lyrical relic, the newspaper personal ad. In Answering Machine, Rupert has gifted us with yet another relic, the titular answering machine.

There was a time before our smartphones were glued to our sides . This was a time when it was quite plausible that you couldn’t get to your phone to answer your call. For example, when you left your house it was not technically possible to take your phone with you…because it was attached to the wall. The landline tethered our telecommunications in a way that you may or may not interpret as liberating.

Similarly, the answering machine is a physical device that is attached to your landline phone. It’s a machine that “answers” calls if you didn’t pick up the phone after a predetermined number of rings. When the machine was activated, it played either a generic greeting or a message that you customized. Then there was a beep indicating that it was time for your caller to record their message back to you. In reality it was more shrill and jarring than the inoffensive beep you’ll hear in this song!

The answering machine was our first foray into call screening. There needn’t be any more surprises when picking up the phone. We could let the machine take the call and listen to who was leaving the message, before deciding whether or not to be “indispensable” for the moment.

But in reality, the answering machine was ushering in the new era of being accessible at all times. It was just a stand-in for a real person…if you can’t talk to me, you can talk to my machine.

The answering was the physical manifestation of voicemail. I remember the slight thrill of seeing the red light flashing on my answering machine that signalled that I had a message. Flash forward to today, when you’re more likely to cringe when you see a voicemail notification. On average, Americans check their phones 344 times per day (or once every 4 minutes!), but it’s not voicemail that they’re hoping to see! Checking voicemail is considered more or less a chore and replying to one even more so.

Not surprisingly, another recent survey confirms that we’d rather communicate via text or instant messaging (41%) than a phone call (24%). For millennials, the number is even higher, with 53% preferring messaging over calling. As such, it’s not uncommon to hear a voicemail greeting that tells you “I don’t check voicemail regularly so don’t leave a message- please text or email”. Translated into clear language, the message is: I don’t want to talk to you.

The answering machine dates back to 1935. Its evolution has passed through several iterations of of recording technology including vinyl record, reel-to-reel tape, cassette tape and magnetic

People tended to have a lot more fun with their outgoing message in the past. Maybe because it was still considered a novelty. Have a listen at some of the more amusing messages of yesteryear at noveltyansweringmachine.com

Artist: Tom T. Hall

Year Released: 1971

Lyrical relic: Phone book

A mammoth of a publication, the phone book was well used in its day both as a vital source of contact information, as well as a makeshift booster seat for the vertically challenged! It existed in the form of “White pages” for residential listings and Yellow Pages for business listings. The Yellow Pages have managed to get the advertising dollars to still get published and distributed to ambivilent residents (at least where I live), but the White pages were fated to the relics of history.

The first phone book is believed to have been published in February 1878, less than two years after the invention of the phone. It was for New Haven Connecticut, home of the first commercially available phone service, and it listed 50 names (no numbers). It was not technically a book, just a sheet of paper. The first “book” came out later that year in November and had grown to include 391 names. A copy of this book sold at auction in 2008 for $170,500 USD.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-telephone-book-had-fifty-listings-and-no-numbers-180962173/

Now we need to talk about Shirley, because I almost considered making her the lyrical relic. When was the last time you met a kid name Shirley? Not trending among popular names for new humans. There were a scant 104 new Shirleys born in the US in 2021, according to the most recent available data on Social Security card applications. The name had its heyday in 1935 , with 42,357 new Shirleys registered (the second most popular name, after Mary). Not so coincidentally, 1935 was the year that child actor Shirley Temple became Hollywood’s top box-office attraction.

When Tulsa Telephone Book was released in 1971, Shirley ranked #193 in the list of baby names.

Sources:

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/limits.html

Artist:  Procul Harum

Released: 1975

Lyrical relic: Typewriter

Typewriter torment, dreadful disease
Caught it the first day day I touched the keys

After silently typing “typewriter” into Google, the top question I see that people search for is “Does the typewriter still exist?”

Yes, it does. But you’re not likely to own and use one today (unless you’re Tom Hanks – he’s been collecting them since he was a teenager and reportedly has about 250 of them). Typewriters, once an essential fixture of just about every office (and many homes), began their phase out in the 1980s. 

Merriam-Webster defines a typewriter as “a machine for writing in characters similar to those produced by printer’s type by means of keyboard-operated types striking a ribbon to transfer ink or carbon impressions onto the paper.”

Today, there’s a certain irony to the lyrics of “Typewriter Torment”. It would be torment for most of us to be relegated to the slow, heavy and noisy typing of the typewriter of yesteryear. No copy/paste. No spell-check.  No easy deletion of what you are committing to paper. No easy escape into the Web of endless distractions.   

Typewriter fever gives birth to a flood
Sweeps through your body, curdles your blood
You curse and discurse but you're damned for all time
The moment your fingers give birth to a rhyme, again

But the torment in this song is referring to the joys of typewriting. The typewriter had addictive properties, leading to the composition of many successful lyrics for Procul Harum.

Why can't my doctor just say that I'm ill?  
Typewriter fever is paying his bill

The allure of the typewriter is undeniable. The typewriter celebrates writing in its purest form. Words are transposed to paper, instantly. No built-in distractions. No reliance on electricity. Typewriting is a true tactile experience, clickety clack included. A truly romantic image emerges from the lyric, “The moment your fingers give birth to a rhyme.”

Few could argue that today’s computers, laptops and smartphones are works of art. But it’s easy to appreciate the aesthetic value of the typewriters. Just peruse Smith Corona’s Typewriter Museum  to see some beautiful specimens of engineering.

Although it’s no longer the major player it once was, the typewriter still has a loyal fanbase. Blogs such as The Typewriter Revolution are a testament to the enduring love that many typewriter enthusiasts have for the machine and their desire to keep them alive.

  

Artist:  Hank Thompson

Released: 1961

Lyrical relic:  Faded photograph

Just an old faded photograph of you
One I always will treasure more than gold
It keeps reminding me of bygone times dear
A keepsake of a love that won't grow old

Full lyrics

Back in 1964, poor old Hank was pining away for his lost love with an old faded photo. When was the last time you held a printed photo, faded or otherwise? The “bygone times” he is lamenting seem even more bygone in 2023.

The digital photos that we now produce en masse, without much thought, were about 3 decades away. The first consumer digital cameras only came into being in the late 1990s. And it would not be until 1999 that the first camera phone (the Kyocera VP-210) became available. 

Yes, people still print photos. You can even whip off some decent looking prints at home if you have a good printer. And still, digital prints are not immune to fading. Fading is ultimately determined by the paper, ink/dye used and how the print is stored – regardless of the medium used. It’s the advances in dyes and paper quality over time that has led to the more enduring prints we can produce today. The ink jet dyes used today are very stable and typically can last 100 years or more.

Still, the fading photo aptly serves as a metaphor for the gradual fading of a memory – one that can’t be matched by today’s digital technology. The crisp digital image you see on your screen will theoretically last forever. Your only option is the sudden and complete obliteration of a digital image via the delete key.

If Hank was still around today, I’m sure he would be thrilled to learn that digital photo restoration services were widely available to scan his faded photograph and bring it back to its original glory.

Sources

http://www.dp3project.org/deterioration/fade

https://www.shutterbug.com/content/how-long-will-your-digital-prints-lastbryou-may-be-surprised-page-2

Artist: The Kinks

Released: 1966

Lyrical Relic: Party line

It seems rather gimmicky to have a song start with the sound of a telephone ringing; that’s probably why they are far and few between. Blondie’s ” Hanging on the Phone” and Ratt’s “Got Me on the Line” are two that may come to mind, but The Kinks’ intro to “Party Line” nails the classic ring to a T. Before today’s seemingly endless plethora of ringtones, ALL telephones used to ring like the one that opens this song, a rather shrill drring-drring. Although this sound is not technically a lyrical relic, I’d be remiss not to point it out.

Now let’s connect to The Kinks’ party line…

Hello, who's that speaking, please?

I'm on a party line
Wonderin' all the time
Who's on the other end?
Is she big, is she small?
Is she a she at all?
Who's on my party line?

Back in the early days of residential phone service, having your own private phone line was cost restrictive for many; sharing a party line with others was a more affordable option, particularly in rural areas. The party line was a line serving two or more subscribers, with only one subscriber being able to use it at a time.

Anyone who shared the party line could listen in on any call if they wanted to. If you recognized who was talking, the party line would make for interesting eavesdropping and provide much fodder for gossip. And if you didn’t know who was talking, it could be equally, if not more, intriguing, as the mystery lady in this song proves to be (although it questioned whether or not it is in fact a woman).

Privacy was never guaranteed on a party line…

I can't speak without an interception
This is private, please get off my line
Please tell me when I can have my privacy
I'd like to meet the girl who's always talking
When I'm speaking on my party line

Aside from the threat of eavesdropping, you also had to contend with other callers hogging the phone line, as well as people forgetting to replace their receiver when they finished a call, thus preventing anyone else from using the line. Not surprisingly, appeals to common courtesy would often appear in newspaper ads.

A challenge arose if you wanted to call someone who shared the same party line as you. You had to dial their number, hang up and then wait and guess when you thought they may have picked up their phone. At that point, you’d pick up the phone again with a “hello?”. Maybe they’d be there, maybe they wouldn’t.

Party lines stuck around until the 80s. That was the decade in which the concept of the “party line” morphed into something a little different, a precursor of sorts to the modern Internet chat room. These party chat lines were commercial ventures that enticed bored and/or lonely folks, particularly teens, to connect and flirt with strangers over the phone and rack up expensive phone charges in the process. A full-fledged party could finally be had on a party line.

Sources
https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2017/04/telephone-history-party-lines-were-once-high-entertainment.html

‘

Artist: Jim Croce

Released: 1972

Lyrical Relic: Telephone operator

Operator, oh, could you help me place this call?
See the number on the matchbook is old and faded
She's living in L.A.
With my best old ex-friend, Ray

If you wanted to track down a lost love in the pre-Internet era, your options were somewhat limited. You mainly had to rely on phone books and directory assistance. Poor Jim — his girl went off and left him for his best friend. He wants to call her, to prove that he’s OK about everything (which he later reveals isn’t really the case!) but he needs some help because the  phone number he has has faded and is now illegible. Enter the friendly phone operator. And eureka – she found it for him! (I’m assuming it’s a “she” because male operators had always been a rarity)

“Oh, you’ve been so much more than kind” he tells the operator.  Well, she’s really just doing her job… but Jim is appreciative nonetheless. Maybe he knows how stressful her job is (in a recent ranking of the most stressful jobs in America, Telephone Operator rang in at #5 (that’s out of 873 jobs!)

In the end, however, Jim decides not to connect with his old flame. Did he think it would be too painful? Did he decide that she’s not really worth it?  In any case, he tells the operator that she can “keep the dime”, because that’s all a phone call cost back then.  However, since a caller was never not charged for the call unless the requested party was reached, it’s a moot point. 

Today if Jim called directory assistance, he’d likely be talking to a machine that uses voice-recognition. And the likelihood of getting that elusive phone number would be small because the database is comprised almost exclusively of landline numbers  (only about a third of American households still have a landlines) https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/wireless202102-508.pdf

https://www.onetonline.org/link/details/43-2021.00

According to The Occupational Information Network, there were about 4000 telpephone operators. They had always played an important role in handling emergeny calls as well as helping the elderly, children and those with physical disabilities make calls.

May handle emergency calls and assist children or people with physical disabilities to make telephone calls.

Modern-day Jim Croce could still rely on his trusty phone but it would have to be a smartphone. Just Google that gal’s name and a plethora of options for connecting with her before unfold before him…More than half of the world now uses social media, so he’s more than likely to find some heartbreakingly happy pics of her and Ray : (   

Sources

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/wireless202102-508.pdf

Global social media statistics research summary 2022