Songs with reference to your home town/state

[ManOnEarth]

99.99 percent sure this song was written about my home town, and is basically autobiographical.

And I actually like it.

 

[Blackjac97]

I'm surprised no one's claimed this yet.



I'm not from Bangor, but I've spent plenty of time there.

EDIT: I've also spent plenty of time in Waterville, which is where my Mom was born and grew up.

 

[irjason]

Just remembered Big Bad Bill lived in Louisville!

 

[sgtpepper]

This is the only version I found available on YouTube.

Paul McCartney - The backseat of my car

It mentions Mexico City.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

Not just the story of my hometown, but of my life. "Too much time around you start to kick my ass/Too much time away I lose my lease."

 

[skeeler]

My personal favorite is The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

 

[Spectre Gunner]

"Green Grass and High Tides" The Outlaws were formed in Tampa around '67 or so. There are many homes and places in the Tampa Bay area where the grassy lawns meet the bay. However, the song is not about grassy beaches, it's about the many young musicians like Hendrix, Janis, etc, who passed way too early.

 

[two fingers]

Carolina On My Mind- James Taylor
Wagon Wheel
Carolina - Eric Church
Carolina - Parmalee (I actually hung out with those guys when they were younger and split some shows with them when they were The Thomas Brothers. Their bass player was the drummer at that time.)
Carolina Sunset - Marshall Tucker
Copper Line - James Taylor
Cape Fear - Rosebuds
Oh Carolina- Vince Gill
Carolina Blues - Blues Travelers
Deacon Blue - Steely Dan (Legend around here is that the song had something to do with Wake Forest Deacons sacking at football as opposed to the Crimson Tide of Alabama. That very well could be BS. I didn't search to see if it's legit.)

There's a lot more. Several Ryan Adam's songs. Several Allman Brothers songs. Several Maceo Parker songs. Several Avett Brothers songs. Several Buffett songs. Etc.

 

[Spirit of Ox]

Jeez I'm from Connecticut and the only song I can think of is Peace Frog by the Doors. "Blood in the streets in the town of New Haven".

 

[Spectre Gunner]

Jeez I'm from Connecticut and the only song I can think of is Peace Frog by the Doors. "Blood in the streets in the town of New Haven".

Isn't "Yankee Doodle" your state song? No offense intended but I would have to move.

 

[Crater]

Out in the west Texas town of El Paso.... over half a million people live there but most people's knowledge of my hometown is due to the Marty Robbins song. Or they were in the army and were stationed at the ironically named Fort Bliss.
There IS a Rosa's Cantina there, but I think it opened after the song was written. As far as I know "El Paso" is entirely fictional. My current hometown, Dallas, gets a couple of mentions in a ZZ Top song and a Grateful Dead tune.

 

[Dogbertday]

That "alcohol" country song. "What made milwaukee famous". "On wisconsin". I know there's more.

 

[el_cody_loco]

The band Cake is from Sacramento, CA (where I grew up), and they have a song on their Comfort Eagle album called "Arco Arena". Arco is where the Sacramento Kings will have played for ages until their new arena in downtown Sacramento is completed later this summer. It's got a new sponsor now but it'll always be Arco Arena to me:


EDIT: Just gonna say it for those that don't know- Cake's bass player is incredible, go give them a listen sometime.

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

I get a double-whammy on Wagon Wheel... I was born & raised in North Carolina ("in the land of the pines"), but I'm up in Roanoke (where the truckers apparently "take another long toke")

If it weren't for the tip jar, I'd never do that song again.

 

[Les Ismoor]

Lonnie Mack visits the Cincinnati Jail:

 

[cfsporn]

I'm from NYC, so the list of songs that reference my hometown is a long one indeed. Looking through my personal music library, here are just some of the songs about my hometown.
Beastie Boys- No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn, An Open Letter to NYC
Big Pun- Cross Bronx Expressway
Black Sheep- The Choice is Yours (Revisited)
Boogie Down Productions/KRS-One- South Bronx, The Bridge is Over
Busta Rhymes- New York $h!7
Chic- Le Freak
Eric B. & Rakim- Juice (Know the Ledge), Mahogany
Gang Star- JFK 2 LAX, New York Strait Talk
Ghostface Killah- King of New York

 

[stevecaronna]

New Orleans Ladies - Leroux
New Orleans Is Sinking - Tragically Hip
Walkin' To New Orleans - Fats Domino
Way Down Yonder In New Orleans - Freddie Cannon
Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
Baby Please Don't Go - Big Joe Williams; Amboy Dukes (Ted Nugent)
Battle of New Orleans - Johnny Horton
Big River - Johnny Cash
Brown Sugar - Rolling Stones
House of the Rising Sun - Animals
Jesus Just Left Chicago - ZZ Top
Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
Mr. Bojangles - Jerry Jeff Walker
Truckin' - Grateful Dead
Arlo Guthrie - City of New Orleans
Harry Connick Jr - Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans
Tractors - Tryin' to get to New Orleans
Long John Baldry - Midnight in New Orleans

 

[Devinple]

Not from Bobcaygeon, but the song mentions Toronto.

 

[Blaargh]

Not a song, but I am from Portishead.


I live in Bristol now and would have thought there'd be more about it, but the only thing that springs to mind is "From Bristol Zoo, to B&Q" in Goldie Lookin' Chain's classic Yo Momma's Got a Penis.

 

[twocargar]

Does this count?