# Songs about parts of real cities **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2004, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476 "2004-11-02T02:18:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![marky33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@marky33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marky33)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/1 "2004-11-02T02:18:17Z")
Specifically, song titles that mention/reference anything smaller than the city itself and bigger than an individual building. ie suburbs, roads, parks, bridges etc. I can think of many for London but not many for elsewhere. There must be heaps: \*\*London: \*\* A bomb in Wardour Street (The Jam) Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty) (I don’t want to go to) Chelsea (Elvis Costello) Croydon (Capt Sensible) Dagenham Dave (The Stranglers) Flames of Brixton (Angelic Upstarts) Guns of Brixton (The Clash) Piccadilly Circus (Stiff Little Fingers) Plaistow Patricia (Ian Dury & the Blockheads) Portobello (Lords of the New Church) Telegraph Road (Dire Straits) Waterloo sunset (The Kinks) West One (The Ruts) White man in Hammersmith Palais (The Clash) \*\*New York: \*\* No sleep till Brooklyn (Beastie Boys) Rockaway Beach (The Ramones) \*\*New York & London: \*\* Brooklyn 2 Brixton (Freq Nasty) \*\*LA: \*\* Hollywood (Red Hot Chili Peppers) Hollywood Babylon (Killing Joke) Santa Monica (Fatboy Slim) \*\*Berlin: \*\* SO36 (Killing Joke) \*\*Moscow: \*\* Contact in Red Square (Blondie) ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/2 "2004-11-02T02:46:06Z")
Boston: Dirty Water (down by the banks of the river Charles) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/3 "2004-11-02T03:39:12Z")
Tom Johnston’s “Savannah Nights” mentions Bull Street. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/4 "2004-11-02T04:00:43Z")
‘Fortis Green’ - Dave Davies ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/5 "2004-11-02T04:26:58Z")
Tom Petty’s _Free Fallin’_: > [@](#): > > It’s a long day living in Reseda… > > …Move west down Ventura Boulevard… > > …I wanna glide down over Mulholland… HP (Hunter’s Point) has been referred to in a few rap songs; it’s a neighborhood of San Francisco. Makaveli (Tupac) mentions a few areas of LA in _To Live and Die in LA_. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/6 "2004-11-02T04:44:24Z")
London: London bridge is falling down - nursery rhyme Pony Street - Elvis Costello I Don’t Want to Go To Chelsea - Elvis Costello Sydney: The Battle of Stanmore - Died Pretty Melbourne: Balwin Calling - Skyhooks Brisbane: Vulture Street - Powderfinger New York: On Broadway - George Benson ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/7 "2004-11-02T05:06:35Z")
Some Toronto ones: _Spadina Bus_ by The Shuffle Demons _YYZ_ by Rush (YYZ being the code for Pearson airport in Toronto) _Scarborough Town Centre_ by, um, someone I can’t remember and can’t seem to google. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/8 "2004-11-02T05:39:46Z")
Penny Lane (Liverpool)–Beatles Santa Monica Pier–Christine Lavin ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/9 "2004-11-02T06:14:14Z")
The oldie _Take the A Train_ gives a fairly useful guide to rail travel in New York City. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/10 "2004-11-02T06:40:44Z")
Chicago: Lake Shore Drive ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/11 "2004-11-02T06:43:37Z")
Asbury Park, NJ: Tenth Avenue Freeze-out ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/12 "2004-11-02T06:43:41Z")
Telephone Road – Steve Earle (Houston) There are a lot of Houston references in Houston rap, but it is mostly obscure. South Park Mexican, now in prison for pedophilia, gets his name from the South Park neighborhood of Houston. For that matter Linkin Park (from Chicago). I wonder if there is really an E Street, though. “Harlem Nocture” is a jazz standard done by just about everyone. “Harlem Air Shaft” is by Duke Ellington. Solsbury Hill (Peter Gabriel) IIRC is in Somerset, in England. Death Cab For Cutie has a song “Coney Island” off of “The Photo Album” One of my least favorite Pavement songs is “Embassy Row” about Embassy Row in Washington, DC. Beth Orton has a song called “Mount Washington”, but that’s not really part of a city. I wonder if Bob Dylan’s “Positively 4th Street” is inspired by any 4th street in particular. Bruce Springsteen has a bunch too which are presumably about NYC or NJ: “Does this bus stop at 82nd street”, “Tenth Avenue Freezeout”, “Incident on 57th Street” and of course “E Street Shuffle” off the top of my head. And the new Beastie Boys’ “To The 5 Boroughs” although that is an album title. May as well stick “Abbey Road” in this category too. And “Highway 61 Revisted.” ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/13 "2004-11-02T09:24:43Z")
> [@AndrewT](#): > > Brisbane: > Vulture Street - Powderfinger Powderfinger also have “Hindley St”, which is in Adelaide. Los Angeles: Hole “Malibu” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/14 "2004-11-02T09:27:01Z")
_Midnight in Harlem_ (NY) by the Derek Trucks Band. A song I know I’m the only person here to have heard, since they’ve never played it and it’s not out yet. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/15 "2004-11-02T12:47:25Z")
More London: _Electric Avenue_ - Eddy Grant And an album not a song, _Exile on Coldharbour Lane_ - Alabama 3. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/16 "2004-11-02T12:59:26Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > The oldie _Take the A Train_ gives a fairly useful guide to rail travel in New York City. Specifically, from Duke Ellington’s apartment up to Harlem, the Cotton Club I think. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/17 "2004-11-02T15:09:43Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Some Toronto ones: > _Spadina Bus_ by The Shuffle Demons > _YYZ_ by Rush (YYZ being the code for Pearson airport in Toronto) > _Scarborough Town Centre_ by, um, someone I can’t remember and can’t seem to google. > 🙂 It doesn’t exactly fit the conditions of the OP, but Bruce Cockburn’s “Coldest Night of the Year” contains a lot of Toronto references in such lines as: “I took in Yonge Street at a glance…” “Now the sun is lurking just beyond the Scarborough horizon…” It also referred to _The All Night Show,_ an local overnight TV show (mostly reruns of classic TV shows, hosted by a character known as Chuck the Security Guard) that was airing in Toronto when Cockburn’s song was written. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/18 "2004-11-02T17:34:53Z")
YES! I’m the first to do Minneapolis! The Replacements- Skyway Tom Waits- 9th and Hennepin Husker Du- [a good portion of the album Zen Arcade] Atmosphere- That one hidden track on one of their albums ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/19 "2004-11-02T18:42:15Z")
_Maybe you’re standing on the corner of 17th and Wazee Streets, yeah. Out in front of the Terminal bar there’s a Thunderbird moving in muscatel sky. You’ve been drinking cleaning products all night. Open for suggestions._ - Tom Waits, Nighthawks At The Diner Denver’s Terminal Bar used to be in the Union Station neighborhood, and it was an end-of-the-line bar. It’s name referred to the train terminal, but mostly it was known as the booze terminal. It is probably the last place you are going to be doing your drinking that has a roof over it. This neighborhood is now the Coors Field neighborhood (baseball stadium) and is a trendy area with lofts, restaurants, and galleries. I think the spot the Terminal used to be on is now a Wahoo’s Fish Tacos. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476/20 "2004-11-02T19:13:32Z")
> [@Talon Karrde](#): > > YES! I’m the first to do Minneapolis! > The Replacements- Skyway > Tom Waits- 9th and Hennepin > Husker Du- [a good portion of the album Zen Arcade] > Atmosphere- That one hidden track on one of their albums Don’t forget “Uptown” by Prince [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-parts-of-real-cities/272476.md?page=2)