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Song Parodies -> "I Couldn't Change The Tire"
Original Song Title:
"We Didn't Start The Fire"
(MP3)Original Performer:
Billy Joel
Parody Song Title:
"I Couldn't Change The Tire"
Parody Written by:
Tim Mayfield
The Lyrics
West Covina, Tropico, Bell Gardens, San Pedro
South Gate, Rosemead, Playa Vista, Rancho Dominguez
San Fernando, Universal, Altadena, and South Central
North Hollywood, West Hollywood, Whittier, Westwood
Hollywood, Vernon, Chinatown, Avalon
Burbank, Valencia, Walnut Park, Arcadia
Pasadena, Rose Bowl, Carson, Venice beach stroll
El Segundo, Temple City, can't go, what a pity
I couldn't change the tire
So we won't be going
To the places knowing
I couldn't change the tire
And our LA travel
Has become unraveled
Calabasas, Topanga, Signal Hill, Monrovia
La Crescenta, San Marino, Jefferson Park
Norwalk, Mount Wilson, Valley Village, Downtown
Brentwood, Sunland, Van Nuys, Marina Del Rey
Florence, Glendale, La Canada-Flintridge, Bell
Harbor City, Pacoima, Culver City, Tujunga
Glenoaks, Rolling Hills, Playa del Rey, North Hills
Baldwin Park, getting dark, roaches in the sewer
I couldn't change the tire
So we won't be going
To the places knowing
I couldn't change the tire
On the road most traveled
We're like freeway cattle
Pacific Palisades, Palos Verdes Estates
Santa Clarita then Santa Monica
City of Industry, Saugus Agua Dulce
Mar Vista, El Monte, Crenshaw, Sierra Madre
La Mirada, Claremont, Lancaster, Gardena
Rancho Park, Sylmar, Newhall, Monterey Park
Northridge, Diamond Bar, Inglewood, Huntington Park
Montebello, Downey, Rancho Palos Verdes
I couldn't change the tire
So we won't be going
To the places knowing
I couldn't change the tire
No, I couldn't do it
Now we cannot commute
Studio City, Panorama City
Maywood, View Park, Griffith Park, Echo Park
Sherman Oaks, Lake View Terrace, Long Beach, City of Commerce
Bel Air Estates, Tarzana, Rowland Heights
Walnut, Boyle Heights, Torrance, Hacienda Heights
But the car's town away, how much am I gonna pay?
I couldn't change the tire
So we won't be going
To the places knowing
I couldn't change the tire
Not the way I planned it
It looks like we're stranded
Glassell Park, Mission Hills, Los Feliz, San Gabriel
Hawthorne, Lawndale, Silverlake, Palmdale
Quartz Hill, West Hills, Hancock Park, Encino, Leimert Park
Anaheim has Disneyland, tolls to Terminal Island
Westlake Village, Arleta, Santa Fe Springs, Azusa
LAX, Glendora, Lakewood, Agoura
Manhattan Beach, Malibu, you know they've got surfing too
Compton, Watts and East LA, shouldn't go there anyway
I couldn't change the tire
So we won't be going
To the places knowing
I couldn't change the tire
I don't need the looting
Or the freeway shooting
South Gate, Rosemead, Playa Vista, Rancho Dominguez
San Fernando, Universal, Altadena, and South Central
North Hollywood, West Hollywood, Whittier, Westwood
Hollywood, Vernon, Chinatown, Avalon
Burbank, Valencia, Walnut Park, Arcadia
Pasadena, Rose Bowl, Carson, Venice beach stroll
El Segundo, Temple City, can't go, what a pity
I couldn't change the tire
So we won't be going
To the places knowing
I couldn't change the tire
And our LA travel
Has become unraveled
Calabasas, Topanga, Signal Hill, Monrovia
La Crescenta, San Marino, Jefferson Park
Norwalk, Mount Wilson, Valley Village, Downtown
Brentwood, Sunland, Van Nuys, Marina Del Rey
Florence, Glendale, La Canada-Flintridge, Bell
Harbor City, Pacoima, Culver City, Tujunga
Glenoaks, Rolling Hills, Playa del Rey, North Hills
Baldwin Park, getting dark, roaches in the sewer
I couldn't change the tire
So we won't be going
To the places knowing
I couldn't change the tire
On the road most traveled
We're like freeway cattle
Pacific Palisades, Palos Verdes Estates
Santa Clarita then Santa Monica
City of Industry, Saugus Agua Dulce
Mar Vista, El Monte, Crenshaw, Sierra Madre
La Mirada, Claremont, Lancaster, Gardena
Rancho Park, Sylmar, Newhall, Monterey Park
Northridge, Diamond Bar, Inglewood, Huntington Park
Montebello, Downey, Rancho Palos Verdes
I couldn't change the tire
So we won't be going
To the places knowing
I couldn't change the tire
No, I couldn't do it
Now we cannot commute
Studio City, Panorama City
Maywood, View Park, Griffith Park, Echo Park
Sherman Oaks, Lake View Terrace, Long Beach, City of Commerce
Bel Air Estates, Tarzana, Rowland Heights
Walnut, Boyle Heights, Torrance, Hacienda Heights
But the car's town away, how much am I gonna pay?
I couldn't change the tire
So we won't be going
To the places knowing
I couldn't change the tire
Not the way I planned it
It looks like we're stranded
Glassell Park, Mission Hills, Los Feliz, San Gabriel
Hawthorne, Lawndale, Silverlake, Palmdale
Quartz Hill, West Hills, Hancock Park, Encino, Leimert Park
Anaheim has Disneyland, tolls to Terminal Island
Westlake Village, Arleta, Santa Fe Springs, Azusa
LAX, Glendora, Lakewood, Agoura
Manhattan Beach, Malibu, you know they've got surfing too
Compton, Watts and East LA, shouldn't go there anyway
I couldn't change the tire
So we won't be going
To the places knowing
I couldn't change the tire
I don't need the looting
Or the freeway shooting
Your Vote & Comment Counts
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Voting Results
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Voting Breakdown
The following represent how many people voted for each category.
| Pacing | How Funny | Overall Rating | |||||||||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
User Comments
Comments are subject to review, and can be removed by the administration of the site at any time and for any reason.
brave man to take on this song...i was born in south gate...lived in both norwalk and downey....nice job....5s
Good job! I'm from Norcal, but I'm guessing you've named every place in the L.A. megalopolis. Travel I-5 three times.
I am also an ex-LA county resident. Thanks Alvin, this was a hard write. Rhyming with only city names to choose from is almost ridiculous.
Good job, Alvin. Having lived in Southern California all my life (and in L.A. County for the first 20 years of my life, although I still go to school there), I am very familiar with all the locales you mentioned here. And it flows very well with the original song. I'm going to give you all fives.
Whoops...I meant Tim Mayfield! I'm sorry; I put the wrong author name by mistake...my bad.
Masterful job on the place-name rhymes and pacing, and good vivid imagery in the rest of the song. For the Information Highway Patrol, dial 5-5-5!
What? No Reseda? Ah well, I'll give ya 5's anyway.... ;-)
John, guess I passed you in the night or something. As you see, by Meriadoc's comment, I left out a few, about thirty actually. I don't think I've heard of Norcal, did you mean Norco? ;-)
nally, quite understandable considering how long this parody is, I almost forgot who I was too.
Ingeborg, thanks. Hmm, "Viva Las Vegas" to "Vivid Images", could be a nice parody rewrite...
Meriadoc, I did have to leave a few towns unmentioned, but Reseda already has it's own theme song. Dr. Demento even featured five or so for a competition one night. Even Lynwood has it's own theme song, if you count "Big Hairs of Lynwood" from Bob Rivers Comedy Corp.
nally, quite understandable considering how long this parody is, I almost forgot who I was too.
Ingeborg, thanks. Hmm, "Viva Las Vegas" to "Vivid Images", could be a nice parody rewrite...
Meriadoc, I did have to leave a few towns unmentioned, but Reseda already has it's own theme song. Dr. Demento even featured five or so for a competition one night. Even Lynwood has it's own theme song, if you count "Big Hairs of Lynwood" from Bob Rivers Comedy Corp.
I'm holding off on voting until I can have the recording here with me. I feel like there are some internal rhymes scheme issues...but I could be wrong, considering the rest of the 5s...
I'm a Valley boy also. Mari is a Val. We lived in Reseda a long time. That's where the big quake was, not Northridge. Good place to be from, not in.
Really?? For almost 11 years we all thought the quake was centered in Northridge. Where, approximately, was it centered?
Reseda is an okay place to be in. Once we got Tom Petty's blasted freeway out of the yard... ;-D
They called it the Northridge quake because that's where most of the damage was, but the epicenter was in Reseda, somewhere near Mason and Sherman Way. I was at White Oak and Vanowen when it knocked my butt out of bed.
Not familiar with the locale, but having tried this song, I can more than appreciate the work you put in. 5's bro, Excellent job
The intersection of Mason and Sherman Way would be in Canoga Park then, since that's west of Corbin. My mom used to work at St. Joseph the Worker Church (but not until '99), which is on Sherman Way somewhere between those two streets.
Don't forget, as Johnny Carson taught us, that when you get to Hancock Park, to park your hancock. And when you get to the Slauson Cutoff, get out of the car and cut off your slauson, then get back in your car, and keep driving until you see... the fork in the road!
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