USA States set to music

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

I was trying to come up with a themed collection covering ALL the states in America. Here's my current list - can you tell me what I am missing, and any songs you know about these missing states (yes, I have lots of options for several of them):

Alabama - John Coltrane
My Alberta - Link Wray
Baked Alaska - Eggs
By the Time I Get to Arizona - Public Enemy
Arkansas State Prison - Bobby Womack
California Girls - Beach Boys
Man From Carolina - GG All Stars
You Wild Colorado - Johnny Cash
(You're A) Square From Delaware - Fats Waller
LongWalk To D.C. - Staple Singers
Florida - Butthole Surfers
Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight & the Pips
Hawaiian Boogie - Elmore James
Moscow, Idaho - Cassandra Complex
Johnsburg, Illinois - Tom Waits
Indiana - Art Tatum
Kansas - Wedding Present
Kentucky Skank - Lee Perry
Louisiana Man - Jerry Lee Lewis
Massachussets - Bee Gees
Jordan Minnesota - Big Black
Letters From Mississippi - Eddie Hinton or Here's To The State Of Mississippi - Phil Ochs (two huge faves of mine and I can't decide!)
Born in Missouri (Cummins Prison Farm) - Magic Slim
Montana - JMJ
Nevada! - Pere Ubu
Taos New Mexico - R. Dean Taylor
New York - Sex Pistols
North Dakota - Lyle Lovett
Ohio - Neil Young
Oregon Trail - Woody Guthrie
The Everlasting Hills Of Oklahoma - Sons Of The Pioneers
Sweet Rhode Island Red - Ike & Tina Turner
Deadwood, South Dakota - Nanci Griffith
My Tennessee Mountain Home - Dolly Parton
Texas Hold Up - Prince Buster
Moonlight On Vermont - Captain Beefheart
Virginia - Clipse
Washington Talkin' Blues - Woody Guthrie (yes, I expect he does mean the city, but I can't do better - see also NY)
West Virginia Man - Willie Nelson
Wisconsin - Crucifucks

I know I'm missing Maine (I guess I could use New England by Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers here), Wyoming, Utah, Nebraska, North & South Carolina (several songs with just Carolina in the title), Iowa and Connecticut. I guess some of those NW central states are the obvious ones to be missing. Have I missed any states out?

Also, let's not turn this into long lists of songs mentioning California et al, I'm trying to complete a set for myself here so that won't help, and I know there are loads of other options for the biggest states and all the deep southern ones especially.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 6 December 2003 22:50 (twenty-one years ago)

you also forgot Pennsylvania!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Saturday, 6 December 2003 22:56 (twenty-one years ago)

there's "pennsylvania is ..." by everclear. i sure hope there are pennsylvania songs by better bands than everclear, though!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:00 (twenty-one years ago)

What about Maryland?

― Aja (aja), Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:01 (twenty-one years ago)

"Iowa," Dar Williams

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:02 (twenty-one years ago)

John Linnell's State Songs to thread! (Maine and Pennsylvania are both on there.)

― Prude (Prude), Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Also Ray Charles' "Georgia On My Mind."

― Prude (Prude), Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:10 (twenty-one years ago)

What happened to Maryland?

― Aja (aja), Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:11 (twenty-one years ago)

alberta isn't an american state!! (yet)

― jones (actual), Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Mary Chapin Carpenter "Down in Mary's Land"

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:31 (twenty-one years ago)

utah - "the beehive state" off nilsson sings newman (so pretty!)

― jones (actual), Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Whoops! Sorry about Alberta, and the two missing ones. I have no songs with Maryland or Pennsylvania in the titles. Obviously if I was doing a comp I could include songs about Baltimore or Philly, of which there are many. This may not be a solution to all the states, however.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:42 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm kind've insulted that the Minnesota one is a Big Black song. It could be worse though, I guess, right? It could be one of the country music ones.

― Dan i., Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Try Guy Mitchell's "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Using allmusic.com's search function (by song title) will help filing in any blanks.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Saturday, 6 December 2003 23:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Pennsylvania 6-5000

(haha, I know it's about NYC)

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Sunday, 7 December 2003 00:04 (twenty-one years ago)

"Nebraska" by Springsteen

― Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Sunday, 7 December 2003 00:46 (twenty-one years ago)

where's michigan? you could go for the obvious album by sufjan stevens.

― nikolaus winter (bokkengro), Sunday, 7 December 2003 01:07 (twenty-one years ago)

You should go with "Texas" by Boss Hog.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Sunday, 7 December 2003 01:14 (twenty-one years ago)

theres another song called arizona too, i have no idea who its by, but it goes "arizona, kick off your rainbow shoes" or something.

― The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Sunday, 7 December 2003 01:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Coleman Hawkins wrote a song called Maine.

― Mike Hanle y (mike), Sunday, 7 December 2003 10:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Dead Kennedys, "California Uber Alles"

― Prude (Prude), Sunday, 7 December 2003 10:37 (twenty-one years ago)

isnt the butthole surfers one, 'moving to florida'?

― charltonlido (gareth), Sunday, 7 December 2003 10:48 (twenty-one years ago)

No, no, you need "Saginaw, Michigan" by Lefty Frizzell.

― Sarah Pedal (call mr. lee), Sunday, 7 December 2003 10:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Dayton Ohio 1903 - Randy Newman

― weather!ngda1eson, Sunday, 7 December 2003 12:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Damn, I thought this was going to be about "Fifty Nifty United States" cause I had to learn that in fifth grade and to this day can still recite all US states in alphabetical order in under a minute or something.

I am a dork.

― sgs, Sunday, 7 December 2003 16:26 (twenty-one years ago)

theres another song called arizona too, i have no idea who its by, but it goes "arizona, kick off your rainbow shoes" or something.

Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders -- it's a brilliantly splashy, trashy and smug song that's about an older male narrator wanting the dirty hippie-chick to stop thinking about her dreamy dreams, get washed up and get into bed with him. Sort of a "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" thing set to a showtune/tourist anthem arrangement. Have a female singer sing it and it becomes even better!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 7 December 2003 16:58 (twenty-one years ago)

50 songs about 50 states

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Sunday, 7 December 2003 17:53 (twenty-one years ago)

maybe "Clampdown" can work for us real Pennsylvanians, since it namechecks both Pittsburgh and Harrisburgh and ignores those frou-frou Philadelphian snobs altogether =)

― Vic (Vic), Sunday, 7 December 2003 18:21 (twenty-one years ago)

"Clampdown" namechecks "Petersburg" not Pittsburgh. And shouldn't a real Pennsylvanian be able to spell Harrisburg correctly?

(so what's the "Petersburg"? I always assumed maybe Russia, but it wasn't named that when the song was written.)

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Sunday, 7 December 2003 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

nebraska - grandaddy
tennessee - silver jews

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

california - joni mitchell
california - bobby conn

[I know what martin posted about songs w/ 'california']

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, I could fill a couple of C90s with songs with California in the title, I think.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 7 December 2003 22:53 (twenty-one years ago)

isn't it better to have a song title that's just the name of the state? even if you don't like the song as much.

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 7 December 2003 23:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Okay, I misspelled it and am not a real Pennsylvanian! (I'm nt anymore anyway)

― Vic (Vic), Monday, 8 December 2003 07:37 (twenty-one years ago)

The Dambuilders did a lot of songs with states as their titles, but "Idaho" is the only one (song, not title) that sticks in my memory.

― nickn (nickn), Monday, 8 December 2003 08:10 (twenty-one years ago)

twenty years pass...

"The highest grossing singer/musical artist/band from each US state" (took this off Facebook--no idea if it's new or old):

https://i.postimg.cc/SNY4M9hY/states.jpg

I've never heard of Howie Day or Billy Gillman.

― clemenza, Tuesday, 26 November 2024 03:28 (ten months ago)

Or "Portugal. The Man," although I'm excited to find out they're from Wasilla, Alaska.

― clemenza, Tuesday, 26 November 2024 03:30 (ten months ago)

Comments point out a rather large error for Texas, immediately calling into question the accuracy of the other 49 states.

― clemenza, Tuesday, 26 November 2024 03:33 (ten months ago)

Eminem threw me for a second, didn't remember he was born in Missouri, apparently it's birth state for the solo musicians, but not for bands?

― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 26 November 2024 03:36 (ten months ago)

I don't know how you'd determine a band, unless everyone's born in the same state...just kind of the state they're identified with (like the Eagles*)?

*also identified with the state of lethargy

― clemenza, Tuesday, 26 November 2024 03:44 (ten months ago)

Four guys in a state

― Kim Kimberly, Tuesday, 26 November 2024 04:36 (ten months ago)

I count seven artists on this map that were also associated with those states in the 2024 DNC roll call:

AK: Portugal. The Man
HI: Bruno Mars
IN: Michael Jackson
KS: Kansas
MN: Prince
NV: Killers
OK: Garth Brooks

― jaymc, Tuesday, 26 November 2024 05:42 (ten months ago)

Lol Martin Skidmore, getting all the way to the 2nd entry on his list before mistaking a province for a USA state

― Hongro Hongro Hippies (Myonga Vön Bontee), Tuesday, 26 November 2024 13:11 (ten months ago)

I was gonna suggest Billy Bragg's Ontario, Quebec and Me

― Rumspringsteen (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 26 November 2024 13:33 (ten months ago)

had no idea paul revere and the raiders formed in boise, always think of them as an LA band

― budo jeru, Tuesday, 26 November 2024 17:16 (ten months ago)

I thought Paul Revere was from Boston.

― clemenza, Tuesday, 26 November 2024 17:26 (ten months ago)

It’s in the Louie Louie book iirc

― sarahell, Tuesday, 26 November 2024 17:52 (ten months ago)

i can't believe i'd never heard their version of that either ... or anything off the two LPs they made before signing to Columbia in '63

― budo jeru, Tuesday, 26 November 2024 23:55 (ten months ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.