History Main / LocationSong

** Music/FrankSinatra's "Theme From New York, New York", is a homage to the city and has become the official city anthem. In it Sinatra sings how the town is so great that "if I can make it there I can make it anywhere".

* Music/TheBeatles' song "Back In The USSR" from ''Music/TheWhiteAlbum'' is about the titular character arriving back in Russia after a long plane flight and being happy to be there. Since the fall of the Soviet Union the song has become quite surreal. Still, Music/PaulMcCartney still performs it whenever he tours in Russia.

** Music/TheClash have done both ''London's Burning'' and ''Music/LondonCalling''. "London's Burning" is about riots in the city, while "London Calling" is about a flood there. "Guns Of Brixton", also from "London Calling", takes place in Brixton, in the outskirts of London, where a revolution is about to take place.

** England's unofficial national anthems both evoke an idealised land. [[UsefulNotes/WilliamBlake]]'s ''Jerusalem'' relocates God's kingdom yet to come to England and references the myth that Jesus found time out from His busy schedule for a holiday here.

-->And did those Feet/In ancient times/Walk upon England's mountains green?
While Elgar's ''Land of Hope and Glory'' does much the same with a degree of imperial bombast which these days is taken with self-mocking irony[[note]]By everyone except the Tory Party[[/note]]

** The BlueOysterCult's songs about the HellsAngels do this. ''Shadow of California'' is about an Angels chapter driving from San Bernadino to Los Angeles along Highway 210, bent on dark deeds by night. ''Transmaniacon MC'' retells the story of the
Altamont rock festival - from the point of view of the Hells Angels who infamously provided stage security.

** ''Death Valley Nights'' is a wistful love ballad. Set in... yes, you've guessed it.[[note]]Death Valley is on the state border with Nevada. so this also classes as a Nevada-referencing song?[[/note]]

* "Downtown" in LittleShopOfHorrors describes how terrible life is in the setting of Skid Row.

* '''Chicago''' - "Chicago That Toddlin' Town" by Fred Fisher, made famous by Music/FrankSinatra. It's how Chicago is supposedly a wonderful and exciting place.

* '''Bangkok''': "One Night In Bangkok" by Murray Head is about the nightlife in the city.

** "America" by Music/SimonAndGarfunkel and "Livin' in America" by Music/JamesBrown. The first song is about people travelling across the USA with high expectations, while the second is a PepTalkSong on how great it is to live there.

* '''Bow River'': The song "Bow River" by Music/ColdChisel.

* '''Detroit'' - "Amityville" from Music/{{Eminem}}'s ''Music/TheMarshallMathersLP'' is a song about Detroit, where the rapper discusses the city's crowning as murder capital of the United States.

[[caption-width-right:300: ''And while we're going there we might as well sing a song about it.'']]

To many people across the world, it may even be the only thing they know about them. Some people may even be surprised this location actually exists in real life! "Route 66", for instance, a highway between Chicago and L.A. would probaly never have become such an iconic road if it weren't for the fact that Bobby Troup wrote a much CoveredUp song about in 1946, made famous by Music/NatKingCole.

Note for those who want to add examples: We put everything according to country and alphabetically. Locations that no longer exist are also allowed, as well as instrumentals.

* The continent in general is reflected in "Africa" by Toto, which is a song about the hunger and poverty there.

* '''Sun City''' - An anti-[[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra apartheid]] song by the Artists United Against Apartheid, where they all sang that they wouldn't perform in Sun City, unless apartheid was abolished.

* '''Zimbabwe''' - Music/BobMarley wrote an eponymous song about the country, available on ''Music/{{Survival}}'' to advocate and celebrate its independence.

* '''Beijing''': The song "(There Are) Nine Million Bicyles (In Beijing)" by Katie Melua is based on the fact that traffic jams with bicycles used to occur in the streets (it's still probably one of the few cities on Earth were the bike lane can take up half the street). The bikes have been replaced by myriads of cars these days, along with lots of air pollution and thick smog.
* "Chinatown", a {{Ska}} track by Don Drummond with The Skatalites. It could, of course, also be about chinatowns around the world.

* '''Jerusalem''': The hymn "Jerusalem" by Hubert Parry is only incidentally about the city. The song is more about the people of England building a "new Jerusalem".

* '''Singapore''' - Music/TomWaits wrote an eponymous song about it on his album ''Music/RainDogs'', which is a pirate song.

* '''Gangnam''' - A district in Seoul, made world famous by the dance hit "Gangnam Style" by Music/{{Psy}}

* '''Bangkok''': "One Night In Bangkok" by Murray Head is about the nightlife in the city.

* '''Istanbul''' - The comedic song "Istanbul Not Constantinople" by The Four Lads, later covered by Music/TheyMightBeGiants on ''Music/{{Flood}}''. It describes how the city changed its name in the course of centuries.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: North America]]

* "Blame Canada", from ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'' is a song the citizens of "South Park" sing when caught up in a media frenzy about the country, because they made a film that upset the parents with its vulgar language. It was even nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song.
* "Oh, Canada," by Music/CalixaLavallee is the Canadian national anthem and a patriotic ode to the country praising it's natural beauty.

* '''North Pole''': The North Pole is usually treated as EskimoLand, a romanticized version that treats the location to be almost like a separate country, instead of merely being part of Canada and/or Alaska. Songs that depict the place like this are Music/FrankZappa's "Nanook Rubs It" and "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" from ''Music/{{Apostrophe}}'' and Music/TheResidents' ConceptAlbum ''Music/{{Eskimo}}'', both comedic takes on all the clichés associated with the Inuit people there.

** "I Like To Be In America" from ''Theatre/WestSideStory'', where the women sing how they like the USA better than Puerto Rico and the men naming all the bad things about the USA.

** "Sweet Home Alabama" by Music/LynyrdSkynyrd is an AnswerSong about what makes the South wonderful, in reaction to Music/NeilYoung's more pessimistic "Alabama".

* '''California'''

** Music/WeirdAlYankovic: "I Hate California" by Music/JonathanCoulton is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
** Music/FrankZappa's song "Village Of The Sun" from ''Music/RoxyAndElsewhere'' is a nostalgic song about his youth in Palmdale, California.

* '''Chicago''' - "Chicago That Toddlin' Town" by Fred Fisher, made famous by Music/FrankSinatra. It's how Chicago is supposedly a wonderful and exciting place.

* '''Georgia''' -
** The song "Georgia On My Mind", famously covered by Music/RayCharles, is a homage to this state and has in fact become its official anthem.

* '''Houston''' - Creator/EmoPhillips' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS6urQMzYzs "I Like to Shop in Downtown Downer's Grove,"]] written for a Chamber of Commerce contest. Won 5th prize, "honorable mention."
* '''Illinois''' -

* '''Miami''' - Creator/WillSmith once wrote a hit song about the joy of partying in this city.

* '''Nebraska''' - Music/BruceSpringsteen wrote an eponymous album about the state.

* '''New Orleans''' - A song from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "A Streetcar Named Marge" from the fictional musical version of "A Streetcar Named Desire". The town is described as a "home of pirates, drunks and whores", which actually caused a bit of backdraft back when this episode was broadcast.

** "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" by Music/BeastieBoys from their album ''Music/LicensedToIll'' is an ode to Brooklyn, their home borough. In the song they sing that how exhausting their tours may be they will not rest until they are back in Brooklyn.
** Music/{{Black 47}} are quite fond of this trope. They wrote "Rocking the Bronx", "Five Points", "New York Town", "Banks of the Hudson", "New York, NY", "Sleep Tight in New York City", and "My Love Is in New York" among others all about the experience of being Irish immigrants in New York city.

** Music/FrankSinatra's "Theme From New York, New York", is a homage to the city and has become the official city anthem. In it Sinatra sings how the town is so great that "if I can make it there I can make it anywhere".

** Bobby Womack's song "Across 110th Street" is about a street in Manhattan, which was known at the time for being a clear divide between the richer and the poorer part of the city. The song reflects the BigRottenApple description.

* '''Oklahoma''' - The musical ''Theatre/{{Oklahoma}}'' has a TitleTrack about this state and the joys of living there.

* '''San Francisco''' -
** "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" by Music/TonyBennett is a BreakUpSong.
** "If You're Going To San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)" by Scott [=McKenzie=] was written during the hippie era when every hippie wanted to go to the city.

** "San Franciscan Nights" by Music/TheAnimals is a bitter sweet song about the city, written as a protest song against US society at the time, addressing the fact that Native Americans have been neglected the American Dream and PoliceBrutality is rampant.
* '''San José''' - The song "Do You Know The Way To San José?" by Music/BurtBacharach, made famous by Music/DionneWarwick, is about a native of San José who didn't make it in L.A. and thus returns to her hometown.

* '''St. Louis''' - Made famous by "St. Louis Blues", a jazz instrumental standard recorded by many among which Music/LouisArmstrong's rendition is the most famous.
* '''Sunset Boulevard''' - The musical ''Theatre/{{Sunset Boulevard}}'' has a TitleTrack about this location.

* '''West Virginia''':

[[folder: Middle/Central America]]

* '''Kingston''' - "Kingston Kingston" by Lou & The Hollywood Bananas is a party song about the city.
* '''Trenchtown'''
** A town immortalized in Music/BobMarley's "Trenchtown Rock" from ''[[Music/LiveBobMarleyAlbum Live]]'' and "Trench Town" from ''Music/{{Confrontation}}''. Both songs are a CrapsackWorld account about the poverty there, but at the same time a PepTalkSong how music enlivens everybody's spirit. The streets he mentions in "Trenchtown Rock" also exist in real life.

* '''Copacabana''': Music/BarryManilow had a famous hit named after this city, which is actually a MurderBallad.
* '''Ipanema''': "The Girl From Ipanema" is a love song made famous by Antonio Carlos Jobim and later covered in duet with Music/FrankSinatra.

[[folder: Europe]]

* '''Vienna''': Music/{{Ultravox}} had a hit in 1981 with the melancholic BreakupSong "Vienna". Johann Strauss composed "Geschichte aus der Wienerwald" ("Tales From The Vienna Woods").

* Belgium in general:
** The 1914 song "Belgium Put The Kibosh On The Kaiser" was written by the British singer Mark Sheridan to celebrate the fact that the Belgian army managed to delay the much larger German army during the then ongoing [[WorldWarOne First World War]].
** The 1998 hit song "Potverdekke, It's A Great To Be A Belgian" was a novelty hit by British singer Mr. John, on how marvellous the country is. He also references several things the nation is known for, such as French fries with mayonaise, ''Duvel'' beer, the saxophone, Franchise/{{Tintin}}, Literature/HerculePoirot and mussels.
* '''Bruges''' - "Mon Père Disait": Brel sings how his father told him that London is actually a piece of the Belgian city Bruges that floated away.
* '''Brussels''' - "Bruxelles" by Music/JacquesBrel is a NostalgiaFilter song about what the city once was and how it became the lifeless city it is today. Johan Verminnen's song "Rue des Bouchers" is about a real life street in Brussels.
* '''Liège (Luik)''' - Music/JacquesBrel's "Il Neige Sur Liège" has him observing snow falling down on the city and reflects that his dreams have been covered in snow in a similar way.
* '''Waterloo''' - Music/{{Abba}}'s first international hit only mentions the city incidentally as a metaphor for defeat, just how Napoleon was defeated there.

* '''Finland Song''' - A comedic song by Creator/MichaelPalin, from the Creator/MontyPython album ''AudioPlay/MontyPythonsContractualObligationAlbum''. When Palin went to the country in one of his travel shows he sang this song while kayakking.

** "April In Paris": A 1932 song by E.T. Harburg and Vernon Duke is a BreakUpSong set in the city.
** "Aux Champs-Elysées" by Joe Dassin is a song about the long street that leads from the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe. Traditionally cyclists start singing it during the final "étappe" in the Tour de France, because they all cross the finish in that street.
** "Il Est Cinq Heures, Paris S' Éveille" ("It's five o' clock, Paris wakes up") is a 1968 song by Jacques Dutronc about the mornings in the city.
** "Orly" by Music/JacquesBrel takes place at the airport in Orly, Paris where he observes a couple saying goodbye to each other.
* '''St. Tropez''': The disco song "Twist à St. Tropez" by Belgian band Telex is situated here.

** Music/FrankZappa wrote the instrumental track "Holiday In Berlin", available on ''Music/BurntWeenySandwich'' about the city. Bootlegs prove that the song had lyrics which describe Zappa's 1968 performance in Berlin, when a crowd wanted him to lead them into a street riot. When Zappa refused to do this a riot broke out and they had to flee.

** Music/DavidBowie's song "Heroes" from ''Music/{{Heroes}}'', which was also recorded there. It mentions two lovers meeting at the Berlin Wall.
** "Holidays In The Sun" by Music/SexPistols from ''Music/NeverMindTheBollocksHeresTheSexPistols'' takes place near the UsefulNotes/TheBerlinWall, though Johnny Rotten isn't sure why within the context of the song.

* '''Dachau''': Music/CaptainBeefheart's song "Dachau Blues" from ''Music/TroutMaskReplica'' is about the Nazi concentration camp of the same name and describes the horrors there.

* '''Amsterdam''':

** Flemish singer Kris De Bruyne also wrote a very well known song, "Amsterdam", about the things you can do and see in the city and that his loved one is there, close yet so far.

* '''Trannsylvania''': "Trannsylvania Boogie" by Music/FrankZappa is the instrumental opener of his album ''Music/ChungasRevenge''.

[[AC:Russia]]
* Music/TheBeatles' song "Back In The USSR" from ''Music/TheWhiteAlbum'' is about the titular character arriving back in Russia after a long plane flight and being happy to be there. Since the fall of the Soviet Union the song has become quite surreal. Still, Music/PaulMcCartney still performs it whenever he tours in Russia.

* '''The Volga River''': Inspired the song "Song Of The Volga Boatmen".

* '''Valencia''': A 1924 song by José Padilla praises the city.

[[AC: Switzerland]]
* "Merano" from ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'' is all about the healthful wonders of Merano, Switzerland, where act I is set. The aforementioned "One Night in Bangkok" is the opening of Act II.

[[AC: United Kingdom]]
* The UK in general:
** "Rule Britannia" by Thomas Arne is a glorious song about the British Empire and the Royal Navy.
* '''Liverpool'''
** "Penny Lane" by Music/TheBeatles, a NostalgiaFilter song from ''Music/MagicalMysteryTour'' about a real life street there.

** The traditionals "London Is Burning", "London Bridge Is Falling Down" and "Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner". The first song is a canon song about the 1666 fire there.
** "The Streets Of London", gives a few short descriptions of people not particularly needed, not really well-off in life. Song chorus implies that seeing certain things in the streets of London could give anyone who complains about loneliness and gloom a second thought.
** "No Place Like London" from the film adaptation of ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' is a CounterpointDuet—Anthony is singing about how the world is marvellous and London is its crown jewel, while Sweeney is singing about how it's a CrapsackWorld and London is the worst place in it.
** Music/TheClash have done both "London's Burning" and [[Music/LondonCalling "London Calling"]]. "London's Burning" is about riots in the city, while "London Calling" is about a flood there. "Guns Of Brixton", also from ''Music/LondonCalling'', takes place in Brixton, in the outskirts of London, where a revolution is about to take place.

* '''Scarborough''': A town near Yorkshire, which inspired a popular traditional, "Scarborough Fair" about a couple deciding to meet one another there at the fair. It has been covered by Music/SergioMendes and later Music/SimonAndGarfunkel in what are perhaps the most famous renditions.
* '''St. Ives''': The traditional "As I Was Going To St. Ives" which is a riddle about a man going to St. Ives and, while on his way there, meeting seven wives, with each seven sacks with seven cats, which all had seven kits, asking the listener how many where going to St. Ives? [[spoiler: The answer is one, because only the man was going to St. Ives]]. There are many places called St. Ives in England, but the rhyme is commonly thought to refer to St. Ives, Cornwall.

* Music/AmandaPalmer's "Australia" is, predictably enough, about Australia. More accurately, it's about a woman dissatisfied with her boring domestic life, fantasizing about going to Australia and having adventures. The general structure of the song is verses describing the boring things she could do with her life, and then a chorus beginning "Or I could go to Australia" followed by the adventurous things she could do. The last chorus subverts this by going "Fuck it, I'm gonna go to Australia!"

* "Australia All Over" has many songs dedicated to various Australian towns.

* "Down Under" by Men At Work evokes all the clichés about the LandDownUnder.
* '''Adelaide''': Greg Champion's "Came From Adelaide" (set to the melody of "I've Been Everywhere") lists famous AustralianRulesFootball players from Adelaide.

* '''Bow River'': The song "Bow River" by Music/ColdChisel.

* '''Newcastle''': The song "Star Hotel" by Music/ColdChisel concerns an incident where patrons at the titular hotel in Newcastle rioted to protest its closure.

* '''Marquesas Isles''': Music/JacquesBrel's "Les Marquises" is a song about the tranquillity and carefree attitude of the people on this island. Brel lived on this island during the last years of his life and was taken by the simple way people there regarded life, something he praised in this song which, by the way, was also his final recorded song before he died.

--> ''But that's what you get when you ask me to write a song about your country in twenty minutes''
* '''Kare Kare''': "Kare Kare" from the album ''Music/TogetherAlone'' by Music/CrowdedHouse is a homage to the town. The entire album was recorded there too.

[[folder: All countries in general]]

* "Big Rock Candy Mountain" - Harry [=McClintock=]'s song describes a wonderfully perfect dream land.

* "Octopus' Garden" by Music/TheBeatles from ''Music/AbbeyRoad'' is a Music/RingoStarr song about an undersea wonderland.

* For songs that promise of a better life elsewhere in a non-specific location, see SomewhereSong.
* "The Little House I Used To Live In" - Music/FrankZappa, from ''Music/BurntWeenySandwich'' and ''Music/FillmoreEastJune1971'' is a melancholic instrumental.

* "Our House" by Music/{{Madness}} from their album ''Music/TheRiseAndFall'' is a melancholic NostalgiaFilter song about childhood and living at their parents' house when they were young.
* "Under the Sea" - Disney/TheLittleMermaid is a PepTalkSong by Sebastian the crab about why life in the ocean is better than above it.

** "America" by Music/SimonAndGarfunkel and "Livin' in America" by Music/JamesBrown. The first song is about people travelling to the USA with high expectations, while the second is a PepTalkSong on how great it is to live there.

* '''Tirol''' (which is also part of German): The 2000 novelty song "Anton aus Tirol" by DJ Ötzi is a ImGreatSong about a certain character hailing from this region.

* '''New Mexico''' - "Albuquerque" is a parody song describing Al's fictional lifestory in this city.

* '''Hollywood''' - An eponymous hit song by Music/{{Madonna}} from her album ''Music/AmericanMusic'' was written about this city and is about the hollowness of glitter and fame.

* '''El Paso''' - Music/MartyRobbins' "El Paso", about a cowboy who fled the town after shooting down a cowboy making advances at his girlfriend.

* '''Hollywood''' - An eponymous hit song by Music/{{Madonna}} was written about this city and is about the hollowness of glitter and fame.

** Music/TheClash have done both "London's Burning" and "London Calling".

* "Capital City" - Fictional city in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', first appeared in the episode "Dancin' Homer", where Music/TonyBennett sang an appropriate theme song about it, in itself a parody of the PepTalkSong "Theme From New York, New York".
* "Octopus' Garden" by Music/TheBeatles from ''Music/AbbeyRoad'' is a Music/RingoStarr song about an underdsea wonderland.