I've long thought that rock songs that call out cities tend to suck. Same as rock songs about rock. Therefore, there's a special place in musical hell for Starship's "We Built This City."
I wonder how this correlates to rates of internal migration. The US saw a big surge folks moving around the country after WWII and the surge peaked in the 60s. And for a lot of that time there was no flyover country. You went through it on a train, bus or car. Bobby Troup's Route 66 was inspired by a trip "out west" in the mid 1940s. Also, place names like Kalamazoo make fun rhymes like "pip-a-roo" possible.
Kalamazoo gets a mention in "It's a Beautiful Day For a Ballgame" (1960):
> The fans are out to get a ticket or two
> From Walla Walla Washington to Kalamazoo
Personally, I think it got mentioned as much as it did because it sounds goofy and rhymes with a lot of things.
I also have a theory about why there used to be so many more place songs, specifically about more obscure places.
People didn't used to travel as much (or as easily) as they do now, and there wasn't nearly as much information available to people about lesser-known faraway places.
So writing about Kalamazoo (or Kokomo, or Mozambique -- both of which also sound goofy BTW) was a way to inject some mystery and interest into a song.
And because most people had no idea what Kalamazoo was like (unlike New York, which people at least had heard of and probably had opinions of, right or wrong), the songwriter could imbue it with whatever characteristics s/he wanted.
Good point. The goofiness factor is important. I also found it amusing that there were hit songs about a Kokomo long before the Beach Boys hit, although the earlier ones were about Indiana instead of a mystical Caribbean island
It doesn't necessarily come through in song titles, but I have noticed that Zach Bryan has a marked tendency to sing about places. His latest album has so many references to cities, states, neighborhoods, and other places that I considered creating a spreadsheet to catalog them.
Interesting article and comments. I'm curious if you can say more about how the word 'city' itself is used - like a breakdown of literal vs figurative. I realise that a lot of songs are not so much about a specific city but our 'idea' of it, or a vibe or feature of city-ness. Of course sometimes it's about an actual city but it's name isn't mentioned. Iggy's 'Kill City' is one of my favourites and you can at least narrow down where it might be about ('where the debris meets the sea', if in doubt).
My favorite city song is "A Million Miles to the City" by Tom T. Hall. It's a beautiful song about a mythical city that exists in the minds of children and their loss of innocence when they move to real cities as adults.
California and Tennessee make sense for the top two states, given the music industry bases in both, but it's interesting to see Georgia punching so much above its weight. Is that mostly because of different versions of "Georgia on my Mind"? The only other one that comes to mind immediately is "Midnight Train to Georgia."
Went and looked for all of them. These either charted on the weekly or yearly Hot 100. Only including direct mentions in titles. No places that are in Georgia: Georgia On My Mind by Ray Charles (1960), Gonna Send You Back To Georgia (A City Slick) by Timmy Shaw (1964), Gonna Send You Back To Walker (Gonna Send You Back To Georgia) by The Animals (1964), Georgia On My Mind by The Righteous Brothers (1966), Georgia Rose by Tony Bennett (1966), Georgia Pines by The Candymen (1967), Georgia On My Mind by Wes Montgomery (1968), Georgia Took Her Back by R.B. Greaves (1970), Rainy Night in Georgia by Brook Benton (1970), Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight & the Pips (1973), The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia by Vicki Lawrence (1973), Georgia Porcupine by George Fischoff (1974), Georgia Rhythm by Atlanta Rhythm Section (1977), Georgia On My Mind by Willie Nelson (1978), The Devil Went Down To Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band (1979), Georgia On My Mind by Michael Bolton (1990), Georgia by Carolyn Dawn Johnson (2001), Georgia by Ludacris & Field Mob Featuring Jamie Foxx (2005), Georgia Rain by Trisha Yearwood (2005), Georgia Clay by Josh Kelley (2011), and Bury Me In Georgia by Kane Brown (2023)
Wow, many I've never heard of! And I can't believe I neglected The Devil Went Down to Georgia, of course that's on there 🤦♂️ Thank you for looking up that list!
That's a great one. Here's every Texas song in my data that include the state's name: A Touch of Texas by Freddy Martin and His Orchestra (1942), Deep In The Heart Of Texas by Alvino Rey (1942), Deep In The Heart Of Texas by Bing Crosby (1942), Deep In The Heart Of Texas by Horace Heidt (1942), Deep in the Heart of Texas by The Merry Macs (1942), The Yellow Rose Of Texas by Johnny Desmond (1955), The Yellow Rose Of Texas by Mitch Miller (1955), A Texan And A Girl From Mexico by Anita Bryant (1961), Green Grass Of Texas by The Texans (1961), Deep In The Heart Of Texas by Duane Eddy (1962), Long Tall Texan by Murry Kellum (1963), Texas by The Charlie Daniels Band (1976), "Luckenbach, Texas (Back To The Basics Of Love)" by Waylon Jennings (1977), Texas In My Rear View Mirror by Mac Davis (1980), God Blessed Texas by Little Texas (1993), Bigger In Texas by Megan Thee Stallion (2024), Texas Hold 'Em by Beyonce (2024), Choosin' Texas by Ella Langley (2025), and Texas by Blake Shelton (2025)
I've long thought that rock songs that call out cities tend to suck. Same as rock songs about rock. Therefore, there's a special place in musical hell for Starship's "We Built This City."
Oh definitely
“In Trash City on Party Avenue/I Got a Girl From Kalamazoo.”
Joe Strummer, Trash City
I wonder how this correlates to rates of internal migration. The US saw a big surge folks moving around the country after WWII and the surge peaked in the 60s. And for a lot of that time there was no flyover country. You went through it on a train, bus or car. Bobby Troup's Route 66 was inspired by a trip "out west" in the mid 1940s. Also, place names like Kalamazoo make fun rhymes like "pip-a-roo" possible.
Migration and train travel is also a good point. The Johnny Mercer song I noted was written while he was on a trail traveling
I thought you might mention Pyongyang by Blur, a favorite of mine and one of the weirder city songs by a big-name artist
that is funny. likely just didn't chart in the US
Kalamazoo gets a mention in "It's a Beautiful Day For a Ballgame" (1960):
> The fans are out to get a ticket or two
> From Walla Walla Washington to Kalamazoo
Personally, I think it got mentioned as much as it did because it sounds goofy and rhymes with a lot of things.
I also have a theory about why there used to be so many more place songs, specifically about more obscure places.
People didn't used to travel as much (or as easily) as they do now, and there wasn't nearly as much information available to people about lesser-known faraway places.
So writing about Kalamazoo (or Kokomo, or Mozambique -- both of which also sound goofy BTW) was a way to inject some mystery and interest into a song.
And because most people had no idea what Kalamazoo was like (unlike New York, which people at least had heard of and probably had opinions of, right or wrong), the songwriter could imbue it with whatever characteristics s/he wanted.
Good point. The goofiness factor is important. I also found it amusing that there were hit songs about a Kokomo long before the Beach Boys hit, although the earlier ones were about Indiana instead of a mystical Caribbean island
It doesn't necessarily come through in song titles, but I have noticed that Zach Bryan has a marked tendency to sing about places. His latest album has so many references to cities, states, neighborhoods, and other places that I considered creating a spreadsheet to catalog them.
Yes! He came up a lot in the data. I’m working on making this into a searchable map so you can just type his name and see what comes up
Interesting article and comments. I'm curious if you can say more about how the word 'city' itself is used - like a breakdown of literal vs figurative. I realise that a lot of songs are not so much about a specific city but our 'idea' of it, or a vibe or feature of city-ness. Of course sometimes it's about an actual city but it's name isn't mentioned. Iggy's 'Kill City' is one of my favourites and you can at least narrow down where it might be about ('where the debris meets the sea', if in doubt).
Interesting angle. I went as literal as was possible. I’m sure some figurative cities squeaked through but I tried to eliminate them
My favorite city song is "A Million Miles to the City" by Tom T. Hall. It's a beautiful song about a mythical city that exists in the minds of children and their loss of innocence when they move to real cities as adults.
"The buildings are taller than Oak trees,
Ah, but we knew better than that
Ain't nobody could climb that high
The cities were wide and flat."
Chattanooga Choo Choo was the first gold record (Million copies) and (I've Got a Girl in) Kalamazoo was the follow-up, and a big hit in itself.
“Pennsylvania 6-5000” was about the telephone number of the Hotel Pennsylvania in NYC where the Miller band often stayed when in Gotham.
California and Tennessee make sense for the top two states, given the music industry bases in both, but it's interesting to see Georgia punching so much above its weight. Is that mostly because of different versions of "Georgia on my Mind"? The only other one that comes to mind immediately is "Midnight Train to Georgia."
Went and looked for all of them. These either charted on the weekly or yearly Hot 100. Only including direct mentions in titles. No places that are in Georgia: Georgia On My Mind by Ray Charles (1960), Gonna Send You Back To Georgia (A City Slick) by Timmy Shaw (1964), Gonna Send You Back To Walker (Gonna Send You Back To Georgia) by The Animals (1964), Georgia On My Mind by The Righteous Brothers (1966), Georgia Rose by Tony Bennett (1966), Georgia Pines by The Candymen (1967), Georgia On My Mind by Wes Montgomery (1968), Georgia Took Her Back by R.B. Greaves (1970), Rainy Night in Georgia by Brook Benton (1970), Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight & the Pips (1973), The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia by Vicki Lawrence (1973), Georgia Porcupine by George Fischoff (1974), Georgia Rhythm by Atlanta Rhythm Section (1977), Georgia On My Mind by Willie Nelson (1978), The Devil Went Down To Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band (1979), Georgia On My Mind by Michael Bolton (1990), Georgia by Carolyn Dawn Johnson (2001), Georgia by Ludacris & Field Mob Featuring Jamie Foxx (2005), Georgia Rain by Trisha Yearwood (2005), Georgia Clay by Josh Kelley (2011), and Bury Me In Georgia by Kane Brown (2023)
Wow, many I've never heard of! And I can't believe I neglected The Devil Went Down to Georgia, of course that's on there 🤦♂️ Thank you for looking up that list!
I live in Texas, and despite never having visited, I believe’El Paso’ by Marty Robbins is the best ever recorded about the state
That's a great one. Here's every Texas song in my data that include the state's name: A Touch of Texas by Freddy Martin and His Orchestra (1942), Deep In The Heart Of Texas by Alvino Rey (1942), Deep In The Heart Of Texas by Bing Crosby (1942), Deep In The Heart Of Texas by Horace Heidt (1942), Deep in the Heart of Texas by The Merry Macs (1942), The Yellow Rose Of Texas by Johnny Desmond (1955), The Yellow Rose Of Texas by Mitch Miller (1955), A Texan And A Girl From Mexico by Anita Bryant (1961), Green Grass Of Texas by The Texans (1961), Deep In The Heart Of Texas by Duane Eddy (1962), Long Tall Texan by Murry Kellum (1963), Texas by The Charlie Daniels Band (1976), "Luckenbach, Texas (Back To The Basics Of Love)" by Waylon Jennings (1977), Texas In My Rear View Mirror by Mac Davis (1980), God Blessed Texas by Little Texas (1993), Bigger In Texas by Megan Thee Stallion (2024), Texas Hold 'Em by Beyonce (2024), Choosin' Texas by Ella Langley (2025), and Texas by Blake Shelton (2025)