Another relatively straightforward one this week as there are plenty to choose from beginning with S
Let's start with Springfield which as we all know is the home of the Simpsons .Now whether they actually stay in the Springfield that is the capital city of the state of Illinois I'm not entirely sure. It is the one that Slobberbone sing about though. With a population of 114K it boasts Abraham Lincoln as its most famous historic resident although they may have to amend that if Brian stayed there during his Illinois days.
Sioux City is a city in the Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the north western part of Iowa with a population of just under 86K making it the 4th largest city in Iowa. Sioux City is also a song on Blue Earth an early album by The Jayhawks. I would have loved to hear Johnny Cash singing this as part of the American Recordings series.
I know that when I mention St (or Saint) Cloud the city in Minnesota with a population of c69K that many of you would think that I would post the song On a Bus to St Cloud by Gretchen Peters. Rather I have gone for Waxahatchee (SWC will be pleased ) with the title song from her 2020 album Saint Cloud. It is actually named after the city of St (or Saint Cloud) in Osceola County, Florida with a population of c55k which is her father's home town.
The first song I thought of when it came to S was the brilliant Saginaw, Michigan by Lefty Frizzell. Saginaw is a former lumber town and part of the Greater Tri- Cities region of Central Michigan with a population of 44k
Finally we are off to California and to its fastest growing city of Sacramento. This is largely due to it status as a notable political centre and a major educational and healthcare hub. The current population is 525K making it the 6th most populated city in the State. Sacramento and Polk is a song of The Boxing Mirror by Alejandro Escovedo. I think it refers to a junction or district in another Californian city beginning with S namely San Francisco but it would have been to easy to feature that city this week.
T will probably be slightly harder but I've already got a couple in mind.
Slightly disappointed not to see Gretchen featured, but I'll get over it.
ReplyDeleteTallahassee Lassie by Herb Gale is an exercise in seeing how many words he can find which rhyme with that particular city.
Tucson Train is a must, from Bruce's best album of the 21st Century.
Plenty of Tulsa songs, but one that's really obvious. (The Jayhawks have a song that gets double points for also mentioning Tampa.)
Toledo - Burt & Elvis or The Blue Nile.
Tupelo... honey.
REM have Texarkana, and many cite Eddy Arnold's Texarkana Baby as the first 45 single... iffypedia says it was "one of the first".
Robert Plant sang about 29 Palms, but I prefer First Aid Kit's 29 Palms Highway.
I'm going to stop there because the sheer number of interestingly named US cities beginning with the letter T has me wanting to put together a whole playlist. Sad that I couldn't find a song named after Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico.
An impressive list
DeleteA couple of those will feature. I already have my five selected.
In that case I won't waste your or my time, other than to note that between Van and Emmylou you're spoiled for choice for Tupelo
DeleteI think we need to get back to smaller cities: cities like Temple on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
DeleteI only knew Saginaw, Michigan via Bobby Bare and as for St Cloud I'm afraid Waxahatchee just doesn't cf Gretchen Peters.
ReplyDeleteWhen this series ends I hope you'll do a similar thing with UK cities/towns. It'll certainly be more challenging