# Obscure places in songs that you have been to. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 8, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638 "2018-10-08T02:53:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/101 "2018-10-09T10:17:55Z")
I’ve been to the place where the phone number is Pennsylvania 6-5000. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/102 "2018-10-09T14:00:13Z")
I’ve been to Reno, but didn’t shoot anybody. > [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Rod_Lincoln) says he changed the location in the lyrics to be a better fit for the song to be a response to the song _Hot Rod Race_, but the actual race between the writer (in his Lincoln) and his friend in the Cadillac was indeed up the Spiral Highway. > > Here’s my obscure location from an equally (or more?) obscure song. _St. Francis Dam Disaster_ by Frank Black (aka Black Francis of the Pixies) tells the story of the [1928 dam collapse and flood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Francis_Dam) that killed 400 or more people from the Santa Clarita valley in Californa all the way down to Ventura where the Santa Clara river meets the Pacific. Sounds good to me! Hey, I’ve been to that dam site, as well. Pretty cool! Made a special trip to get there. I was unaware of the song. > [@Rocketeer](#): > > I’ve also been on a business trip to Kalamazoo (the Andrews Sisters had a guy there). Lucky guy! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/103 "2018-10-09T15:11:08Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Sounds good to me! Hey, I’ve been to that dam site, as well. Pretty cool! Made a special trip to get there. I was unaware of the song. I’m probably a bad person. I kept a small chunk of the dam. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/104 "2018-10-09T15:16:36Z")
Although not really mentioned in the song **American Pie** , I’ve been to the corn field where the music died. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/105 "2018-10-09T15:17:03Z")
I’m going to assume a corner in Winslow Arizona has been mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/106 "2018-10-09T15:20:36Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’ve been to the place where the phone number is Pennsylvania 6-5000. How about Transylvania 6-5000 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/107 "2018-10-09T15:41:44Z")
I’m almost positive that at some point as a kid we ate at Mory’s Temple Bar, of Whiffenpoof song fame. I’d say that’s pretty obscure. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/108 "2018-10-09T16:12:29Z")
I share sympathies with “Tacocat - F.U. #8” having ridden that bus route many times. Tacocat is otherwise also great for other Seattle location name-dropping. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/109 "2018-10-09T16:27:05Z")
> [@mind\_the\_gap](#): > > I have been to Micanopy. My middle name truly is Earl. My wife and I have been through Micanopy. Didn’t know there was a song that mentioned it! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/110 "2018-10-09T16:39:29Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Obscurity is a relative term, but I have been to such a place, made famous :dubious: by a Kinky Friedman song (“Rapid City, South Dakota”): Yep. Along with the “Black Mountain Hills of South Dakota” where “there lived a young boy named Rocky Ra_coooonah_.” And the locusts sang, but that’s a different song. 🙂 > [@control-z](#): > > I’ve been to Lynchburg and Danville from the song [Wreck of the Old 97](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTme_J8re8M). Lynchburg was nicer IIRC. > > Also been to Rockingham County and Route 33 from the Old Crow Medicine Show song [Dixie Avenue](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCIKTlVxu3g). Haven’t been to Danville, but have been to Lynchburg, and have been in Rockingham County, VA more times than I can recall. > [@smithsb](#): > > Stockbridge, MA Alice’s Restaurant And “Sweet Baby James.” Been there, and on the turnpike. > [@Iggy](#): > > I’ve been to both the Cumberland Gap and to Johnson City, Tennessee. It is most definitely not west to go from the former to the later. Been to both (lived in Bristol VA for five years), and yeah, somebody had their geography totally screwed up. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > “The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe” train line writes its own song. I don’t know if I’ve been to Atchison, but I have been to Topeka and Santa Fe. Topeka yes, Atchison and Santa Fe no. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/111 "2018-10-09T17:03:23Z")
I’ve been by the River Lea, as in the song by Adele. It’s not obscure now (because someone built a fecking great Olympic park on it) but it was when I went there. Before the Olympics it was a wasteland. As Rich Hall observed, not sure you can canoe in it, but you can probably develop film in it. And Adele just moved in about a half a dozen miles up the road from us. Hell, we’re more or less neighbours. j ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/112 "2018-10-09T17:15:13Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > I’m probably a bad person. I kept a small chunk of the dam. So did I! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/113 "2018-10-09T18:16:36Z")
I’m pretty sure I’ve been to Solsbury Hill, which is near Bath, England. Only pretty sure, but I’ve been to the hill someone pointed at and said ‘That’s Solsbury hill that is’, so I’m counting it. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/114 "2018-10-09T18:53:58Z")
I’ve ridden the cloverleaf in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3VN54M1OXA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3VN54M1OXA) “Tulsy Town” ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/115 "2018-10-09T19:14:00Z")
Count me among the crowd of folks on the corner in Winslow, Arizona. I’ve also stood on the corner of 12th Street and Vine in Kansas City. Well, what _used to_ be the corner of 12th Street and Vine. It’s a park now, but there’s a sign there. On the more obscure side, There’s a great Cajun band called Filé, who recorded _[Allons Aller Chez Fred](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiKN0y3lv8E)_ (“Let’s All Go To Fred’s Place”) in 1987. A couple years later, I had the opportunity to visit the place they were singing about: [Fred’s Lounge](https://www.yelp.com/biz/freds-lounge-mamou) in Mamou, Louisiana. What a fun joint! ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/116 "2018-10-09T19:17:55Z")
“Fire Down Below” by Bob Seger mentions Moline IL, which I’ve been to quite a few times, as I grew up nearby. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/117 "2018-10-09T19:52:05Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I too have stood on a corner in Winslow Arizona, but never got stuck in Lodi again. I’ve been in Lodi, but I can’t really say I was stuck there. I’ve been on Route 66, but never got my kicks there. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/118 "2018-10-09T20:05:31Z")
I’ve been to Banbury (in the UK) of the old nursery rhyme “ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross” - though I did not see the actual cross - so that’s something…I mean, how many of the songs mentioned here involve a “cock horse”? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/119 "2018-10-09T20:20:19Z")
I did once make a specific effort to go through a particular Texas town. Never saw the shack outside of town, and though I’ve heard it is fine, I don’t think I had the time, but, now, I might be mistaken. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638/120 "2018-10-09T20:21:59Z")
The old George M. Cohan number “So Long, Mary” mentions Schenectady. I live there. I’ve also been along the dirty water of the River Charles (and of the Thames, from the cover version). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obscure-places-in-songs-that-you-have-been-to/822638.md?page=7)