46201 is the zip code for the state 46201
Indianapolis ...burton cummings sang it in his song "Sour Suite".......if your a burton cummings fan , do you happen to know if it has any real meaning to him or is just random number he picked from his mail??
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on Oct 11/19 i found this on youtube , he explains the number at 17.00 mins in this live recording --
https://youtu.be/M2zCJEAHU4U
https://youtu.be/M2zCJEAHU4U
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on Oct 11/19 i found this on youtube , he explains the number at 17.00 mins in this live recording --
https://youtu.be/M2zCJEAHU4U
https://youtu.be/M2zCJEAHU4U
I found this on the internet.......
ReplyDeletedonutbandit
10-28-2007
His real father deserted the family when Burton was 5. The reference to "46201" is a real American zip code in Indianapolis. Supposedly, Burton became vey attached to a fan who lived there. Now things haven't worked out, and "it's just like 46201."
Do the band still tour?
Deletecummings still tours with his band and does some solo work also
Deletefrom the album....
ReplyDeleteSOUR SUITE (Burton Cummings)
"46201 is the zip code for part of Indianapolis...got a letter from a girl I knew there...return address on front of envelope, zop of bottom...started singing the numbers to complete latter half of song...left it just that way...the mood here is not exactly Fred and Ginger..."
https://youtu.be/M2zCJEAHU4U
DeleteAs I recall it (years back, I was at a live concert when Burton performed this song solo, just him and a piano), it was inspired by an incident with his father. His father (the "runaway dad" mentioned in the song) had abandoned the family when Burton was little, and suddenly, years later, his dad got back in contact with him-- but to Burton's great disappointment, it was not to have a happy reunion, but to ask Burton to lend him some money. That also inspired the line about "whatever happened to homes as opposed to houses"-- Burton had hoped one day he might have a home, but instead, he just had hotel rooms in city after city, including Indianapolis (46201) which also provided some inspiration for the song.
ReplyDeleteI feel the depths of pain to burden Burton's steps, for t'is a pain to never pass, but ever cuts deeper, and deeper still. :(
DeleteDo you know the name of the song?
Deleteas noted above; 'Sour Suite'
DeleteThe song is "it's too late now"
ReplyDeleteI was at his show last night in Windsor, Canada and he talked about how his roommates left his mail on his piano when he lived in Vancover. In the pile was a letter from a fan that he was suprised found his home address. He said the letter was from Indinapolis and the zip code was 46201. At the time he had a song that he did not know how to end. And the numbers from the zip code just flowed together mucically, so he ended the song with the Indy zip code.
ReplyDeletethanks so much for your comment ...how did you end up coming to this blog anyways??
ReplyDeleteI always loved this song even though it has a melancholy tone.Burton has a great voice and he is also a great piano player .The song invoked feelings in me of abandonment and disappointment in his early life .I never tire of listening to it when I spend fine time just reflecting .
ReplyDeletethanks for the post
ReplyDeletehe talks about this song "sour suite" in this video at 17:00 mins
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/M2zCJEAHU4U
SOUR SUITE-Originally it was going to be called "This Morning"…usually I don't labour very long writing anything. If I can't come up with it quickly, more often than not, I'l throw it away…but this one was different. I had the whole thing almost finished, but it still felt incomplete. I had somehow gotten a letter to my Lansdowne address (don't know how, cause I never gave out that information) and the envelope was sitting on my old piano. I could see the return address on the outside…it was from a fan in Indianapolis…at the bottom was the zip code, 46201. I just started singing the numbers, and I liked how it sounded, so I kept it that way. Who knows…without that letter sitting there that day, I might never have sung the numbers, and subsequently thrown the song away. Today, in the new millennium, I'm glad I didn't. ..quote from Burton Cummings on Facebook , Dec. 19,2019.
ReplyDeletei found this on the internet :
ReplyDeleteThe number 46201 is Jean Valjean's prisoner number in Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Since Burton Cummings is well educated, this is most likely the meaning of the lyric, probably relating his situation to that of Jean Valjean's.
phantasseeon January 21, 2013 Link
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Close, but not quite. Jean Valjean's number is 24601.
Blabbityon April 21, 2013