Coffee in a Cardboard Cup lyric

[MusicMan]

Posted: 6/1/04 at 11:38pm

In this Kander and Ebb song, one of the lines reads:

"Tell me what could possibly be drearier/Than seaboard from the Belnord cafeteria..."

Does anyone know where or what the Belnord cafeteria was? What does it have to do with a "seaboard" (land of the coast)?

There is a Belnord residence hotel in NYC that once fell on hard times and has been renovated (Bashevis Singer lived there near the end of this life). Does this have anything to do with the cafeteria?

I cannot seem to find any information about it. Was Fred Ebb smoking crack that day? Updated On: 6/1/04 at 11:38 PM

[magruder]

Posted: 6/2/04 at 2:20am

The lyric is not "seaboard," it's "c-board," as in "cardboard". But I have no idea if there was an actual Belnord Cafeteria, circa 1971.

[Jon]

Posted: 6/2/04 at 8:38am

And furthermore, there was no crack in 1971!

Posted: 6/2/04 at 11:39pm

Magruder is right, it is C-board.

There was a Belnord Cafeteria. I believe it was in the W30's (Garment Center). I'll get that confirmed. It was very big with taxi drivers ages ago.

J.

[NativeNewYorker]

Posted: 6/2/04 at 11:56pm

Oh, remember Mandy Patinkin's take on this song? My father used to listen to his albums ALL THE TIME...I relate his songs to childhood...I was so fascinated that Mandy did all the voices in that song.