Songs with place names in them?

Doc

I’m looking for songs with names of places in America in them.

The song doesn’t have to have the place named in the title but it dose have to be somewhere in the lyrics of the actual song. It’s for a friend who is doing research for a book, we where talking about it and I got brain freeze and could only think of a few most of which had the place name in the title.

So got any?

Amazotheamazing

Wanted Man by Johnny Cash, Southern Accents by Tom Petty.

loyatemu

pretty much any Johnny Cash song for that matter - "I've been everywhere" has about a hundred places mentioned; "Folsom Prison Blues" - I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die; "Big River" namechecks various cities on the Mississippi, Baton Rouge, New Orleans etc...

boredatwork82

Detroit Rock City by KISS
Beverly Hills by Weezer
New York, New York By Frankie.
House of teh rising sun by The Animals
Are you going to San francisco by The Byrds...(I Think)


Those ones are just off the top of my head, bound to be loads more in my cd collection.

asdasd

Do you know the way to San Jose
new york state of mind.

Rigsby

Sweet Home Chicago

New York New York

Spanish Harlem

Electric Los Angeles Sunset ( Al Stewart)

Almost Lucy (mentions California) Al Stewart

L.A. Woman

What did Delaware Boys ( lots of place names in this song). Here are the lyrics :
http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/delaware.htm

Little Old Lady from Pasadena

Trouble Child (Joni Mitchell) mentions Malibu

Xavi6

'City of Chicago' - Christy Moore

'New York' - Eskimo Joe

'New York, New York' - Ryan Adams

'Mercy Me' - Alkaline Trio (San Francisco and Chicago)

asdasd

At the risk of destroying everybodys fun I tenatively add this link

SOngs With Cities in the Title

Rigsby

asdasd wrote: »

At the risk of destroying everybodys fun I tenatively add this link

SOngs With Cities in the Title

Forget that link, it's not authentic..... no mention of Dublin in it !! :rolleyes:

delbertgrady

Via Chicago: Wilco
Nebraska: Bruce Springsteen
New York City Serenade: Bruce Springsteen
A Good Man is Hard to Find (Pittsburgh): Bruce Springsteen
Santa Ana: Bruce Springsteen
Manhattan Skyline: a-ha
Twin Falls: Built to Spill/Ben Folds Five
California Dreamin': The Mamas and the Papas
California Earthquake: Cass Elliott
All the Way to Reno: REM
Dayton, Ohio - 1903: Randy Newman
My Old Kentucky Home: Randy Newman
Baltimore: Randy Newman
Birmingham: Randy Newman
Texas Girl at the Funeral of Her Father: Randy Newman
Hey Manhattan: Prefab Sprout
San Diego Serenade: Tom Waits
Virginia Plain: Roxy Music
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again: Bob Dylan
New York City Cops: The Strokes
By the Time My Head Gets to Phoenix: Peter Bruntnell
El Paso: Marty Robbins
Albuquerque: Neil Young
Omaha: Counting Crows

The aforementioned San Francisco song that was thought to be The Byrds is possibly Let's Go to San Francisco by The Flowerpot Men, but more likely San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair) by Scott McKenzie.

Insect Overlord

Is it too early for "Fairytale of New York"

fillmore jive

Straight outta Compton

laoisforliam

Body of an American - The Pogues
Harry Chapin - 30 000 pounds if bananas

bullpost

The Lakes Of Pontchartrain - Paul Brady
THOUSANDS ARE SAILING - Pogues
Galveston - Glen Campbell
All My Exes - George Strait
Cities - Talking Heads
Wichita Lineman
MacArthur Park
Junco Partner
Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)
Washington Bullets
Bobby Womack - Across 110th Street

laoisforliam

House of the rising sun- The Animals (New orleans)
Fake tales of san francisco - Arctic monkeys (San francisco)
Bitches aint **** - NWA (Compton)
The lonesome death of hattie carroll - Dylan (Baltimore)
Across 110th street - Bobby womack (new york)?
rainy night in gerogia - Brook benton
streets of phillidelphia - bruce springstein
coyotes - don edwards (texas)
mona lisas and mad hatters - elton john (spanish harlem, new york city)
tiny dancer - elton john (LA)
in the ghetto - elvis pressley (chicago)
seven nation army - white stripes (wichita)

Nailz

New Orleans is a Dying Whore - Down

Dr Gradus

Idaho - Nerina Pallot

Fuzzy_Dunlop

There's Lawrence Ks by Josh Ritter

Headshot

California by phantom planet



dani California by red hot chilli peppers (mentions Mississippi,alabama,Louisiana,Indiana)

especially in Michigan by red hot chilli peppers

Micilin Muc

The Waterboys - Glastonbury Song (Glastonbury, Maybole, Stornaway, The Boyne, Carraroe)

jd007

sweet home alabama

cashback

Cuyahoga - REM
Houston - REM

I'm too tired to think of more!

Twee.

Up on Cripple Creek - The Band (Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana)
Dixie Chicken - Little Feat (Memphis, Tennessee)
The Jeep Song - Dresden Dolls (Boston)
Memphis in the Meantime - John Hiatt (Eh, Memphis!)

anti-venom

California Uber Alles -Dead Kennedys
New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones - Fear

PrivateEye

Possible some of these have already been listed, I once made a playlist of songs with places in their titles.

Alkaline Trio- San Francisco
Ramones- California Sun
Misfits-Hollywood Babylon
The Shangri Las-The Train from Kansas City
Woody Guthrie-New York Town
Jawbreaker-West Bay Invitational
Luke Kelly-Alabama 58
Against Me!- Sink, Florida, Sink!
Phil Ochs-Here's to the State of Mississippi

Deeper Blue

Slow Night, So Long - Kings of Leon
Arizona - Kings of Leon

BornToRun88

Songs with place names

Penny Lane-The Beatles (most obvious one that no one has thought of)
Strawberry Fields Forever-The Beatles
Belfast Child-Simple Minds
Dakota- Stereophonics
Mersey Paradise-The Stone Roses
London Loves-Blur
London-The Smiths
Amsterdam-Coldplay
Kansas City (Hey,Hey)- The Beatles

delbertgrady

BornToRun88 wrote: »

Penny Lane-The Beatles (most obvious one that no one has thought of)

... because the thread asked for places in the USA. :rolleyes:

BornToRun88

delbertgrady wrote: »

... because the thread asked for places in the USA. :rolleyes:

ah yes, i didn't read that. i would have got top marks if it wasnt america, well count kansas city (hey,hey) in that list and dakota, has anyone thought of streets of philadelphia yet by the boss

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_about_California food for thought, wikipedia here has songs about california, which means it has california in the song title

Omnomnom

Phantom Planet - California

Dr Gradus

Augustana - Boston

dogbert27

Hey, just wondering what kind of book your doing cos listeneing to radio 1 this morning the guy was giving an intro to a song he was about to play and referenced a book that was about a road trip around the States based on place names in songs. The book started in Woodstock.

crisco10

America - Simon and Garfunkel (pittsburgh, Saginaw and New Jersey)

DundalkDuffman

Take almost Billy Joel track and there are any number of US placenames in them. Will have a listen on route to Dublin later on and keep a wee list

Doc

dogbert27 wrote: »

Hey, just wondering what kind of book your doing cos listeneing to radio 1 this morning the guy was giving an intro to a song he was about to play and referenced a book that was about a road trip around the States based on place names in songs. The book started in Woodstock.

Its not me doing the book its my flatmates girlfriend and I think its going to be for young adults as she has written a number of books for that age group already. I think the book is very much still in the concept and research stage at the moment.

Thanks to everyone for adding to the list!

henryporter

Jersey Girl - Tom Waits
Johnsburg, Illinois - Tom Waits
Kentucky Avenue - Tom Waits
Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis - Tom Waits
Wabash Cannonball - Trad.
Avalon Blues - Mississippi John Hurt
San Francisco Bay Blues - Jesse Fuller
Deep Ellem Blues - Joe & Bob Attlesay
Louisiana Blues - Muddy Waters
Going down to New Orleans - Trad.
Wichita Blues - Robert Johnson
Sweet Home Chicago - Robert Johnson
West Texas - Trad.
The Grand Coulee Dam - Woodie Guthrie
California Stars - Woodie Guthrie
Danville Girl - Woodie Guthrie
Brownsville Girl - Bob Dylan
I'm shipping up to Boston - Woodie Guthrie
Los Angeles New Years Flood - Woodie Guthrie
New York Town - Woodie Guthrie
Oklahoma Hills - Woodie Guthrie
Oregon Trail - Woodie Guthrie
Philadelphia Lawyer - Woodie Guthrie
Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportees) Woody Guthrie
Roll on Columbia - Woody Guthrie
Talking Columbia - Woody Guthrie
Washington Talkin' Blues - Woody Guthrie
Hard Times in New York Town - Bob Dylan
Mississippi - Bob Dylan
Miss the Mississippi - Bob Dylan
Nashville Skyline Rag - Bob Dylan
North County Blues - Bob Dylan
Oxford Town - Bob Dylan (Oxford, Mississippi)
Ohio - Neil Young
Shenandoah - Trad.
Streets of Baltimore - Gram Parsons
Ooh Las Vegas - Gram Parsons
If you're going to San Francisco - Mamas and Papas

Xavi6

Will Smith - Miami

superconor

By The Time I Get To Arizona - Public Enemy
Get Down - NAS (mentions New York)
Harlem Child - Drifters
St Louis Slim - Seasick Steve (mentions a few local places)

Edit: Fresh Prince Theme Song

DundalkDuffman

Staten Island, Pennsylvania, Long Island, Jersey, Allentown, Parris Island all Billy Joel.

the fixer

Butthole Surfers - Dracula From Houston

Thomas828

Chattanooga Choo Choo; I've Got a Girl in Kalamazoo; Pennsylvania 65000 - Glenn Miller Orchestra. Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas; Do You Know what it Means to Miss New Orleans? - Louis Armstrong. Texas Style - Big Joe Turner

lordgoat

Pretty much anything by Woody guthrie.
Sufjan Stevens has a couple of abums and some EP's about certain states.
Ryan Adams NY/My Sweet Carolina/La Cienega
Elliott Smith - LA

rednik

New York minute - Eagles.
Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen
To live and die in LA - Wang Chung

icanhearjimi

Beck - Loser (Reno)