Vote totals:
Yes:
25%
No:
25%
Neutral:
50%
DEBATE: HOW CAN A CITY BE BUILT ON ROCK AND ROLL?
HOW CAN A CITY BE BUILT ON ROCK AND ROLL?
Detroit, Michigan was built on Motown
It is possible for a city to be built on Rock n Roll. Detroit’s colorful history shows that Motown records made Detroit a "city" in every sense of the term – it became a cultural, artistic, and music center of the world.
Even today Detroit continues to be known for this period in its history. Now that motown is no longer there, Detroit has spiraled into a much worse place. Artistic and cultural efforts are what make cities livable, and give them a sense of community – that center that everyone wants to defend, protect and improve.
New Orleans was built on Rock and Roll. They didn’t reckon with Katrina and the Waves. AlexJ
HOW CAN A CITY BE BUILT ON ROCK AND ROLL?
Seattle, WA is a beacon to bands
Seattle WA may be known to some as the home of the Space Needle but those with any knowledge of music know that it was the birthplace of Grunge music and still someone alternative bands flock to to either record or write an album. Genre titles are becoming more and more blurred so what’s to say that the metaphorical, "We built this city on rock and roll" doesn’t apply fully to a town that still is a city that brings out the best in musicians. It’s still being built on rock and roll in that sense.
HOW CAN A CITY BE BUILT ON ROCK AND ROLL?
It’s physically impossible
Rather than thinking of Rock and Roll as a physical material for building a city we should be thinking of it as a mindset for those who are building the city.
Rock and Roll has for a long time been considered as more than just a genre of music. Rock and Roll represents a determination to achieve something in the face of opposition, and have a good time doing it.
Perhaps it is more accurate to think of the phrase as being, ‘We built this city on the spirit of Rock and Roll.’ This is a great deal more likely, but sadly does not make as good a title for a song. This is most likely the casue of the confusion.
‘Rock and Roll’ is not a solid, tangible material. Thus, it is in fact, impossible to build some thing on top of it. It is likely that there was at some point, a typing error that led to this confusion. The original words may well have been "we built this city on rock", before a prankster penciled in "and roll". Another possibility could be "we built this city whilst listening to rock and roll".
