All The Way From Memphis By Mott The Hoople (1973)

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All The Way From Memphis Cover

All the Way from Memphis is a lead track from Mott the Hoople’s album Mott in 1973. The song is about the band’s guitarist who is shipped to Oriole, Kentucky, instead of Memphis, Tennessee. In the UK Singles Chart, the track reached number 10, while in the United State it did not get in the chart. However, the song received considerable airplay on album-oriented rock stations, and peaked at number 35 at the Top 40 of the Billboard 200. [1]

Mott The Hoople

Key Lyrics

Well I got to Oriole y'know

It took a month

And there was my guitar, electric junk

Some spade said "Rock'n'rollers

You're all the same

Man, that's your instrument."

I felt so ashamed

Now it's a mighty long way down rock'n'roll

Through the Bradford cities and the Orioles

And you look like a star but you're still on the dole [2]

Controversy

The song was retelling the guitarist Mick Ralphs who accidentally sent to Kentucky instead of Memphis. Though the song did not contain harm subject, however at one line it contains an offensive word “spade”, a term which derogatory a Black person. The group eventually edited the word from “spade” to “dude.” [3] [4]

The phrase “spade” refers to derogatory slur toward Black People. American lexicographers, H.L. Mencken, who published the 1919 book “The American Language,” listed words of the names to call “Negroes,” including “skunk,” “black bird” and “spade lips.” [5]

References

  1. All the Way from Memphis. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 21, 2021
  2. All The Way From Memphis Mott The Hoople. Genius. Retrieved January 21, 2021
  3. Nati, Michelle. 14 Songs With Racist Lyrics That Could Never Be Released Today. Ranker. September 1, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2021
  4. Lifton, Dave. ROCK’S MOST POLITICALLY INCORRECT SONGS. Ultimate Classic Rock. March 26, 2018. Retrieved January 21, 2021
  5. Cicchiello, Christopher. These 11 everyday words and phrases have racist and offensive backgrounds. Time. July 24, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2021