Where my lyrics at?

November 6, 2006 7:39 PM

What is considered to be the "Websters Dictionary" of music lyrics on the web?

So there's a very expensive dinner riding on the lyrics to "April 29th, 1992" by Sublime. I need the definitive source of music lyrics to tell me if the Florida city mentioned at the very end of the song is Lakeland or Lakewood. I have to be able to source it.

posted by photoslob to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Best answer: The big lyrics sites are basically all illegitimate, since they are publishing lyrics without permission from the copyright holders. Since they aren't supported by the bands or labels, these sites get their lyrics from fans, or by ripping off other sites.

If you can't get the lyrics straight from the artist's web site or liner notes, there probably is no authoritative source.

The official Sublime site has lyrics only for the latest album. This fan site says it's Lakeland.
posted by mbrubeck at 7:50 PM on November 6, 2006

This is as official as you can get. $25 is a lot to spend to just settle a bet, but you are asking for definitive and websites online are definitely NOT. Try calling local record stores/guitar shops/music shops...Sublime is still pretty popular and there might be a copy you can just look at in the store. And for the record (maybe you already know this), the list of cities in the song were tour stops for the band in 1995...if one of those two cities makes a lot more sense as a tour destination then perhaps that might help lead you in the right direction.
posted by apple scruff at 10:49 PM on November 6, 2006

Florida native and Sublime fan chiming in... I'm 100% positive he says Lakeland.

I've never heard of Lakewood, but Lakeland is a probably the third largest city in Florida's interior. Google Maps also has no idea what Lakewood is.

Interestingly, Google doesn't turn up anything on riots in Lakeland when you take out for Sublime. Answers.com says that the list of cities at the end of the song are just Sublime 1995 tour stops.

This is backed up by Wikipedia, which doesn't list Lakeland as a city hit by the 1992 riots [though Tampa is about an hour away].

Smaller, concomitant unrest occurred in other United States cities. San Francisco police arrested 1400 rioters in the downtown area and established a curfew. The Nevada National Guard was deployed to Las Vegas and 200 people were arrested. Seattle was hit by overnight mobs of up to 100 people rampaging through business districts. New York saw racial beatings, a mob looting a shopping mall, and another at Madison Square Garden.[citation needed] Hundreds of protesters confronted police in Atlanta. Minor incidents were reported in Tampa, Pittsburgh, Birmingham, and Omaha.[3] Major incidents took place in Dallas and Madison, Wisconsin[4] Violence even spread to the Canadian city of Toronto[5].

posted by trinarian at 12:32 AM on November 7, 2006