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50 Songs/50 States (Split from R&/or R News)

Willets Point Sep 14 2007 01:28 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 14 2007 02:10 PM

50 Songs for 50 States. I think we could argue about these for a long time.

Edgy DC Sep 14 2007 01:55 PM

"Wichita Lineman" works. It's not really about Kansas, but it evokes. Surely we can do better than "Johnny B. Goode" for Louisiana.

Gwreck Sep 14 2007 02:00 PM

If "When the Saints Go Marching In" is too obvious, there's always "New Orleans" by Gary "US" Bonds.

Edgy DC Sep 14 2007 02:05 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 14 2007 02:34 PM

I failed to split off this post which should have come right after Willets Point's: Gwreck 195) Mike Vail, RF, LF, CF, 1975-1977 Joined: 08 Jun 2005 Posts: 3123 Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 3:50 pm Post subject: Practically deserves its own topic. Some are ok (Josh Ritter for Idaho? Sure.); Some are perfect choices (Oklahoma Hills, Wichita Lineman); and Some are terrible (*Paul Simon* for Tennessee? Um, no.)

metirish Sep 14 2007 02:09 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 14 2007 02:13 PM

Yeah some of the choices are obvious but some are a stretch....I think we could come up with a more satisfying list .A challenge of sorts. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Ohio" for Ohio,surely better than Modest Mouse.

Willets Point Sep 14 2007 02:12 PM

I was pleasantly surprised that a band I've actually heard of has written a song about Connecticut. Songs about Connecticut are hard to come by. Probably because it's hard to rhyme Connecticut.

Johnny Dickshot Sep 14 2007 02:13 PM

I'd complain about the selections but its really the list itself that bothers me. It just doesn't work.

Willets Point Sep 14 2007 02:23 PM

The Beach Boys for California is too cliched. I think the REAL California is best captured by The Dead Kennedys' "California Über Alles"

OlerudOwned Sep 14 2007 02:47 PM

seawolf17 Sep 14 2007 04:39 PM

Don't get too excited over the Aerosmith "song"... it's a little demo off their 1991 box set. I'm sure someone can find something better than that. There are too many California songs (Luna & Wax both immediately come to mind)... the Beach Boys are too easy. I vote "New Orleans Is Sinking" from the Tragically Hip.

SteveJRogers Sep 14 2007 08:33 PM

How "Rocky Mountain High" isn't Colorado's song I'll never know. I guess if you want to say "Georgia" in "Georgia On My Mind" doesn't HAVE to be about the state, but a girl named Georgia, but still it is the Official State song and all. I love "Jersey Girl" but I think a song like "Atlantic City" or "Sandy (4th of July Asbury Park)" kind of sums up the Jersey experience. Kind of a bleak existence, yet wanting so, so much more. "Take A Walk On The Wild Side?" Uh, I'll take some "New York State Of Mind" or "Theme From New York, New York" to glamorize the greatness of the state as opposed to the seedy underbelly of NYC. Great song, but not something I'd hold up to say "this is New York" BTW, this actually troubles me about the article on a whole though ]This article was amended on Friday September 14 2007. Glenn Miller's I've Got a Girl in Kalamazoo was removed from the Iowa section. Kalamazoo is in Michigan, not Iowa. I know this is a UK site, but some spot checking would be nice to make sure there aren't any mishaps, especially for an online article!

Valadius Sep 15 2007 09:04 AM

The ones that make the most sense are "Carolina in my Mind", "Sweet Home Alabama", and "Viva Las Vegas". There are tons of better choices for Tennessee, Georgia, and California. And I agree with Irish, CSNY's "Ohio", obviously.

Frayed Knot Sep 15 2007 10:52 AM

We actually did a thread like this on our own a while back. IIRC, I started it after doing some long-distance solo driving, much of it spent listening to Dan Bern CDs as his lyrics tend to reference a lot states and towns. Should be circa October '03 if anyone wants to root around in the archives for it (assuming it wasn't lost along the way).

cooby Sep 15 2007 07:47 PM

I would have voted for "Allentown" for Pennsylvania

soupcan Sep 16 2007 07:34 AM

'California Dreamin' - no contest, end of discussion.

cooby Sep 16 2007 10:25 AM

A person (a person who likes the song very much, by the way) could argue that the song "California Dreamin'" is not about California at all

Mendoza Line Sep 16 2007 03:37 PM

The list got me wondering how Sufjan Stevens' 50 albums for 50 states project was going. So far, it's two down, 48 to go. Oddest thing about this list - they picked Springsteen songs for two states, and neither of them was New Jersey.

Rockin' Doc Sep 16 2007 05:12 PM

John Denver's "Country Roads" should be the song for West Virginia. The opening line of "Almost heaven, West Virginia" was even adopted as the state slogan for several years.

Edgy DC Sep 16 2007 05:18 PM

for a while, they put "Almost Heaven" on their license plates.

Willets Point Sep 16 2007 07:01 PM

soupcan wrote: 'California Dreamin' - no contest, end of discussion. Soupcan has a point. There is no song more iconic about longing for one's home state than that one. Not to mention having very pretty harmonies.