# Songs that hint at where the band members are from in their lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479 "2009-11-30T15:44:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479/41 "2009-12-01T13:57:41Z")
> [@Sidney Evgeni Jordan](#): > > Maybe the reference is too obvious, but **Journey** references their hometown, San Francisco, as the “city by the bay” in “When The Lights Go Down in the City.” > > \ I heard an interview with them where thay said to them, the["city by the bay"](http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1674) was LA. :dubious: Maybe they were joking? > [@](#): > > "I had the song written in Los Angeles almost completely except for the bridge and it was written about Los Angeles. It was ‘when the lights go down in the city and the sun shines on LA.’ ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479/42 "2009-12-01T14:20:11Z")
Well, I’m not sure. If Wikipedia’s version of the story can be trusted, it was originally written about LA and then changed to SF. So I would say we’re both right on this one. 🙂 > [@](#): > > The song is a ballad about Journey’s city of origin, San Francisco. It was one of Steve Perry’s first Journey songs, and was recorded soon after his joining the band. Although the song is about San Francisco, it was actually written in and originally intended to be about Los Angeles. In an interview, Perry said, “I had the song written in Los Angeles almost completely except for the bridge and it was written about Los Angeles. It was ‘when the lights go down in the city and the sun shines on LA.’ I didn’t like the way it sounded at the time. And so I just had it sitting back in the corner. Then life changed my plans once again, and I was now facing joining Journey. I love San Francisco, the bay and the whole thing. ‘The bay’ fit so nice, ‘When the lights go down in the city and the sun shines on the bay.’ It was one of those early morning going across the bridge things when the sun was coming up and the lights were going down. It was perfect.” ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479/43 "2009-12-01T17:58:49Z")
Green Day’s “Stuart And The Avenue” refers to the intersection of Stuart and Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley (where the band is from). Two of my friends live about 100 feet from there. ---
**Author:** ![davey77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@davey77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davey77)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479/44 "2009-12-01T19:19:20Z")
The Pretenders’ “My City Was Gone” is about Chrissie Hynde’s disillusionment with changes to her hometown of Akron, Ohio. The song mentions the city’s Howard Street and the suburb of Cuyahoga Falls. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479/45 "2009-12-01T20:19:29Z")
> [@TheFatKid](#): > > Sad that Allen’s is now defunct. Normaltown looks so odd without it. Yeah, it’s a damned shame. I have a lot of happy memories of that place. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479/46 "2009-12-01T23:55:56Z")
"“I come from a land down under Where beer does flow and men chunder” ---
**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:** [December 2, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479/47 "2009-12-02T00:55:11Z")
“We’re Not the Jet Set” (John Prine/Iris DeMent, written by Bobby Braddock) had this delightful name-check: _By a fountain back in Rome I fell in love with you In a small cafe in Athens You said you loved me too And it was April in Paris when I first held you close to me Rome, Georgia, Athens, Texas And Paris, Tennessee_ Prine also wrote and sang “Sins of Memphisto,” “Paradise” (Muhlenberg Gounty, KY) and “Angel From Montgomery.” A few others by less-famous singers: “Leaving Loachapoka,” “Beale Street Blues.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Falling\_Reverend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Falling\_Reverend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Falling_Reverend)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479/48 "2009-12-02T03:19:38Z")
> [@Sidney Evgeni Jordan](#): > > **Smashing Pumpkins** ’ song “Tonight, Tonight” references “your city by the lake” (Chicago is Billy Corgan’s hometown.) Or it could refer to South Haven MI, where Darcy grew up. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479/49 "2009-12-02T03:56:31Z")
Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers - Roadrunner > [@](#): > > Gonna drive past the Stop ‘n’ Shop … > 128 when it’s dark outside … ---
**Author:** ![The\_Falling\_Reverend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Falling\_Reverend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Falling_Reverend)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479/50 "2009-12-02T04:08:20Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers - Roadrunner Don’t forget **Government Center** ---
**Author:** ![TheFatKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@TheFatKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFatKid)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479/51 "2009-12-02T23:57:14Z")
And let’s not forget **Take the A Train**. ETA: Ok, so it’s not a lyric, it’s a title, but still… ---
**Author:** ![Dusty\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba8739/32.png) [@Dusty\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty_Rose)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479/52 "2009-12-03T00:28:58Z")
A couple off the top of my head: Kid Rock / All Summer Long - talks about northern Michigan. But the first that comes to mind is Bob Seger. He mentions different towns in Michigan in a few different songs. On the Live Bullet album, which was recorded live at Cobo Hall, he gives a shout out to Detroit. That’s not uncommon during a live album taping, but he also throws in a line about going down to John R & Bush to a massage parlor. When I was growing up, everyone said the song Main Street was about Ann Arbor, but I don’t remember anything specific written in the song that points to that. He has a song where he mentions Kalamazoo, but I can’t remember which one. Betty Lou? (They rhyme, so that’s a good possibility!) I’m too lazy to go look. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-hint-at-where-the-band-members-are-from-in-their-lyrics/519479.md?page=2)