"My City Was Gone" | ||||
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Single by The Pretenders | ||||
from the album Learning to Crawl | ||||
A-side | "Back on the Chain Gang" | |||
Released | 17 September 1982 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 5:14 | |||
Label | Sire | |||
Songwriter(s) | Chrissie Hynde | |||
Producer(s) | Chris Thomas | |||
The Pretenders singles chronology | ||||
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"My City Was Gone" is a song by the rock group The Pretenders. The song originally appeared in October 1982 as the B-side to the single release of "Back on the Chain Gang"; [3] the single was the first release for the band following the death of founding bandmember James Honeyman-Scott. The song was included on the album Learning to Crawl , which was released in early 1984, and it became a radio favorite in the United States. It is sometimes referred to as "The Ohio Song" for its constant reference to the state.[ citation needed ]
The song was written by Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde, and reflected her growing interest in environmental and social concerns. The lyrics take the form of an autobiographical lament, with the singer returning to her childhood home of Ohio and discovering that rampant development had destroyed the "pretty countryside" of her youth. The song makes a number of specific references to places in and around Akron, Ohio including South Howard Street (line 5), the historic center of Akron which was leveled to make way for an urban plaza with three skyscrapers and two parking decks (line 8).
The opening bass riff from this song "was something that Tony Butler used to play just as a warm-up," said Steve Churchyard, the engineer for the record. [4]
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Matt Wardlaw rated it the Pretenders all-time 4th greatest song, saying that it was inspired by "Hynde returning home after first finding success with the Pretenders and lamenting the many changes for the worse in her beloved former hometown." [5] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Bryan Wawzenek rated it as drummer Martin Chambers' 4th best Pretenders song, saying that the beat is "so simple, so stark, so basic – it’s brilliant." [6]
The instrumental opening of the song (before Hynde's vocals appear at 36 seconds in) is best known as the opening theme of the Rush Limbaugh Show, an American conservative talk radio franchise that started in 1984 with Rush Limbaugh and since June 2021 has been hosted by Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.
The roots derive from with Rush Limbaugh hosting a local radio show at KFBK in Sacramento, California in 1984, where the show stayed until 1988 when it became nationally syndicated under the EIB Network brand. Limbaugh said in 2011 that he chose it because of the irony of a conservative using such an anti-conservative song, though he mainly liked its "unmistakable, totally recognizable bass line." [7]
In 1999, Rolling Stone magazine reported that, according to Hynde's manager, neither KFBK (which owned the show prior to national syndication) nor Limbaugh had licensed the song nor asked permission to use it. According to Rolling Stone, EMI took action after Limbaugh told a pair of reporters in 1997 that "it was icing on the cake that it was [written by] an environmentalist, animal rights wacko and was an anti-conservative song. It is anti-development, anti-capitalist and here I am going to take a liberal song and make fun of [liberals] at the same time." [8] EMI issued a cease and desist request that Limbaugh stop using the song, which he did. When Hynde found out during a radio interview, she said that her parents loved and listened to Limbaugh and she did not mind its use. A usage payment was agreed upon which she donated to PETA. [7] [8] She later wrote to the organization saying, "In light of Rush Limbaugh's vocal support of PETA's campaign against the Environmental Protection Agency's foolish plan to test some 3,000 chemicals on animals, I have decided to allow him to keep my song, 'My City Was Gone', as his signature tune..." [8] After a one-year transition, Travis and Sexton allowed its license on "My City Was Gone" to lapse and began using "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit.
The Pretenders are a British-American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott, Pete Farndon and Martin Chambers. Following the deaths of Honeyman-Scott in 1982 and Farndon in 1983, the band experienced numerous personnel changes; Hynde has been the band's only consistent member.
Pretenders is the debut studio album by British-American band The Pretenders, released in January 1980. A combination of rock and roll, punk and new wave music, this album made the band famous. The album features the singles "Stop Your Sobbing", "Kid" and "Brass in Pocket".
Christine Ellen Hynde is an American-British musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band The Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alongside drummer Martin Chambers. She is the only continuous member of the band, appearing on every studio album.
Anthony Earle Peter Butler is a British bassist, best known for his work with Scottish rock band Big Country. He has also worked with On the Air, The Pretenders, Roger Daltrey, and Pete Townshend, among others.
James Honeyman-Scott was an English rock guitarist, songwriter and founding member of the band the Pretenders.
Learning to Crawl is the third studio album by British-American rock band the Pretenders. It was released on 13 January 1984 by Sire Records after a hiatus during which band members James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon died of drug overdoses. The album's title of "Learning to Crawl" was given in honour of Chrissie Hynde's then-infant daughter, Natalie Rae Hynde. She was learning to crawl at the time that Hynde was trying to determine a title for the album.
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"Back on the Chain Gang" is a song written by American-British musician Chrissie Hynde, originally recorded by her band the Pretenders and released as a single by Sire Records in September 1982. The song was included on The King of Comedy soundtrack album in March 1983 and was later included on the Pretenders' third album, Learning to Crawl, in January 1984.
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