# "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:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/61 "2007-01-17T02:22:35Z")
You know that “Down on Main St.” song by Bob Seger? Allegedly it’s about Main St. in Ann Arbor, MI – my adopted hometown, where I attend college. It’s kind of sad, the song doesn’t really paint a good picture of the Ann Arbor I know… it makes it sound kind of slummy. Oh well. We hear that song from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/62 "2007-01-17T03:07:48Z")
[QUOTE=Labdad] There’s the flat-out boogie of “Oh, Atlanta” by Little Feat. [/QUOTE] **Bad Company** also had a (different) song called "Oh Atlanta. "[Alison Kraus does a cover](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVAJXr58kBo) which is really nice. Atlanta also gets brief mentions in **“Love Shack”** by the **B52s** and **“200 More Miles”** by **The Cowboy Junkies** , and then there’s **“Doraville”** (which is in metro Atlanta) by **Atlanta Rhythm Section**. “[Rainy Night in Georgia](http://ladynwavs.com/rainynightingeorgia.html)” by Brook Benton is obviously set in Atlanta, though he doesn’t mention the city’s name. Going back eight decades, [Jimmie Rodgers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Rodgers_(country_singer)#Songs_and_Recordings) had some unfavorable commentary on my fair city in “[T for Texas (Blue Yodel No. 1](http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiTFORTXAS.html)” The only one of those songs I got really sick of hearing was “Doraville” (though it seldom gets played any more). ---
**Author:** ![e-bow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@e-bow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/e-bow)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/63 "2007-01-17T16:46:49Z")
[QUOTE=Billdo] There are about seven gazillion songs about New York City, and none of them is particularly overplayed. If you had to name one “city song” for New York, it would probably be Sinatra’s “New York, New York,” which gets virtually no airplay on any station that I listen to. I will hear Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” once in a rare while, but certainly not enough to be bothersome. [/QUOTE] **“I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death”** ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/64 "2007-01-17T20:15:53Z")
The late John Denver used to sing a song called _Saturday Night in Toledo, Ohio_ but nobody in Toledo took it too kindly. 😃 [Link](http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/John-Denver/Saturday-Night-In-Toledo-Ohio.html) ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/65 "2007-01-17T20:53:28Z")
_Mass Ave._ by Wille Alexander is a great Boston song. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/66 "2007-01-17T22:01:18Z")
> [@](#): > > “Philadelphia Freedom” is a song released by Elton John (as “Elton John Band”) as a single in 1975. The song was one of John’s numerous number-one U.S. hit singles during the early and mid-1970s, which saw his recordings dominating the charts. The song was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin as a favor to Elton’s friend, tennis star Billie Jean King. King was part of the Philadelphia Freedoms tennis team. Source: [Philadelphia Freedom (song) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Freedom_%28song%29) I’ve heard this and similar comments for years about the song, just as I heard that it is not about the city of Philadelphia, per se. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/67 "2007-01-18T01:15:43Z")
The only one that comes to mind for Regina is by the Arrogant Worms’ song The Last Saskatchewan Pirate. A verse of the total lyrics which can be found [here](http://webhome.idirect.com/~muskokajoe/lyric/pirate.html) : Cause it’s a Heave! Ho! Hay! Ho! Comin’ down the plains Stealin’ wheat and barley and all the other grains It’s a Ho! Hay! Hi! Hay! Farmers bar your doors When you see the Jolly Roger on Regina’s mighty shores It is not overplayed on the radio here. I hear it infrequently, at best, though I enjoy it when I do. ---
**Author:** ![Grey\_Tama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@Grey\_Tama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey_Tama)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140/68 "2007-01-18T07:36:03Z")
I have lived my early years in a city called “Finland’s Chicago”, so my city song is naturally **Sweet Home Chicago** (especially the Blues Brothers version). And The Reader was located in…? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-l-a-phila-freedom-and-other-city-songs/388140.md?page=3)