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friday night fun: city songs

Ok, it's Friday and I've had enough seriousness for one week. Let's get cracking with the mindless fun, shall we?

Chicago music critic Jim DeRogatis lists his favorite and least favorite songs about the Windy City.

I think you know what to do. Use your city, any city, doesn't matter. Just as long as you can take my mind off the crappy weather and the fact that back-to-school sales have already started (must mean Christmas decorations are just around the corner), I'll be grateful. List as many or as few as you want.

I need some time to come up with my own list of songs for New York. Though I think I know a few that mention Long Island.

Comments

Well, I positively hate Garth Brooks' Calling Baton Rouge song.

Does a single mention in Me & Bobby McGee count?

Actually, since I technically live between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, I'll claim that city too and offer two of my very favorites:

City of New Orleans by Steve Goodman (most people are familiar with Arlo Guthrie's performance, but it's not his song)

New Orleans Ladies by LeRoux

Well, let's see:

Sailing to Philadelphia - Mark Knopfler
Fall in Philadelphia - Hall and Oates (local boys)
Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce (semi-local boy)
Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John (not really all that local)

That's all I got.

Favorite: The Cockroach that Ate Cincinnati

Least Favorite: WKRP's theme song

The only one I can think of for Washington DC is "Chocolate City" by Parliament-Funkadelic.
How about "I'm just a Bill" from Schoolhouse Rock?

I Left My Heart In San Francisco
We Built This City (On Rock and Roll)

Best:
B-Train to Allston - The Allstonians (several other tracks of theirs as well)
Dirty Water - The Standells
Rock and Roll Band - Boston
I Don't Know - Jimmy Buffett (Technically not about Boston, but mentions Buzzards Bay, which is roughly where I grew up.)

Worst:
Any and all references made by or to the New Kids on the Block.

Since everybody (including locals) think I live in Allentown (it's Allenton), then I'll take the Billie Joel song by the same (wrong) name.

There aren't any.

None of the cities I've lived in have more than one song about them that I'm aware of. I'll name the song and tell you how I feel about each.

Houston by Dean Martin: hate the city, hate the song.

Galveston by Glen Campbell: love the city, hate the song.

San Antonio Rose by Bob Wills: love the city and I'm enough of a goddam hick to love the song.

for Boston I could only find
Please Come To Boston (ew)
Love That Dirty Water - much more fun

Phil, I will overlook that crack about hicks. San Antonio Rose is a GREAT song (but I prefer Patsy Cline's version to Bob Wills's).

Honolulu City Lights -- Keola and Kapono Beamer.

And roughly 500 about Waikiki.

Please Come to Boston is an awesome song, Carol.

I don't think there are any Albany/Saratoga songs. No, wait, there's one... the movie Saratoga had a song, horrid though it was.

My Favorite City Songs:

1. San Francisco Nights -- Animals

2. Streets of London -- Ralph McTell

3. Jesus Left Chicago -- ZZ Top

and

4. Let's Nuke Paris (oh wait, that's the title of one of my essays).

By the way, De Rogatis was wrong about "Lake Shore Drive" -- it's a satirical song, but clearly he missed it. If you've ever driven on LSD (the street, not the drug), and listened to the song at the same time, it's absolutely perfect.

Like singing "New York, New York" on 42nd Street.

There have been a number of good songs about Atlanta, but my favorite is probably Bad Company's "Oh Atlanta"...rather surprising, since they're a British band. But they nailed the Southern blues-rock sound pretty good in that song...reminded me a lot of the Allman Brothers, or Atlanta Rythm Section.

I love Atlanta and I don't think I'm ever going to leave. It's a cool place to live, so long as you have air conditioning.

Go to www.projo.com go to : new tunes uploaded this week: go to Providence, you can hear the Providence song