More Songs That Mention A Specific Place

Firstly, I would like to mention something completely unconnected with this blog. Whilst browsing user generated quizzes, I came across a user that goes by the name of ZeldaQuizzer. This user has made a quiz about my extensive travels. You can try it HERE. Please support ZQ and take the quiz. There are also some others in a similar vein about other users, including one about the travels of an unknown user called Quizmaster whoever that is, Never heard of him (or her, or them, or whatever gender pronoun is appropriate) 😉.

Now, back to the job in hand.

In this sequel to my earlier blog, check it out here, I have selected some more songs that mention a place, even if it might not at first be apparent. Once again, these songs are not new. I make no apologies for the fact that my musical knowledge all but stopped in around 1995. Don't get me wrong, there are some truly excellent songs that were produced after that date, but for some reason my addled brain doesn't want to acknowledge them on a daily basis. Therefore, most of the songs in this blog, and others, originate from before that time. If anyone to point me in the direction of similar songs from post 2000, then please do so in the comments and I will check them out.

So, onwards and upwards, as the saying goes.......

This song is about an impromptu race between a Corvette Stingray and a Jaguar XKE through the streets of Los Angeles. The first few lines set the scene...

I was cruisin' in my Stingray late one night
When an XKE pulled up on the right
And rolled down the window of his shiny new Jag

And challenged me then and there to a drag

Now, to find out the starting point of this race, we must delve further into the song...

Let's come off the line now, at Sunset and Vine

Sunset and Vine ? Presumably a crossroads, deduced from the two street names but in which city ?. Well Sunset Boulevard is pretty well known in Los Angeles, and Jan and Dean being singers from the same surfing stable as the Beach Boys, means California would be a decent enough starting point. A quick search on Google Street View brings us to....

There is even a conveniently named office building called Sunset Vine Tower.

The next line,

Let's race all the way To Dead Man's Curve

Is getting ahead of ourselves slightly because there is more places in the song before Dead Man's Curve. Following the chorus the next verse lays out the route...

We both popped the clutch when the light turned green
You should of heard the whine from my screamin' machine
I flew past LaBrea, Schwab's, and Crescent Heights
And all the Jag could see were my six tail lights

He passed me at Doheny then I started to swerve. 

A plethora of locations, let's start at the top.

La Brea - a street that crosses Sunset Blvd almost exactly one mile west of Vine Street.

Schwab's - This one was a little more difficult to find. It was a famous pharmacy that opened in 1932 and was popular with movie actors until it sadly closed in 1983. The building was demolished in 1988 to make way for a cinema and shopping complex.

Crescent Heights - Another crossroads approximately one and a quarter miles west of La Brea. Or 2 and a quarter miles from Vine street.

Doheny - This one is another road, Doheny Drive. However there are several curves between Crescent and Doheny, but as this is a fictional song as far as we are aware, a little artistic licence has probably been used.

The strange thing is, Doheny Drive is way past where the curves start on Sunset Boulevard. The first curve is just after Crescent Heights but there is also a curve just after Doheny Drive. So which is it?

Going strictly by the lyrics it is obviously the bend after Doheny, however just to confuse matters there is also a near 90^o turn a few miles further west on Sunset near Whittier Drive. This curve was ironically near to the scene of a crash involving Jan Berry of Jan and Dean when he crashed his Stingray into a truck on Whittier Drive.

Suffice to say, racing is dangerous, especially illegal drag racing through city streets, Don't try this at home kids !

I'll leave you with Jan and Dean's final words in the song...

Dead Man's Curve, it's no place to play
Dead Man's Curve, you best keep away
Dead Man's Curve, I can hear 'em say

Won't come back from Dead Man's Curve. 

Contradicting my introduction, here is a very recent song by Lana del Ray. Many thanks to WashingMachine for his suggestion.

We're staying near to LA for this song. The first few lines are all we need....

Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard?

Handmade beauty sealed up by two man-made walls

After a little Googling, I found out that the tunnel in question is the Jergins Tunnel in Long Beach, California. It has been closed since the late 1960's. It was originally built as a walkway under the busy road to get to the beach.

Although supposedly sealed, some intrepid urban explorers have managed to gain access, and luckily for us, added some photospheres on StreetView.

The tunnel is located near to the junction of Pine Avenue and Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach.

This is a song about a spiritual awakening, well, according to an interview with the song's writer that I found on the internet anyway. Marc Cohn states that the line "Then I'm walking in Memphis

So, we've established we are in Memphis, obviously the city in Tennessee, rather than the ancient Egyptian capital. That would have made Elvis' music way different, but imagine what music would be like now if he had sung Blue Suede Shoes in 3200BC. I digress, back to the song.

The first verse, before any floating on Beale Street, has the lyrics.....

Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain

W.C. Handy, won't you look down over me?

Firstly, Land of the Delta Blues, confirmation that it's Tennessee and not Egypt. But who or what is W.C Handy ?

The statue of W.C.Handy is in a small park named after him on Beale Street, (see above picture), next to the museum dedicated to him. Unfortunately the statue isn't visible on Google Street View, so you'll have to trust me on this one.

Let's move on, further lyrics mention the King of Rock and Roll....

Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland

Then I watched him walk right through

Mmm, slight discrepancy here. Union Avenue is north of Beale Street, not far granted, just a city block or two, so we can dismiss this as aimless wandering.

However, Graceland is quite a way south, almost nine miles south...

Moving on, almost at the end of the song now. The lyrics continue...

When you haven't got a prayer

Reverend Green refers to Al Green, the soul and R&B singer that used to preach at the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church in Memphis. He had a major hit song with Take me to the River in the early 1970's.

Finally, the song mentions someone else....

Every Friday at the Hollywood

Muriel refers to a retired schoolteacher, Muriel Davis Wilkins, that sang in a café called The Hollywood, in the then named village of, Robinsonville in Mississippi, some thirty odd miles south of Memphis. The village is now known as Tunica Resorts, but the café is still there, at least it was in 2016 when the Google car drove past...

This song, in my humble opinion, has one of, if not the, best drum intro ever. It's only short but, it certainly wakes you up. Have a listen to it in the usual accompanying Spotify Playlist, link at the end of the blog, after I've made it.

Anyway, the song starts with these lyrics...

I've seen the yellow lights go down the Mississippi

I've seen the bridges of the world and they're for real

Luckily, we were already in Mississippi at the end of the last song. Presumably the song refers to the river rather than the state. But what about the yellow lights? I'm going to stick my neck out a bit here. I think it refers to the famous Mississippi Riverboats whose yellow lights can be seen in this painting...

The next line about bridges, well, what can I say? We've all seen bridges, but I doubt anyone has seen all of the bridges of the world. We know they're real because we walk or drive over them daily. Some artistic licence has been used here I think. The song continues...

I've seen the morning in the mountains of Alaska
I've seen the sunset in the east and in the west
I've sang the glory that was Rome

And passed the hound-dog singer's home

We don't know which mountains are being referred to here so I suppose a generic picture will do. Now, we all know the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so how can the singer have seen a sunset in both? My theory, for what it's worth, is that when the song was written in 1974 the Berlin Wall was still up and there was still a distinct divide between the western and eastern hemispheres, and even more so especially in Europe.

Rome is a glorious city, I've been there, i can't argue with that line. And then like magic, we are back to Graceland!

Continuing on, the song at last has a specific place in it's lyrics...

I've seen the Paris lights from high upon Montmartre

And felt the silence hanging low in No-Man's-Land

Montmartre is a hill in the 18th arrondissement to the north of the centre of Paris, France not Texas! It is dominated by the limestone basilica of the Sacré-Cœur. It is an area of artists and the views of the city are outstanding.

No Man's Land, mmm, in 1974 the major conflict was still the Vietnam War, but what a glam rock band were doing in Vietnam, especially an area as dangerous as No Man's Land between the two protagonists is beyond me. However, in 1974 the UN Buffer Zone in Cyprus was extended. No-one lived in the Buffer Zone which makes it an effective No Man's Land. Of course, the writer could also be referring to the area of Flanders in Belgium that was a battleground in WW1 and is often said to be quiet by visitors.

The final verse jumps back to Mississippi....

I've seen the yellow lights go down the Mississippi
The grand Bahama island stories carry on
And all those arigato smiles

Stay in your memory for a while

I'll pass by the riverboats and sail of to the sunnier lands of the Bahamas. Grand Bahama Island isn't the largest of the Bahamas, but it is the most northern. What the stories are is anyone's guess.

Arigato smiles. Arigato means Thank You in Japanese. Enough said.

Back to the good old US of A again with this song. It's not about the Native American woman that married an Englishman, or even about the Disney princess. It is in fact about a small village in Illinois that was the birthplace of the singer. In fact the lyrics confirm this....

I was raised in Pocahontas, Illinois

Everybody thought of me as one of the boys

Pocahontas was originally called Hickory Grove and also Amity, before changing to Pocahontas in 1855. It is named after a company called Pocahontas Coal.

Further lyrics reveal an early life of the singer....

At fifteen, I was tendin' Big O's Bar

I'd sing 'til 2 AM for a half-full tip jar

So where was "Big O's" bar ? Who was "Big O" ?

Well, apparently "Big O" was a local business man called Mark Obermark. He owned a couple of bars amongst other ventures. Gretchen Wilson dropped out of school and helped her mother in the bar at Pierron, Illinois just a few miles outside of Pocahontas. She used to sing for tips in the evenings. By the age of fifteen she was running the bar solo. So, the song is factually correct about her early life before leaving home with $500 to seek her fortune in Nashville.

The bar is now known as The Smokehouse....

As I mentioned earlier, if anyone has any suggestions for suitable tunes that mention places, I will definitely check them out. Let me know in the comments.

As always there is a LINK to a playlist on my Spotify account, why not listen as you read.

_{Once again pictures are from either Wikipedia, Pixabay or screenshots from Google Street View.}