# Musicians with a strong "sense of place" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 9, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779 "2008-07-09T01:07:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/1 "2008-07-09T01:07:29Z")
I’m interested in musicians/bands/songwriters whose songs evidence a strong connection with a city/state/country. Some examples would be Bruce Springsteen (Jersey Shore), Dropkick Murphys (Boston) and Gordon Lightfoot (Western Canada). It’s not just that they are from those places, it’s that their songs are very often located in those places, either explicitly, or just in the imagery they use (e.g. Springsteen boardwalks and factories, Lightfoot snow and wheat). What are some more? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/2 "2008-07-09T01:11:15Z")
Dr. John. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/3 "2008-07-09T01:14:15Z")
I don’t think the Ramones could be from anywhere but New York, and it shows up a lot in their songs. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/4 "2008-07-09T01:17:40Z")
Primus makes a lot of references to San Francisco Bay Area towns and locations. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/5 "2008-07-09T01:27:42Z")
Great Big Sea? ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/6 "2008-07-09T02:02:11Z")
You beat me to them, **Helena**. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/7 "2008-07-09T02:18:40Z")
Lyle Lovett and Texas ---
**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:** [July 9, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/8 "2008-07-09T02:41:14Z")
Kinks: England ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_Samaritan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bad\_Samaritan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Samaritan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/9 "2008-07-09T03:35:33Z")
Mellencamp ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/10 "2008-07-09T07:42:55Z")
Sublime mentions Long Beach, CA in their songs, for example: > [@](#): > > All the people in the house will agree that we’re > Well qualified to represent the LBZ\* from “Summertime” \*local slang for the city of Long Beach, which I hadn’t heard before even though I live near there. :o ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/11 "2008-07-09T11:51:23Z")
Red Hot Chili Peppers and California. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/12 "2008-07-09T12:40:16Z")
John Denver and Colorado. The Pogues and Ireland. The Clash, Sex Pistols and England. Bon Jovi and New Jersey. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2008, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/13 "2008-07-09T12:52:49Z")
Lucinda Williams and the ArkLaTex (she’s from Arkansas but sings about East Texas and Louisiana a lot) Lou Reed and New York City. Dieselhed and rural Northern California. If he’d stayed in the Midwest, I’d nominate Sufjan Stevens for _Greetings from Michigan_ and _Come On Feel the Illinoise_, but he’s a Brooklynite now and will certainly be releasing the other 48 CDs in the series any day now. Oddly, the first person I thought of when reading the thread was Astor Piazzolla, whose music seems like the essence of Argentina to me, although I’ve never been there and there are no lyrics to his music as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/14 "2008-07-09T13:13:11Z")
[QUOTE=Lucky 13] \*local slang for the city of Long Beach, which I hadn’t heard before even though I live near there. :o [/QUOTE] I think you mean [LBC](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=L.B.C.), not LBZ, unless that was just a typo. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/15 "2008-07-09T13:16:42Z")
Billy Joel - Long Island (NY) The Beach Boys - Southern California ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/16 "2008-07-09T13:27:44Z")
[QUOTE=neutron star] I think you mean [LBC](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=L.B.C.), not LBZ, unless that was just a typo. [/QUOTE] Or the Long Beach Combat Zone. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/17 "2008-07-09T14:23:37Z")
Texas: Willie Nelson, Robert Earl Keen, Pat Green, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Butthole Surfers. ---
**Author:** ![Richey84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Richey84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richey84)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/18 "2008-07-09T15:33:33Z")
Craig Finn from the Hold Steady writes about the Twin Cities pretty much exclusively. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/19 "2008-07-09T15:36:12Z")
ZZ Top… that little ol’ band from Texas. Stevie “Guitar” Miller has long held ties to Dallas. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779/20 "2008-07-09T15:48:13Z")
Kate Bush’s love for England, and [identification with her home](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuTOh-s-508) is one of the great love stories of all time. Her recent album _Aerial_ is a two CD set, and the second disc _A Sky of Honey_ is an album length song suite about one perfect day in the English countryside. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musicians-with-a-strong-sense-of-place/455779.md?page=2)