"Eero Saarinen" - Finn's Motel - St. Louis, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 37.440 W 090° 11.101
15S E 745061 N 4278812
Song about the Arch and it's creator.
Waymark Code: WM10B6Z
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 04/06/2019
Views: 9
County of site: St. Louis Independent City
Location of site: Gateway National Monument, The Arch, St. Louis
Datte of Release: 2006
Composer: Joe Thebeau
Artist: Finn's Motel
Call St. Louis backward or provincial or old-fashioned -- we won't necessarily disagree with you. But take a look toward the riverfront sometime and consider, for a moment, that giant catenary curve that frames our city like a 630-foot, art-deco croquet wicket. With a rumble that's equal parts Cheap Trick and Archers of Loaf, Finn's Motel pays tribute to the Gateway Arch's architect Eero Saarinen and his futuristic vision of westward expansion. Joe Thebeau, long-time leader of various smart and nervy rock bands, doesn't need much more than the song's 90 seconds to sing his praises to our city's trademark, but that doesn't stop him from getting a subtle dig in at the song's end. He sings of "a future we couldn't hope to live up to," recognizing either the vast brilliance of Saarinen's design or that the Arch's 1968 inauguration happened to coincide with the city's continued depopulation" ~ Christian Schaeffer, Riverfront Times
"I didn’t realize all these things about The Arch until an early 21st century sunset ride as a passenger in car gave me the opportunity to simply gaze at it. And these realizations hit me fast and forcefully. Suddenly, I “got it.” And I was proud of our City for once having the towering vision to persevere for decades to build something that was only and simply beautiful and symbolic. It’s as simple as a flower, which is a complicated thing.
Taking The Arch for granted is not just a Vanity Fair poll result. How many decades did it take for St. Louis to light it at night? And how many of you in St. Louis have never been near it, touched it, or been up inside of it? None of these things are crucial, but it does stir the soul, and you don’t know how powerful and empowering that can be until it overtakes you.
My absolute favorite summary of the power of the Gateway Arch comes from Joe Thebeau, in the Finn’s Motel song “Eero Saarinen“' ~ B.E.L.T.
Listen: Finn's Motel
Lyrics:
Eero, arching, westward over my city
Stainless and brilliant
Eero, arching, skyward into the universe
xpanding, expansive possibility.
Eero Arching Westward over my city
Stainless and brilliant
Eero Arching Skyward into the universe
Expanding Expansive possibilities
The kind of vision I can look up to
Arching over Into a future
we couldn’t hope to Live up to Eero