The art of storytelling in American lore tends to follow a character who starts at the bottom and ends up making it all the way to the top. That’s the story of the America Dream! Our society loves that fairy tale so much and was so prevalent throughout the early part of our history. However, during the 50s and 60s, the storytelling in America went thru a radical evolution and suddenly highlighted the tragic and the sad ending. What happens when the characters in the story find themselves withering away on a dead-end street going nowhere in a dead-end town? In this episode, we are talking about a great American tale about the backside of barlife, where goodtimes and party anthems slowly devolve into emptiness and desperate single-serving relationships. This is the 2006 album Boys and Girls In America by The Hold Steady, one of our favorite albums.