Still is, in fact.
Also, Rush had a quite few. xanadu, Cygnus X1, olympus, The fountain of Lamneth, Rivendel, Bachus Plateu, Willowdale, the River Dawn,Megadon…
Fennario appears in a couple Grateful Dead songs.
Transverse City is a fictional place invented by Warren Zevon.
I believe “Sugar Mountain” was a Canadian amusement park that Young used to frequent as a child.
There is no town in Arizona named Clarksville. There is, however, a Clarkdale. Since the 2-digit state abbreviations came in, AZ is sometimes mistakenly entered when people mean AR–Arkansas.
La Mancha is a real area of Spain, and yes, Scarborough is a city where an annual fair (market) was held.
In Shriekback’s ‘Malaria’, the singer is living in “Avalanche Row” and “Hangover City.”
“Come on, let me show you where it’s at. The name of the place is I LIKE IT LIKE THAT.”
Opps, didn’t research my source enough. Bad source, bad! And according to Handbook of Texas Online: China Grove the town existed before the song did, so it’s not like someone sneaked in and named their community after the song became a hit. All this makes me wonder if some of those other towns I thought were mythical might actually be real. Like that “New York, New York” Frank Sinatra was always singing about…
A few more – Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffett, 1977. Moody River, Pat Boone, 1961. Blueberry Hill, Fats Domino, 1957. Castles in the Air, Don McLean, 1981. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John, 1973.
Almost forgot: Delaware, Perry Como, 1960. (There was a thread on this message board some time back, which, if I remember correctly, proved that Delaware doesn’t actually exist).
The story I heard is that they just saw the name China Grove on a map, and thought it would make a cool song. I dont think anybody really believes New York is a real place.
Another of the Beatles - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. With newspaper taxis and friendly locals with kaleidoscope eyes. Such a place has to be imaginary, like Loompa Land (only not scary).
I think “Margaritaville” is actually a reference to Key West, where Buffet lives.
surf city limits - the fauves. i don’t think this refers to any particular city, just any australian coastal town.
the intro from outkast’s stankonia:
live, from the centre of the earth
7 light years below sea level we go
welcome to stankonia,
place from which all funky thangs come
the song humble mumble from the same album also features the stankonia express, the funky engine that could, which says ‘i stank i can, i stank can.’
Would Home on the Range count?
Is there really a House of the Rising Sun?
I’m sorry but this thread has made me think of one of the worst songs of all time so I must share it with you all to purge my brain.
One tin soldier
[shudder]
Quoth Mephisto:
Isn’t that another Tolkien reference? I seem to recall there being a mention of “ringwraiths” in the song, which would pretty much clinch it. As I understand, it’s about either the entire War of the Rings or the Battle of the Pellenor Fields.
Most people consider the Pellenor Fields (and the rest of Middle Earth) to be fictional, though, so I guess it counts.
Atlantis by Donovan.
…provided you really believe all that malarkey about Atlantis being imaginary…um, I have to go now…I’ve fnord said too much…
Fennario wasn’t original with the Dead (but thanks, Ripple, for getting “Dire Wolf” and “Ripple” running through my head); a folk song starts off:
As we marched down to Fennario
as we marched down to Fennario
Our captain fell in love
with a lady like a dove
and they called her name pretty Peggy-O.
I believe Simon and Garfunkel recorded this on one of their early albums.
Back to the OP, how about some Jackson Browne:
This young man feels
those eighteen wheels
that keep turning 'round
to take me down
to Shaky Town.
Fennario wasn’t original with the Dead (but thanks, Ripple, for getting “Dire Wolf” and “Ripple” running through my head); a folk song starts off:
As we marched down to Fennario
as we marched down to Fennario
Our captain fell in love
with a lady like a dove
and they called her name pretty Peggy-O.
I believe Simon and Garfunkel recorded this on one of their early albums.
Back to the OP, how about some Jackson Browne:
This young man feels
those eighteen wheels
that keep turning 'round
to take me down
to Shaky Town.
“Shaky Town” is trucker lingo for Los Angeles. C.W. McCall also referred to L.A. as “Shaky Town” in “Convoy.”
Let me suggest the Gin Blossoms’ “Allison Road.”