Soul Coughing was a New York-based alternative rock band. The band found mo… Read Full Bio ↴Soul Coughing was a New York-based alternative rock band. The band found modest mainstream success during the mid-to-late 90's. Soul Coughing developed a devout fanbase and have garnered largely positive response from critics. Steve Huey describes the band as "one of the most unique cult bands of the '90s ... driven by frontman M. Doughty's stream-of-consciousness poetry, Soul Coughing's sound was a willfully idiosyncratic mix of improvisational jazz grooves, oddball samples, hip-hop, electronics, and noisy experimentalism (described by Doughty as 'deep slacker jazz').

Soul Coughing,was founded by vocalist and guitarist Mike Doughty (who billed himself at the time as 'M. Doughty'), a folk singer, slam poet, and music writer.

Doughty was a doorman at the old Knitting Factory on Houston Street in New York. While working there he met sampler artist Mark De Gli Antoni, upright bass player Sebastian Steinberg, drummer Yuval Gabay, and artist David Linton. Doughty convinced them to join him in forming a new band. They played their first gig, as 'M. Doughty's Soul Coughing' at the Knitting Factory on June 15, 1992, a late-Monday night slot that Doughty cadged from his boss because nobody else wanted it. In 1993, he founded a club night called SLAW at CBGB's 313 Gallery, which was meant to emulate the popular jazz and hip hop club Giant Step, but eventually became a showcase for Soul Coughing. Posters for SLAW were headlined 'Deep Slacker Jazz' (a parody of The Who's slogan 'Maximum R&B'), which became an enduring description of the band's sound.

The band was signed within a year to Warner Brothers subsidiary Slash Records, and released three albums: Ruby Vroom (1994), Irresistible Bliss (1996), and El Oso (1998). They enjoyed minor hit singles with "Circles," "Super Bon Bon," and "Screenwriter's Blues."

The band broke up in 2000, after years of feuding over songwriting credits and publishing money. Doughty continued as a solo artist, and Gabay, Steinberg, and De Gli Antoni have been involved with other projects including a trio disc sans Doughty in 2004.

Is Chicago Is Not Chicago
Soul Coughing Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

A man
drives a plane
into the
Chrysler building

Saskatoon is in the room
Poulsbo is in the room
Bennetsville is in the room

Palmyra is in the room

Is Chicago!
Is not Chicago!
Is Chicago!
Is not Chicago!

A man
cuts in half
just like he
snaps a pencil

Khartoum is in the room
Phnom Penh is in the room
Pyongyang is in the room
Cairo is in the room

Is Chicago!
Is not Chicago!

Is Chicago!
Is not Chicago

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Soul Coughing's song "Is Chicago Is Not Chicago" are full of surrealistic imagery, challenging the listener's perception of reality. The opening lines describe a man driving a plane into the Chrysler Building, an event that never happened in real life but is emblematic of the destructive impulses that technology and progress can unleash. The next verse introduces the names of several obscure towns, such as Saskatoon, Poulsbo, Bennetsville, and Palmyra, which seem to have no connection to each other or to Chicago, the titular city of the song. By repeating the phrase "Is Chicago Is Not Chicago" like a mantra, Soul Coughing is suggesting that nothing is as it seems, and that reality is constantly shifting and elusive.

The second verse introduces another bizarre image, that of a man being cut in half like a pencil. This is followed by the names of several foreign cities, such as Khartoum, Phnom Penh, Pyongyang, and Cairo, which continue to challenge the listener's sense of geography and identity. The chorus once again repeats the phrase "Is Chicago Is Not Chicago," as if to say that anything can be anything depending on how you look at it. In this way, the song can be seen as a commentary on the fragility of truth and the power of perception.

Line by Line Meaning

A man
An unknown individual

drives a plane
Pilots a plane

into the
Causing collision with

Chrysler building
The iconic New York City skyscraper

Saskatoon is in the room
The Canadian city of Saskatoon is present

Poulsbo is in the room
The American city of Poulsbo is present

Bennetsville is in the room
The American city of Bennetsville is present

Palmyra is in the room
The Syrian city of Palmyra is present

Is Chicago!
This is Chicago! (meaning that it is a metaphorical representation of Chicago)

Is not Chicago!
This is not Chicago! (meaning that it is not a literal representation of the city)

Is Chicago!
This is Chicago! (repeating the metaphor of the city)

Is not Chicago!
This is not Chicago! (repeating that it is not a literal representation of the city)

A man
An unknown individual

cuts in half
Splits into two pieces

just like he
Similar to how

snaps a pencil
Breaks a pencil

Khartoum is in the room
The Sudanese city of Khartoum is present

Phnom Penh is in the room
The Cambodian city of Phnom Penh is present

Pyongyang is in the room
The North Korean city of Pyongyang is present

Cairo is in the room
The Egyptian city of Cairo is present

Is Chicago!
This is Chicago! (repeating the metaphor of the city)

Is not Chicago!
This is not Chicago! (repeating that it is not a literal representation of the city)

Is Chicago!
This is Chicago! (repeating the metaphor of the city)

Is not Chicago!
This is not Chicago! (repeating that it is not a literal representation of the city)

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MARK DEGLIANTONI, MICHAEL DOUGHTY, SEBASTIAN STEINBERG, YUVAL GABAY

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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