The Snow Emergency Rap (ca. 1988)

by Jim Bickal, Minnesota Public Radio

Back in 1988, Jim Bickal, now the managing producer for Minnesota Public Radio News, tried to demystify the Minneapolis plowing system. Naturally, that meant composing and performing a rap song.

Minneapolis has declared an emergency,
But you won't get towed if you listen to me.
If your car is on a snow emergency route,
Move it by nine or you're going to shout,
'They towed my car. They took it away.
It's at the impound lot and now I got to pay.'

The place to be tonight by nine
Is the even side of the residential line.
Tomorrow after 8, if you want to go out,
It's OK to park on a Snow Emergency Route.
But at the same time, they'll be towing away.
Cars that are left next to a parkway.

Tomorrow after 8, the rules go away,
But they'll be back the very next day.
The next morning at 8, the rule to abide
Is that you car must be on the odd side.
That night at 8, the rules go away,
And they stabilize the very next day.
(From 8 in the morning, here's how it goes:
Get on the even side until the next time it snows.)*

'Cuz if the snow don't get ya the tow trucks will,
And it's the impound lot they like to fill.
So heed my words. Don't be a sap.
Do the the dance we call the Snow Emergency Rap!

*This rule no longer applies. Minneapolis used to ban parking on the odd side of residential streets all winter long. That is not the case this winter.