# "I Love L.A.," "Phila. Freedom," and other "city songs" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140 "2007-01-16T00:55:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/21 "2007-01-16T13:20:53Z")
[QUOTE=woodstockbirdybird] Nobody should say it’s about another city - the lyrics even say “Boston, you’re my home”. [/QUOTE] Well obviously tehre are other versions where they use another city and another river. I don’t live in Boston, so I can’t answer the OP question, although I can say that if I never hear “Rock N’Roll Band” again, it will still be too soon. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/22 "2007-01-16T13:36:58Z")
50 Cent did a song called “A Baltimore Love Thing” that’s about heroin. One of the more famous is [Streets of Baltimore](http://www.gramparsons.com/lyric/lyric_css.php?lyric=stree). Gram Parsons did a version. I think Junior Brown did too. It’s a nice song, kind of sad. But, I never hear them on the radio. I’m not sick to death of them yet. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/23 "2007-01-16T13:40:43Z")
Where I live now - Orange Avenue by Seven Mary Three. It didn’t seem to get more play than any other late-90s modern rock song. OTOH, the only time I was in Key Largo I heard – well, you know what. Now, my hometown, Fredonia, NY, doesn’t have a song that mentions anything in it (AFAIK,) but the CD of 2 early 10,000 Maniacs albums is called “Hope Chest - The Fredonia Recordings”. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/24 "2007-01-16T13:46:06Z")
Damn! I wish I lived in [El Paso](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/k/kinky+friedman/asshole+from+el+paso_20079467.html) ---
**Author:** ![GLWasteful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f05b48/32.png) [@GLWasteful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GLWasteful)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/25 "2007-01-16T14:30:35Z")
[QUOTE=Rigamarole] There’s an I Love L.A. song? [/QUOTE] Again, best taken as satire. And _I Love LA_ also mentions NYC and Chicago in it’s first stanza. Not in a positive way, you understand, but still. And I don’t think I have ever heard _Goin’ to Kansas City_ played on the radio. I have heard it played by touring bands _ad nauseum_, and quite frankly, I wish like hell they would stop. I’m not really sick of it. I think it’s a nice enough little song and pretty representative of the genre. And 12th Street and Vine doesn’t exist. Hasn’t for as long as I’ve been aware, either. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/26 "2007-01-16T14:40:10Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] Well obviously tehre are other versions where they use another city and another river. I don’t live in Boston, so I can’t answer the OP question, although I can say that if I never hear “Rock N’Roll Band” again, it will still be too soon. [/QUOTE] Yes. There was one for Pittsburgh that I remember hearing back in the '70s. It got played quite a bit. As for where I am now, there’s the Chuck Berry song (later covered by Elvis) that mentions “Norfolk, Virginie” early on, “Promised Land”. But I don’t hear that much, and I’m not tired of hearing either version. Can’t think of any more for Southeastern Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/27 "2007-01-16T14:42:17Z")
To suit the character of our city, here’s a bilingual submission: - Gino Vanelli, “I Just Wanna Stop” (which begins, “When I think about those nights in Montreal”). - “Demain matin, Montréal m’attend” from the musical of the same name. There’s others, but those are the two I’ve heard most often… ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/28 "2007-01-16T14:49:31Z")
[QUOTE=Mirror Image egamI rorriM] “Kansas City” Going to Kansas City Kansas City here I come They got some crazy little women and I’m a-gonna get me some [/QUOTE] Then there’s the one from _Oklahoma!_, which is the first one I thought of: I got to Kansas City on a Fridee By Saturdee I learned a thing or two, For up to then I didn’t have no idee Of what the modern world was comin’ to. Not that I live there or anything… ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/29 "2007-01-16T15:23:06Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] No one’s answering the second and third questions I asked in the OP. :mad: 😕 [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > How often is it played on local radio? And are you sick to death of it yet? I will stick to “Born to Run”, for at least 10 years it was played to death in NJ/NY. I was sick of it and Bruce. As his popularity died down a little and as I saw him a few times live in small venues doing mostly old Blues covers, I learned a new and very strong appreciation for Bruce and “Born to Run”. It is a great song when it is not getting played at least daily. Jim ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/30 "2007-01-16T15:28:23Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Damn! I wish I lived in [El Paso](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/k/kinky+friedman/asshole+from+el+paso_20079467.html) [/QUOTE] Used to live near there. Really, no, you don’t want to wish you lived there. As for my hometown, aside from 1920s-era vaudeville tunes like “Shuffle off to Buffalo”, there are scads of references to Buffalo in many Ani DiFranco and Goo Goo Dolls songs. Sonds mentioning the city that get airplay include “Rock and Roll Girl” by John Fogarty, and “Truckin’” by the Grateful Drad. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/31 "2007-01-16T15:28:25Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] Google tells me there’s a “Christmas Time in Washington” by the Indigo Girls, but I’ve yet to hear it. [/QUOTE] The Indigo Girls do indeed cover Steve Earle’s “Christmastime in Washington.” For me, it’s not as much a song as a single line: “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.” I don’t hear it on the radio too often, but it’s done to death on internet message boards. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/32 "2007-01-16T15:56:09Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] 50 Cent did a song called “A Baltimore Love Thing” that’s about heroin. One of the more famous is [Streets of Baltimore](http://www.gramparsons.com/lyric/lyric_css.php?lyric=stree). Gram Parsons did a version. I think Junior Brown did too. It’s a nice song, kind of sad. [/QUOTE] Even better is “Good Morning Baltimore” from the musical version of “Hairspray.” I grew up in Kalamazoo MI and had to perform A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I got a GAAAAAAL in Kalamazoo with every school choir I ever joined and so I hate the song with a passion. Now I live in Madison and we have the dance tune “It’s Madison Time” (which I’m not sure was actually written about Madison WI). I like the song but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/33 "2007-01-16T15:59:43Z")
[ulr=“[Salt Lake City (song) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City_(song))”]Salt Lake City by The Beach Boys. “Midnight Special” contains the line: _If you ever go to Houston, boys you better walk right, and you better not squabble, and you better not fight._ ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/34 "2007-01-16T16:00:48Z")
[QUOTE=BMax] [Salt Lake City](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City_(song)) by The Beach Boys. “Midnight Special” contains the line: _If you ever go to Houston, boys you better walk right, and you better not squabble, and you better not fight._ [/QUOTE] try that instead. ---
**Author:** ![jbarro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@jbarro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jbarro)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/35 "2007-01-16T16:06:42Z")
Canadian chiming in here. The folk song “Barrett’s Privateers” has in the chorus the line “I’m a broken man on a Halifax pier”. I’ve never heard it on the radio, but during tourist season it’s constantly played in bars, by street musicians, etc. down on the waterfront. A friend of mine used to bartend downtown and people would always request it. It drove him crazy. Also, the Barenaked Ladies did a song back in the 90s called “Hello City” which had several unflattering references to Halifax. Again, not really played on the radio, even back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/36 "2007-01-16T16:37:23Z")
[QUOTE=xnylder] - Gino Vanelli, “I Just Wanna Stop” (which begins, “When I think about those nights in Montreal”). [/QUOTE] Huh. I always thought it was “out in the hall.” ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/37 "2007-01-16T16:44:19Z")
[QUOTE=Rigamarole] There’s an I Love L.A. song? -clueless Angeleno [/QUOTE] Here’s a sample verse: > [@](#): > > Rollin down the imperial highway > With a big nasty redhead at my side > Santa ana wind blowin hot from the north > And we was born to ride And another: > [@](#): > > Look at that mountain > Look at that tree > Look at that bum over there, man > Hes down on his knees I believe it was severely edited for the Olympics. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/38 "2007-01-16T16:58:47Z")
I’m a Philly guy, but I can live my entire life without every hearing Philadelphia Freedom again. The Chili peppers did a song _quasi-about_ LA: [Magic Johnson](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/r/redhotchilipepperslyrics/magicjohnsonlyrics.html) There was an 80’s band _Translator_ that had a song [LA LA](http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,176839,00.html) about Los Angeles… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/39 "2007-01-16T17:35:21Z")
I think _Freedom of '76_ by Ween is a perfect skewering of both 70’s soul and Philly stereotypes. Then again I’m not from Philly so it doesn’t count for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/40 "2007-01-16T17:55:27Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I will stick to “Born to Run” …It is a great song when it is not getting played at least daily… [/QUOTE] Agreed. A college professor of my sister’s once started class by saying, “Sorry I’m late. The streets were jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive.” 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140.md?page=3)