Where is South Detroit?
Question for the folks out there:
Where is "South Detroit?"
I was born in Detroit and raised in the suburbs. I have never lived more than 30 miles from the Detroit border yet I have never wandered into this elusive part of Detroit. I can easily identify the east side, west side, and the southwest corner of the city. One would suppose from the way thousands of Detroit area fanatics belt out the lyrics from the classic rawk hit that the region is famous or populated or exists.
I hope someone can fill this gap for me. If not, well, I will forever endure the apprehensive shudder that courses through my soul each time the first note of the Journey song pierces the gameday sanctity of Michigan Stadium.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:30 PM ^
Wikipedia does not know all. If there is a "South Detroit," it has to be part of the city proper. The suburbs are part of Metro Detroit, but they're not Detroit. There's a clear distinction in peoples' minds.
Journey's from SF. There is a South San Francisco, but that obviously doesn't fit into the line quite as well.
I wish going south on I-75 just past Ford Field a bit and there is a sign literally saying "South Detroit". It was your average city sign.
Directly south of downtown would be the Detroit River. Southwest Detroit, on the other hand, is an established area with a few thriving neighborhoods. Downriver is thought to be the collection of communities south and west of Detroit and near the river. There is actually a collective community organization which represents the business interests of the region.
....in this thread. According to GOBLUE4EVR:
Side note to the whole "south detroit" term... the term came from a groupie that one of the band members brought back to the hotel after a show X amount of years ago... the next morning journey was leaving detroit but they had this groupie with them and they needed to take her home, they asked where she lived and she said south detroit... what she meant was south OF detroit meaning taylor... i heard the story on 97.1 when the morning show interviewed one of the guys from the band because journey was in town that night and playing at DTE in 2008...
and ruin everything for everybody. :(
...what I do.
Thanks, Shoe!
I feel much better now.
He recalls writing the song with Cain — combining his own memories of smoky nightclubs with an image he had of Detroit from a hotel window after a concert in 1980.
He only found out later there is no such place as the "south Detroit" he sings about —that south of the U.S. city is the Ontario city of Windsor.
"I tried north Detroit, I tried east and west and it didn't sing, but south Detroit sounded so beautiful. I loved the way it sounded, only to find out later it's actually Canada," Perry said.
Well damn.
WINNING!
August 7th, 2011 at 12:27 AM ^
He could have not admitted the error and said that he meant "south Detroit" not "South Detroit" - as in the southern part of the city of Detroit.
Great research on your part.
August 6th, 2011 at 10:16 PM ^
playing at DTE in 2008...Ugh, kids these days. This is nails on a chalkboard right here.
I shudder every time I hear Jouney anyway.
August 6th, 2011 at 11:09 PM ^
Well, you're obviously a terrorist.
but it is marginally better than AC/DC -- a band i wish never to hear again, but Dave Brandon will force me to hear it a lot over the next several fall weekends.
Damn you for bringing this crappy song back into prominence.
August 7th, 2011 at 10:19 AM ^
Is Simon and Garfunkel:
Michigan seems like a dream to me nowIt took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw.
... Alice Cooper's "Detroit City":
Me and Iggy were giggin' with Ziggy and kickin' with the MC5 Ted and Seger were burnin' with fever and let the Silver bullets fly The Kid was in his crib, shady wore a bib and the posse wasn`t even alive Shock rock choppin' block, songs to make your heart stop Shovie it in ta overdrive Playing loud and fast Make that guitar blast Playing like today will be your last... Well I was born there Gonna die there With all my long hair Detroit City You feel your heart beat You hit the concrete Dance the mean street Detroit City There`s a riot raging downtown Tryin' to burn the place down Skies glowin; red and grey But the Riff kept a Rockin' The Creem kept a-talkin' And the streets still smokin' today Playing loud and fast Make that guitar blast Playing like today will be your last... Well I was born there Probably die there With all my long hair Detroit City You feel your heart beat You hit the concrete Dance the mean streets Detroit City Six mile seven mile eight mile nine mile ten mile eleven mile Detroit city Louder Faster Louder Detroit City Well I was born there Gonna die there We don`t belong here Detroit City You feel your heart beat Hit the concrete Dance the mean street Detroit City Well I was born there Probably die there With all my long hair Detroit City You feel your heart beat You hit the concrete Dance the mean street Detroit City
RHCP are huge Michigan fans. Kiedis and Chad Smith are from Michigan and are huge Michigan fans. There is rumor they are banned from the city of Columbus for playing Hail to Victors at a concert in Columbus.
August 6th, 2011 at 11:43 PM ^
I don't know if they got banned, but they definitely played the Victors in Columbus during their Stadium Arcadium tour just weeks before the #1vs#2 game of the century.
http://michiganzone.blogspot.com/2006/11/suck-my-kiss-columbus.html
There used to be a story on the Columbus Dispatch site, but it's been lost to web history.
August 7th, 2011 at 12:16 PM ^
I would have to suggest Panic in Detroit. Bowie captures a certain something about the city...
August 6th, 2011 at 10:03 PM ^
Perhaps he was referring to a mythical underwater part of the city-- a midwest version of Atlantis
August 6th, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^
it resides in the vocal chords of Journeys new Philipino singer, weeeeeeelllllllllllllllll that looks normal.
August 6th, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^
the area where they want to build the new bridge, delray. The vicinity of that area is technically south detroit. Anything further down is just downriver.
My wife works in Delray. Most residents consider it part of southwest detroit. They'll be happy just to be noticed on the Board!
August 6th, 2011 at 10:11 PM ^
That would be the Detroit Windsor Tunnel, which is an amazing piece of engineering when you think about it.
August 6th, 2011 at 10:27 PM ^
Journey isn't the only one with this problem. An English group called Paper Lace had a minor hit in the 70s with a song called "The Night Chicago Died". It starts "(Spoken - portentious voice) Daddy was a cop. On the East side of Chicago..." Which would be Lake Michigan. Always check a map when you're writing songs about places you don't know.
Chicago does have an east side...anything east of State Street is the east side. However most people just refer to Chicago as North/South/West sides since some parts of Chicago, like downtown, the east side is only a few blocks but if you go south more the east side expands. However they prefer just to call it the south side there.
August 7th, 2011 at 10:08 AM ^
Having been in Chicagoland a long time, I can say "we locals" call it Lakefront or, if you're pretty good, by neighborhood (Rogers Park, Lincoln Park, South Loop, whatever).
However, saying "Daddy was a cop, on the Lakefront of Chicago" makes it sound like he was arresting drunk college kids for peeing on the beach rather than doing an Untouchables thing.
August 6th, 2011 at 10:33 PM ^
"South Detroit" would make a great fictitious name/home for a sports team in cinema or on TV. It could go all the way from drama to comedy, depending on how it is done.
August 6th, 2011 at 11:04 PM ^
August 6th, 2011 at 11:16 PM ^
we dive into that Kid Rock song and see if we can find out where this "northern Michigan" really is, if it actually exists.
Every time I hear that song, I find myself replacing the first line of the chorus with "We were tryin' different things -- like rhymin' things with things."
How can South Detroit be Windsor? Wouldnt Windsor just be Windsor? Thats like saying Ypsilanti is South Ann Arbor.
Its just a lyric.
SERIOUS MAN IS SERIOUS
The important things to remember are you can’t get there from here and there is no midnight run out of Detroit rock city.
and laughed..idk why it just seemed so simple...to answer your question, anything south of 8 mile and east of wayne county would be considered south detroit...i've never been there but i can't imagine it being great
If you are from Detroit you know that there is no "south Detroit." Also, seriously fuck Journey.
Windsor was once called South Detroit. Before the US occupied and claimed that part of Canada (including the coastline running down past Amherstburg's Fort Malden) as part of the War of 1812. After thed US returned this land to Canada, Windsdor held a city vote and the name of Windsor won out.
With the history lesson now completed, I highly doubt the band named Journey knew this.
August 7th, 2011 at 10:40 AM ^
Why is this such a hard question; Detroit to us northerners is anything south of Lansing hence South Detroit..problem solved :)
August 7th, 2011 at 11:02 AM ^
I'm telling all of you. There is a sign heading south on 75 saying "South Detroit". Im not saying it is what Journey is referring to but I have seen the sign, and it opened up my eyes I saw the sign.
About 50 miles north of the Ohio & Canadian border.