What song(s) make you think of where you come from?

[Graffiti62]

I was reading a post that NPR put on their Facebook page that correlates with the upcoming Independence Day celebration that occurs in the US on July 4th. The question of the article was "What songs make you proud of your homeland?"

Growing up in Northeast Wisconsin, where agriculture is a prevelant struggle in an area made up of small communities, there are a couple of songs that really make me think not only of where I grew up, but also the land that people sweat and fight for:

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joNzRzZhR2Y[/youtube]

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CVLVaBECuc[/youtube]

Ironically, both songs were on the "A" side of Mellencamps "Scarecrow" album.

Whether you're American, Canadian, Brazilian, Japanese, Austrailian, Dutch, Scottish, Norweigan or otherwise, what song or songs make you think about and give you pride in where you come from?

 

[B3Guy]

Well, I'm from Minnesota. Pat Donahue (great fingerpicker, used to play for Prairie Home Companion when I was growing up) has a fantastic song called The Other End of the Mississippi River Blues. Laid back acoustic picking with vocals, it brings back memories of childhood vacations up north hiking the countless state parks. Pat's voice and playing is also familiar from Prairie Home, which I grew up listening to. For those who don't know it, PRairie home is a public radio show that imitates old-time radio, complete with musical numbers, spoken theatre (Lives of the Cowboys and Guy Noir). Look it up, or listen online.

Try for River Blues Here: http://www.rdio.com/#/artist/Pat_Donohue/album/Backroads/track/(The_Other_End_of)_The_Mississippi_River_Blues/

 

[Graffiti62]

Well, I'm from Minnesota. Pat Donahue (great fingerpicker, used to play for Prairie Home Companion when I was growing up) has a fantastic song called The Other End of the Mississippi River Blues. Laid back acoustic picking with vocals, it brings back memories of childhood vacations up north hiking the countless state parks. Pat's voice and playing is also familiar from Prairie Home, which I grew up listening to. For those who don't know it, PRairie home is a public radio show that imitates old-time radio, complete with musical numbers, spoken theatre (Lives of the Cowboys and Guy Noir). Look it up, or listen online.

Try for River Blues Here: http://www.rdio.com/#/artist/Pat_Donohue/album/Backroads/track/(The_Other_End_of)_The_Mississippi_River_Blues/

That's why I listen to Garrison Keillor--Lake Wobegon, MN reminds me of my hometown of Hortonville, WI. I'm kind of sad that he's retiring in 2013--I don't know if the show will live on with someone new, or if it'll fade out when Garrison does.

 

[kboman]

While I have never been prone to feel pride in a geographic location, there are a few sounds (rather than songs) that give me a strong feeling of belonging. It's like they have been hardwired into my brain
- One of my first childhood memories (I would have been ca 2,75 years old) is of blackbirds singing from the rooftops in Visby in early summer. It is still my favourite bird!
- Wind through pines: I basically grew up in a pine grove. It's a very soothing sound.

 

[B3Guy]

Well, I'm from Minnesota. Pat Donahue (great fingerpicker, used to play for Prairie Home Companion when I was growing up) has a fantastic song called The Other End of the Mississippi River Blues. Laid back acoustic picking with vocals, it brings back memories of childhood vacations up north hiking the countless state parks. Pat's voice and playing is also familiar from Prairie Home, which I grew up listening to. For those who don't know it, PRairie home is a public radio show that imitates old-time radio, complete with musical numbers, spoken theatre (Lives of the Cowboys and Guy Noir). Look it up, or listen online.

Try for River Blues Here: http://www.rdio.com/#/artist/Pat_Donohue/album/Backroads/track/(The_Other_End_of)_The_Mississippi_River_Blues/

That's why I listen to Garrison Keillor--Lake Wobegon, MN reminds me of my hometown of Hortonville, WI. I'm kind of sad that he's retiring in 2013--I don't know if the show will live on with someone new, or if it'll fade out when Garrison does.

I don't think it can continue without him, at least not while he's still around. of course, they may replay it, and perhaps eventually something similar will crop up again.

 

[Eric Banjitar]

I live in St. Louis. Chuck Berry still plays here once a month in a small basement bar. He has a back-up band that plays for about 30 min. Then Chuck comes out and struts around playing and duck walking as best as he can (the guy is 80 years old).  He plays for about 30 min. which usually includes a rocking medely of his hits, then his band finishes up for another little while.  The shows are sold-out months in advance.  Mr. Berry is a true living legend and god-father of rock-n-roll.  Every time I hear Chuck Berry, I think of home here in the Lou.

 

[anorakDan]

Well, I'm from Minnesota. Pat Donahue (great fingerpicker, used to play for Prairie Home Companion when I was growing up) has a fantastic song called The Other End of the Mississippi River Blues. Laid back acoustic picking with vocals, it brings back memories of childhood vacations up north hiking the countless state parks. Pat's voice and playing is also familiar from Prairie Home, which I grew up listening to. For those who don't know it, PRairie home is a public radio show that imitates old-time radio, complete with musical numbers, spoken theatre (Lives of the Cowboys and Guy Noir). Look it up, or listen online.

Try for River Blues Here: http://www.rdio.com/#/artist/Pat_Donohue/album/Backroads/track/(The_Other_End_of)_The_Mississippi_River_Blues/

I'm Minnesotan, too! I grew up in a little town on the Mississippi which is bisected by Highway 61, so for me it's Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited.

Great thread!

 

[crash]

I'm from Eagan, Minnesota... so no song reminds me of there.  I suppose any boring song could remind me of Eagan.  Freebird is pretty boring so I'll say that.  The guitar solo is the musical equivalent of running on a treadmill.

 

[Velcro]

Freebird is pretty boring so I'll say that.  The guitar solo is the musical equivalent of running on a treadmill.

I wonder what people will make of that?

 

[ptirman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVZtWeG-voY :headbang: :glasses9: :blob7: arty07: :rock-on:

 

[Jusatele]

I think I identify my small town in the south younger days with Hank Williams Jr song, Country Boy Can Survive, and my personality kinda with Simple Man by Skynyrd, Pink Houses always gets a tear in my eye thinking about the people who made America great looking back at life in their later days, I think Mellencamp really put out some of the best American Rock and Roll ever, it is just all about America, great stuff.

 

[OzziePete]

My Dad came from Newcastle...this song came out in the 1970s & is an embarrassment.... :sad:
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yXinPYK-Jk&feature=related[/youtube]
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Er I came from the suburbs, but hated this song......and I later got to know the keyboard player (worked with his wife) from this group. Poor John hid his gold record at home, for this, I think!

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWArUaViXsA[/youtube]
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This song really typifies my current situation.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYBnOglR9FE[/youtube]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
But then again, when you are trying to get out of Sydney on a Friday night, these songs kinda describe what happens on the F3 Freeway.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EujW2-TYib8&feature=related[/youtube]
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4aob4zlhIk[/youtube]
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZZnhBQXRaI[/youtube]

 

[swarfrat]

Daughtry's Home
Because its my home too, we were in the (take turns breathing so you don't give up any of your space) crowd outside Natty Greene's when the video was shot.

My wife is a huge fan of his. I like what I've heard, but it doesn't live in my CD player for months like some others.

 

[Cagey]

Being from Deepinahearta, Detroit, almost anything that has to do with cars and illicit road racing will resonate with me. Y'know... motor city and all. Used to be, anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgZSnAkQc4c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdDNFJpil50

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CW5GRilRyE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyJWVw6xqY0

Of course, there's a million of them. I'll never escape...

 

[Cagey]

Off topic, but in the process of looking for the videos I posted previously I found this one where Sammy Hagar, looking for all the world like a titless Linda Ronstadt, and Eddie Van Halen doing his best to look like Keith Partridge of Partridge Family fame, get together and cover Led Zeppelin's "Rock 'n' Roll". Pretty good job, really.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyyLshCQUEU

 

[Graffiti62]

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZZnhBQXRaI[/youtube]

I had heard of Rose Tattoo, and how intense Angry Anderson was/is, but I had never had the chance to hear any of their stuff. Honestly a band that should have been bigger, at least here in the States.

 

[Graffiti62]

There's another song I wanted to post as well. When I was a student DJ in college, I wound up getting a bit of a following from some older guys because I'd play a lot of blues rock and stuff that wasn't always heard on any of the more mainstream classic rock stations. I always had a lot of positive response whenever I'd play Rory Gallagher or the Faces or anything off of the Woodstock vinyls we had at the station, but there was one song that I felt made an impact. I played this song and following it, was immediately called by a guy in a local folk band, asking all of the whos, the whats and the wheres in regards to the song, because he told me that something like this would really talk to his audience.

To understand this, you have to understand Michigan. Of the two halves, or peninsulas, of Michigan, the southern half of the lower peninsula is the more prosporous area, consisting of towns such as Battle Creek, Muskegon, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Flint, Saginaw, Ann Arbor and of course Detroit. Saginaw used to really be the line of prosperity in regards to getting a manufacturing job, so folks would migrate from the upper half of the lower peninsula, and from all over the upper peninsula, to get a good paying job and get their slice of the pie. Many a Yooper (a resident of Michigan's Upper Peninsula) punched a time card in one of Henry Ford's factories, and truly missed the land of pine trees and whitetail deer where they grew up. This isn't so much of a song of where I grew up, but it is kind of a song about where I live now, and is kind of the story for a LOT of people from this area.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRSNYX95ZNY[/youtube]

 

[hannaugh]

The ones I can think of off the top of my head-

- California Here I Come - Al Jolson
- California Dreamin' - Mamas & The Papas
- I Love LA - Randy Newman
- Going to California - Led Zep
- California - Rufus Wainwright
- Why You'd Want to Live Here - Death Cab For Cutie
- Grapevine Fires - Deathcab For Cutie
- and pretty much every song the Beach Boys ever did. 

I think the music I will always most closely associate with Southern California (and especially Fullerton because we have the whole history with Fender) though are anything with the Dick Dale surf guitar type of sound.  That's just the sound of Fullerton to me. 

On a side note, I went to a deli in the downtown area the other day and had a "Fender Club".  It was pretty good. 

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

Can't think of one that makes me think of where I came from, but here's one that makes me think about the basic area where I live now, though we live in a nice neighborhood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI01oSe6oBE&feature=related

 

[AGWAN]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB0DU4DoPP4

Didn't say it was good. Or even that I favored it.

It just is very familiar