Quote:
Originally Posted by HejiraNYC
And how cringe-inducing is "I was born in the desert... so I know how it feels there."  Just inexplicably bad, bad, bad... |
You've mentioned this before so I want to comment. The 1991 war was callled Desert Storm. It was the first time American troops fought a war exclusively in a desert.
I was living in Phoenix when this was a new song, in 1991. I know how it feels there. I'm sure, knowing that you are a world traveler, you have been in a desert at some point. But to actually live in one, for many years, a realateable experience could be felt with the soldiers who are fighting a war in such extreme heat.
Living in the Phoenix area feels like a whole different planet than living in a place with four seasons. In NYC where you reside, if the tempertaure was 104 degrees you might be visiting the hospital from dehydration and extreme humidity. In Phoenix such a tempertaure is no big deal. It may feel like 80 degrees would to you. 115 degrees in Phoenix is hotter than hell, but a normal July day.
115 degrees in NYC and the entire populace would most likely die from the humidity. If not die, multitudes would be extremely close to it.
Also in another thread you or someone mentioned the lyric, "in a place the Indians call Paradise valley."
If you are lucky enough to ever visit the section of this town that Stevie lived in you will learn that Camelback Mountain holds a special grotto where some Tribal Indians from the past had a spiritual place there to pray to their God(s). It was a sacred mountain. And this mountain when viewed from above is shaped like a Camel.
There are many references in this song that perhaps only a Phoenician might truly understand, though I think she does a fine job in describing these, and their similarities to Operation Desert Storm.