# Songs that use city names as a rhyme (and is there one for every state?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629 "2015-06-27T15:29:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/121 "2015-07-02T15:41:55Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Does “What Did Della Wear?” not count for this purpose? > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NztfOSyCCFM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NztfOSyCCFM) Those are State names, not cities, and some of them aren’t even rhymes. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/122 "2015-07-02T19:39:14Z")
Another one for Iowa, from Terry Cashman’s “Talking Baseball”: “They knew them all from Boston to Dubuque Especially Willie, Mickey, and the Duke.” ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/123 "2015-07-05T00:53:53Z")
‘Weird Al’ Yankovic’s “Smells Like Nirvana”: “_Just a grunge band from Seattle Well it sure beats raising cattle_” ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/124 "2015-07-06T04:49:55Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Okay, here’s “Traveling Clean” by Jimmy Buffet: > " > JIMMY BUFFETT LYRICS > “Travelin’ Clean” > You go to Fargo, > We’ll meet in Chicago, > Travelin’ light and travelin’ clean > In my nine wheel blue and white travelin’ machine. > And I’m gone I’m movin’ on, yes I’m gone." Or, if you want to travel not so clean, there’s _I Am_ by Zebrahead: 1, 2, 1, 2, here we go. I’m a straight pimp like Lewinsky is a ho. I could go psycho like Buscemi in Fargo. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/125 "2015-07-06T04:53:43Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > The “Fargo” in “Wells Fargo” is an individual named Fargo, not the city in North Dakota. Yeah, what a maroon that guy was. Everybody knows that the best song about North Dakota is _Sink the Bismark_! ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/126 "2015-07-06T05:52:46Z")
“Eighter from **Decatur** , county seat of Wise…” Okay so it’s dice slang, not a song, but it still rhymes. And folk in the small Texas panhandle town my mother hails from say it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/127 "2017-03-25T14:46:40Z")
Bumping this thread in honor of zombie Chuck Barris, who wrote these lines: Last night I took a walk after dark A swingin’ place called Palisades Park And singing of New Jersey, I can’ t believe nobody mentioned: Workin’ too hard can give you A heart attack (ack) You oughta know by now (oughta know) Who needs a house out in Hackensack Is that what you get with your money ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/128 "2017-03-25T15:12:00Z")
From Cher: Picked up a boy just south of Mobile Gave him a ride, filled him with a hot meal I was sixteen, he was twenty-one Rode with us to Memphis And papa woulda shot him if he knew what he’d done ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/129 "2017-03-25T15:24:05Z")
All along the southbound odyssey The train pulls out at Kankakee ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/130 "2017-03-25T16:07:53Z")
Louisiana: Why’d you go and leave me in Big Mamou You left me for another alone and so blue Cajun song done by Hank Williams and many others Iowa Sioux City Sue ,Sioux City Sue, your hair is red your eyes are blue Old standard done by Willie Nelson Wisconsin, Kentucky, New York, Washington “Mention my name in Sheboygan”, with later verses changing to Paducah, Elmira, Tacoma. A 1947 song included on an Everly Brothers album. Indiana “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys is about a fictional place with the same name as the Indiana city. West Virginia: Mel Tillis: “I’ve been reeling around Wheeling just a little too long” ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/131 "2017-03-25T16:16:23Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Mt first thought was “A little bit south of Saskatoon” which has room, June, soon, and honeymoon in different verses. Saskatoon’s very easy to rhyme, unlike Saskatchewan which many people cannot say without starting to stutter. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/132 "2017-03-25T16:18:08Z")
Delaware – has there been one yet? Here’s Dolly Parton’s “Coming down from Dover” The sun behind a cloud just casts the crawling shadow o’er the fields of clover And time is running out for me I wish that he would hurry down from Dover ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/133 "2017-03-25T16:24:13Z")
Maine, Roger Miller, “King of the Road” Third boxcar midnight train, destination Bangor, Maine ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/134 "2017-03-25T16:32:59Z")
From the first line of The Eagles “The Last Resort” She came from Providence, the one in Rhode Island ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/135 "2017-03-25T16:57:39Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Maine, Roger Miller, “King of the Road” > > Third boxcar midnight train, destination Bangor, Maine Which word rhymes with "Bangor’? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/136 "2017-03-25T19:15:35Z")
(Hi! I’m Glen Campbell!) She was twenty one When I left Galveston. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/137 "2017-03-25T19:35:50Z")
So when I’m in your neighborhood, you better duck Cause Ice Cube is crazy as fuck As I leave, believe I’m stompin’ But when I come back, boy, I’m comin straight outta Compton ---
**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:** [March 25, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/138 "2017-03-25T20:30:38Z")
Another one for Illinois (probably not Kansas) from Creedence Clearwater Revival: _Well, it came out of the sky Landed just a little south of Moline Jody fell out of his tractor Couldn’t b’lieve what he’d seen_ ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/139 "2017-03-25T21:06:44Z")
A few songs rhyme “Alamo” with “San Antonio.” [Here’s one.](http://songwritingcourse.weebly.com/in-front-of-the-alamo.html) Another was performed by Vic Fontaine/ James Darren on Star Trek. [Research](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_One%27s_from_the_Heart)indicates the song was written for the episode. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629/140 "2017-03-25T22:38:17Z")
Elvis Costello’s “Sulphur to Sugarcane” is full of state and city rhymes, the best being: _The women in Poughkeepsie take their clothes off when they’re tipsy But I hear in Ypsilanti they don’t wear any panties_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-use-city-names-as-a-rhyme-and-is-there-one-for-every-state/723629.md?page=8)