In Popular Culture
Testa's violent death inspired the first line of musician Bruce Springsteen's US hit song, "Atlantic City". The song opens with the following line,
"Well they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night/Now they blew up his house too".
The song depicts a young couple's romantic escape to the New Jersey city Atlantic City, but it also wrestles with the inevitability of death, as the man in the relationship intends to take a job in organized crime upon arriving in the city. The song also evokes the widespread uncertainty regarding gambling during its early years in Atlantic City and its promises to resurrect the city. This uncertainty and the man's uncertainty about taking the less-than-savory job are echoed in the lyrics "Everything dies, baby, that's a fact, but maybe everything that dies someday comes back."
Read more about this topic: Philip Testa
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