# The Greatest Songs About Places. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375 "2008-07-13T23:44:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/41 "2008-07-15T13:03:15Z")
( Contrary to my thread title, choices don’t HAVE TO be ABOUT places…they can just have a place name in their title. It’s not a hard and fast rule, and everyone is welcome to bend it.) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/42 "2008-07-15T13:05:07Z")
_My City Was Gone_ by Chrissie Hynde. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/43 "2008-07-15T13:57:10Z")
[Big Sky Country](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-SDmIAJVYo) - Chris Whitley [New York New York](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IhDW18rxyY) - Ryan Adams ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/44 "2008-07-15T20:48:37Z")
[_Ohio_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-c7ir1K_1Q)- Over The Rhine I cannot listen to this song without wanting to weep. Born/raised in Ohio, and this song makes me more homesick than you can know. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/45 "2008-07-15T20:57:44Z")
John Denver: Rocky Mountain High - Colorado Aspenglow Wide Montana Skies Take Me Home Country Roads (Almost heaven, West Virginia) Springsteen: Nebraska 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/46 "2008-07-15T21:01:47Z")
[New York City](http://youtube.com/watch?v=p9IF0t73TEU), They Might Be Giants. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/47 "2008-07-16T05:58:34Z")
**Kilkelly (Ireland).** [This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaHhNi-f2G4) is not the version familiar to me; maybe [this](http://www.amazon.com/Kilkelly-Moloney-OConnell-Keane/dp/B000005CN4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1216186104&sr=1-1) is. Be advised: I think this is the saddest song ever written, and I can’t hear it without misting up a bit. The backstory is that it was based on a series of letters found in an attic somewhere in the USA. Digest that, and consider why I think it is so sad. But it is a great song, a little about a place, perhaps more from a place. ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/48 "2008-07-16T07:08:14Z")
Hows about… **Texarkana** - **REM** **YYZ** - **Rush** (it’s an instrumental, but it’s about the Toronto airport) and an obscure one, **Under Peruvian Skies** - **Dream Theater** …and a big second for **London Calling**. That was a great tribute version in the YouTube clip posted earlier. ---
**Author:** ![phil417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@phil417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phil417)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/49 "2008-07-16T07:26:45Z")
I’ve been through the list in this thread twice…is it possible that we missed “Sweet Home, Alabama”? [http://youtube.com/watch?v=IwWUOmk7wO0](http://youtube.com/watch?v=IwWUOmk7wO0) Love, Phil ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/50 "2008-07-16T11:23:35Z")
Roadrunner Fairytale of New York and I don’t think there’s a place called Dirty Boulevard but I’m fairly certain I’ve been there. And can I count God Save the Youth of America? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/51 "2008-07-16T12:38:58Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] Roadrunner Fairytale of New York and I don’t think there’s a place called Dirty Boulevard but I’m fairly certain I’ve been there. **And can I count God Save the Youth of America?** [/QUOTE] Course you can, as long as I can have **[Good Morning Britain](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FagEXaPTwRE)**? ---
**Author:** ![fervour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@fervour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fervour)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/52 "2008-07-16T13:10:17Z")
At the risk of ignoring the word “greatest”— How about, \*\*Dubuque Blues \*\* by The Association? It might qualify as “Most Obscure” as opposed to “Greatest”. Then there is \*\*New York Groove \*\* by Kiss, which is certainly not a “Greatest” either—merely “Songs That I Like About Places”. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/53 "2008-07-16T13:45:33Z")
[QUOTE=fervour] At the risk of ignoring the word “greatest”— How about, \*\*Dubuque Blues \*\* by The Association? It might qualify as “Most Obscure” as opposed to “Greatest”. Then there is \*\*New York Groove \*\* by Kiss, which is certainly not a “Greatest” either—merely “Songs That I Like About Places”. [/QUOTE] “Greatest” is surely a subjective opinion, so if you think it’s great, it’ll do me! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![fervour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@fervour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fervour)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/54 "2008-07-16T17:38:40Z")
How could I have forgotten \*\*Graceland \*\* by Paul Simon? That, in my objective opinion 😉 , is a truly great song. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/55 "2008-07-16T18:04:43Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] Can he do that? Surely he can’t just waltz in a thread, make such an intriguing statement, and then just disappear into the ether(net)? [/QUOTE] Okay, here’s the deal: Last night, I was the host/questioner for a weekly pub quiz. I had previously had the idea to create a round based on this general concept: songs with place names in the title. The way it worked was, I played a short snippet of each song, and asked the teams to name the location contained in the song’s title. So you can imagine my :dubious: when this thread suddenly popped up a couple of days before my scheduled hosting session. For the record, my list of songs was as follows: Back in the USSR California Dreamin’ One Night in Bangkok Tea in the Sahara Sweet Home Alabama Detroit Rock City Africa (by Toto) No Sleep Till Brooklyn I Left My Heart in San Francisco Gotham City (R Kelly) Istanbul, Not Constantinople Most of them have been mentioned in the thread so far, but I did have a couple of originals. (Caveat: You can argue the “greatness” of “Africa.” ;)) ---
**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 16, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/56 "2008-07-16T19:39:42Z")
Mull Of Kintyre ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/57 "2008-07-16T19:44:41Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] Mull Of Kintyre [/QUOTE] Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh! That was the only one I didn’t want to hear mentioned! It reminds me of being tortured as a teenager for the 8 weeks it was number one in the UK charts. That had the strange effect of making the summer holidays seem like an eternity, yet still feel like a nightmare! 😃 ---
**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 16, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/58 "2008-07-16T20:38:35Z")
So sue me. I like it. ---
**Author:** ![queenquimarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/dec6dc/32.png) [@queenquimarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/queenquimarie)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/59 "2008-07-16T21:19:49Z")
Finally someone said Sweet Home Alabama…I was getting worried. One of my other favorites is In My Tennessee Mountain Home by Dolly Parton ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375/60 "2008-07-17T02:39:19Z")
How about\* A Heart in New York\* as sung by Art Garfunkel… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-songs-about-places/456375.md?page=4)