Picariello grew up in the North Boston suburb of Lynn and learned to play guitar as a boy. In high school, he formed a band and tried to emulate the hard-driving style of Little Richard. Picariello eventually signed with Philadelphia label Swan Records, a recording studio in which Dick Clark had an interest. Clark brought Picariello national exposure through numerous appearances on Clark's TV show, American Bandstand. Cannon holds the record for most appearances by a performer (110) on Bandstand! He and Clark continued to collaborate on Bandstand reunion concerts long after the TV show ended.
By 1959, Picariello was singing using the stage name, Freddy Cannon. He was also called "Boom Boom" because of his thundering musical renditions and the "Cannon" name. From 1959 through the early 60s, Cannon had three Top Ten hit:
Palisades Park
Tallahassee Lassie (A song written by Cannon's mother. It was also the first of 22 songs which appeared on the Billboard Charts for Cannon.)
Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
On June 24, 1966, Cannon played himself and performed one of his own songs during the final episode of the teen soap opera "Never Too Young." The role of Cannon was played by David Julian Hirsh in George Clooney's 2003 film, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.'
As of 2006, Cannon was a resident of Tarzana, California, and continued performing in concert.
Palisades Park
Freddy Cannon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A swingin' place called Palisades Park
To have some fun and see what I could see
That's where the girls are
I took a ride on a shoot the chute
That girl I sat beside was awful cute
And after while she was holdin' hands with me
Down like a roller coaster
Back like a loop the loop
And around like a merry go round
We ate and ate at a hot dog stand
We danced around to a rockin' band
And when I could, I gave that girl a hug
In the tunnel of love
You'll never know how great a kiss can feel
When you stop at the top of a ferris wheel
When I fell in love down at Palisades Park
We ate and ate at a hot dog stand
We danced around to a rockin' band
And when I could, I gave that girl a hug
In the tunnel of love
You'll never know how great a kiss can feel
When you stop at the top of a ferris wheel
When I fell in love down at Palisades Park
Down at Palisades Park
You know it's Palisades Park
Down at Palisades Park
The lyrics of Freddy Cannon's song Palisades Park describe a young man's visit to a popular amusement park of the same name, located in Bergen County, New Jersey. The singer takes a stroll after dark, looking for fun and girls, and finds himself on a thrilling ride called "Shoot the Chute." He sits next to an attractive girl and ends up holding her hand as they go through the ups and downs of the ride. The singer's emotions are on a rollercoaster as well, as he experiences the highs, lows, and thrills of falling in love.
The young couple then enjoys some classic park fare – hot dogs and rock and roll – before taking a ride on the "tunnel of love." This is where the potential for true romance is solidified for the singer, as the kiss he shares with his new love interest at the top of the Ferris wheel confirms his feelings. The nostalgic song captures the excitement, energy, and romance of a night spent at an amusement park during the zenith of post-war American culture.
Line by Line Meaning
Last night I took a walk after dark
I went for a walk at night
A swingin' place called Palisades Park
I visited a lively location named Palisades Park
To have some fun and see what I could see
I wanted to enjoy myself and discover what was happening
That's where the girls are
Many women were present at the park
I took a ride on a shoot the chute
I went on a shoot-the-chute amusement ride
That girl I sat beside was awful cute
The girl sitting next to me was very attractive
And after while she was holdin' hands with me
She eventually held my hand
My heart was flyin' up like a rocket ship
I felt euphoric and ecstatic
Down like a roller coaster
My emotions quickly changed and plummeted
Back like a loop the loop
My feelings swung wildly back up again
And around like a merry go round
My emotions were spinning around rapidly
We ate and ate at a hot dog stand
We consumed a significant amount of food at a hot dog stand
We danced around to a rockin' band
We danced to lively music
And when I could, I gave that girl a hug
I hugged the girl when I had the opportunity
In the tunnel of love
We rode the tunnel of love attraction
You'll never know how great a kiss can feel
Experiencing a kiss at the top of a ferris wheel is indescribable
When you stop at the top of a ferris wheel
Stopping at the top of the ferris wheel is a magical moment
When I fell in love down at Palisades Park
I fell in love while at Palisades Park
You know it's Palisades Park
Palisades Park is an unforgettable place
Down at Palisades Park
I had an amazing time at Palisades Park
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: CHUCK BARRIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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This is such a cool song
I watched the documentary and I was totally blown away by the fact that this song and several others that were number one hits were actually written by a CIA secret agent that was the creator and host of over 200 TV prize shows.
In the documentary they talk about this song in particular and how before the guy went to work for the CIA he was dating underage girls and constantly on the prowl for them and he found all these carnivals in New Jersey that had all of these girls these high school girls that would be there alone or with friends and he would have sex with them in the amusement park or carnivals.
It was an incredible documentary. It was during the height of the Cold War and I remember watching these different game shows and I could never understand why in the world they would go to places like West Germany for a trip as the prize and all these other places that were our enemy.
Now it all makes complete sense
There is so much of this that happens where people in Hollywood are recruited as secret agents
Also in the media the reporters are recruited to be spies and I remember with Saddam Hussein they caught one of our reporters that was spying and Saddam had him hung and I don't think that ever was released to the public I don't think anyone ever covered that story because it was classified
The whole secret agent is really interesting to me because they have a job that many times is real they actually work for a huge corporation and the CIA communicates with the CEO of the company and tells them we need to place this person in this position and they're going to be on your payroll but we're paying you to pay them and basically they show up when they show up and they don't when they don't and whatever they say you agree with it you back them up and these people are able to travel the world and appear to be just regular workers for these different companies and I've seen several people including somebody in my family that would never admit that's what they do but also my best friend her husband I'm sure is a secret agent because he goes to places and then those places are overthrown and I see him come back and I say how was your trip and I just laugh cuz I know he's a secret agent
And they're always low-key people they're always calm quiet people that you would not suspect
I would have loved to be a secret agent
Now I'm old and sick and dying and I don't have anybody and I'm very depressed and all I have is YouTube and that's most of my day laying in bed watching YouTube when I'm not in too much pain
I understand now why people settle and get married and why they stay together in horrible marriages because nobody wants to die alone
Paola Marie Fuchs Stitelmann
Last night I took a walk after dark
A swingin' place called Palisades Park
To have some fun and see what I could see
That's where the girls are!!
I took a ride on a shoot-the-chute
That girl I sat beside was awful cute
After we stopped she was holdin' hands with me .....
My heart was flyin'
Up - like a rocket ship
Down - like a roller coaster
Back - like a loop-the-loop
And around - like a merry-go-round
We ate and ate at a hot dog stand
We danced around to a rockin' band
And when I could I gave that girl a hug
In the tunnel of love
You'll never know how great a kiss can feel
When you stop at the top of a Ferris wheel
When I fell in love .....
Down at Palisades Park
We ate and ate at a hot dog stand
We danced around to a rockin' band
And when I could I gave that girl a hug
In the tunnel of love
You'll never know how great a kiss can feel
When you stop at the top of a Ferris wheel
When I fell in love
Down at Palisades Park
Down at Palisades Park
You know it's Palisades Park
Down at Palisades Park
Wishing Moon 201167
🙌🕊🕊🌠
The Start Of This Music Is Quite Different.
It Is A Great Tune.
I Would Like To Know Who The Older Gentleman Is At The Start?
He Looks Quite Important In This Clip.
The Food Represents The American Diet!
Including The Soft Drink Coca Cola !
These Kind Of Fair Grounds Must Have Been Very Popular !
Like The One In The Film Grease!
Those Rides Would Never Suit Me At All.
It Certainly Would Be Too Loud.
Much Appreciation.
☺
Kirk Patrick
The overdub of the rollercoaster was pure musical genius. You can't underestimate how hard it was to have that sound age so well.
SirBasildeBrush
It does it for me - love it!
Xplotter
This is pure happiness, no selfies, tiktokers on sight
SirBasildeBrush
😄
Stephanie Ann
Spectacular song! It is my unofficial anthem for Kennywood
Veronika Lake
Kennywood Park Pgh? If so, I'm from a suburb of Pgh
Liansz1
How funny..my dad just had me look up this song. He asked me what song does it remind me of. I said Kennywood Park!!!! Down at Kennywood Park!😄
Wayne Harris
Chuck Barris gave us a lot more than game shows.
ToyotaGuy1971
For instance? How is he related to this song or park?
tippimail1
@ToyotaGuy1971 He wrote it.