Songs about your hometown

Brandon's most famous namedrop is likely the opening line of Douglas Coupland's book Generation X. Oh well.

The It's Imm album was one English pound in a Virgin sale around 1992 - the sleeve also mistakenly contained a Bruce Hornsby album. What a marvellous bonus.

Anyway, I move on to my current home. Since Stevie T has already had the Costello mention of Rotherhithe, I'll take the Squeeze option. Their "It's Not Cricket" begins with the line "She used to do a strip- show / Down at the Surrey Docks".

Only thing is that Cal City *is* mentioned on a record - Jake and Elwood Blues of the Blues Brothers are introduced as "from Calumet City, Illinois". There was also "Cal City Sucks" by my sister's high school boyfriend's punk band, Solid Waste. Surely there must be a rap song about it, but I can't find it. Another thing is that "city" sounds too much like "shitty", so that might be a problem.

Since we're a coal's throw from Gary, Indiana, (home of the Jacksons!) we usually adopted that song from the Music Man as our own.

I did go and see the Beach Boys in '92 or '93 at the big ugly barn which is the Sheffield Arena. Mostly, it was horrible (stage made up like some poxy beach, favourite moments slapped carelessly into nasty medley versions, Al Jardine's son being in the band). But Wilson- count: one (Carl) and he sang "God Only Knows" and it was lovely. So that's what I mean: sometimes even a grossly diminished act can chuck out fab moments.

Some of the Vic Godard obsessives I know curse him for keeping on playing shows and making records. I'll grant that the records aren't always the best but the shows are generally fantastic and I'll never tire of hearing "Stool Pigeon" and the like.

There's Stay Free by the Clash - "and weekends we'd go dancing/down Streatham on the bus."

The Chemistry Between Us by Suede - "and maybe we're just Streatham trash."

While googling I found one called "Craig 'N' Bentley" by what looks suspiciously like an NF/Oi group called the Warriors, which ends: "As you took your last steps in jail/Sadly your mates walk the streets of Streatham Vale."

Also obscure '60s psyche act the Cuppa T (whose first single Miss Pinkerton is a bit of a classic) followed it up with a song called Streatham Hippodrome. They do not appear ever to have put out a third.

(fact found incidentally - Cupid's Inspiration "Yesterday Has Gone" - bass player: Gordon Haskell)

Also discover that Tori Amos briefly lived in Streatham but felt she wasn't cut out for the place.

Oh yes, and there's one further one:

"Streatham princesses in sherbert stilettoes".

This comes from a song called "Shaftesbury Avenue" from an album entitled "Don't Stop The Night" released in 1989 by somebody called - oh, I've forgotten the guy's name, it'll come to me in a moment - that's it, Moment? Mammoth? Mensa? Menus? Bloody hell that one's stumped me.

Anyone like Gilbert & Sullivan?

Not my home town for many years, but the first place I thought of when reading the question was Crawley, hometown also of Robert Smith - not that he would ever have dreamt of mentioning the place in a Cure song. So to google, and I'm past the 100th ranked hit and have almost given up, when there it is: "Sea Side Shuffle" by Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs. (woo-hoo)

I like Gilbert & Sullivan.

My favorite song about the town in which I now live is the Tiger Lillies' "Russians," which is about the Saturday flea market in Sachsenhausen.

also, on the east side of the lake, about three miles away is the town of Johnsburg, IL, which was namechecked in TWO songs: Tom Waits' "Johnsburg, IL" and the Handsome Family song "In the Air", from the album of the same name. It's a tiny town, maybe a thousand people. Same as mine.

The Tannahill Weavers, "Gloomy Winter's Noo Awa'"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiwXsaPR14w

The Fegs, "Mill Street Law and Order"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Gm9OXQFog

... (translation) All coppers are bastards.

Beside the ones already mentioned (love ´em both : Cale and Taxi Girl), to me the best is « Paris S’Eveille » by Dutronc.

Oh you'll have hundreds of them, I don't have many to choose from, that Tannahill Weavers one is lovely though.

We love to get down in Ypsilanti.
https://youtu.be/e_vyGFvPaMs

This never fails to crack me up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUY6dBdgWR

Attn: jaymc

Accurate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGAqZakJoMg

I'm going to post this one again because the link I posted before no longer works and this song is so lovely:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU0HLLfSVEI

Also the story of Robert Tannahill, whose statue I must have passed hundreds of times, is so sad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Tannahill

A ton of The Hold Steady's songs are about places I grew up around, so I figured one would mention where I grew up (Burnsville), and indeed one does:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwQWnv-PyGc

I took the train to Richmond that fell
It was a time I remember, oh so well