# How many hit Rock/Pop tunes mention Michigan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 3, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207 "2009-11-03T21:26:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/1 "2009-11-03T21:26:09Z")
Inspired by this [thread](How many hit Rock/Pop tunes mention Wisconsin?)( I swear I was gonna start a thread like this the other day…dangit…johnny come lately) NOT COUNTING DETROIT…What songs mention Michigan or its cities? A few to get us started… America by Simon and Garfunkel Roll Me Away by Bob Seger and of course The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/2 "2009-11-03T21:33:00Z")
The songs aren’t hits, but I do have to mention Sufjan Stevens’ tribute to his home state, the album [Michigan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_%28album%29). ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/3 "2009-11-03T21:37:46Z")
Especially in Michigan - Red Hot Chili Peppers ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/4 "2009-11-03T21:54:09Z")
Don’t Stop Believing by Journey has the line “born and raised in south Detroit.” Similarly, Sam Roberts Band had a single come out last year, I believe, called Detroit '67, also about Detroit. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/5 "2009-11-03T21:57:53Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > NOT COUNTING DETROIT…What songs mention Michigan or its cities? > [@apollonia](#): > > Don’t Stop Believing by Journey has the line “born and raised in south Detroit.” > > Similarly, Sam Roberts Band had a single come out last year, I believe, called Detroit '67, also about Detroit. Besides Detroit ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/6 "2009-11-03T21:58:23Z")
_Detroit Rock_ City – Kiss _Be My Lover_ – Alice Cooper (“I told her that I came from Detroit City…”) > [@](#): > > Besides Detroit eta: oops ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/7 "2009-11-03T21:59:24Z")
It’s not a hit song, but Wilco’s “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” has references to “a private beach in Michigan”. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/8 "2009-11-03T21:59:28Z")
That Kid Rock tune about _Sweet Home Alabama_: “…summertime in northern Michigan…” ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/9 "2009-11-03T21:59:38Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > Besides Detroit > [@blondebear](#): > > _Detroit Rock_ City – Kiss > _Be My Lover_ – Alice Cooper (“I told her that I came from Detroit City…”) Besides Detroit ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/10 "2009-11-03T22:13:27Z")
deleted ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/11 "2009-11-03T22:17:11Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Let me try to redeem myself with a Simon and Garfunkle lyric then (from “America”): > > _It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw…_ Hehe..did you read the OP? 😛 On edit I see you did ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/12 "2009-11-03T22:20:32Z")
😕 I think I’d better give up here…maybe I can do better on the Wisconsin thread… ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/13 "2009-11-03T22:23:29Z")
In Michigan, by Bruce Springsteen. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/14 "2009-11-03T22:28:38Z")
Wel, there’s the Lefty Frizzell classic, "Saginaw Michigan."l ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/15 "2009-11-03T22:32:11Z")
Going a little further afield, there’s Jonathan Coulton’s “The Big Boom.” ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/16 "2009-11-03T23:17:23Z")
Magnetic Fields’ “Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing”: “Be we in Paris or in Lansing…” Not a hit, but not about Detroit. If there’s another song that mentions Lansing I’d be surprised. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/17 "2009-11-03T23:27:34Z")
As in the other thread, “I’ve been everywhere” by Johnny Cash. He mentions Kalamazoo. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/18 "2009-11-03T23:32:43Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > As in the other thread, “I’ve been everywhere” by Johnny Cash. He mentions Kalamazoo. Cadillac also ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/19 "2009-11-04T01:18:41Z")
[“Michigan Rag”?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uZbq8z9vOk&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207/20 "2009-11-04T12:03:24Z")
How about that gal in Kalamazoo? Well it was a hit 50-60 years ago! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hit-rock-pop-tunes-mention-michigan/516207.md?page=2)