Comments on: Songs about upstate NY

Question: Songs about upstate NY

thewestinggame — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:16:10 -0800

I'm looking for songs about upstate/western New York or that mention the area. Does anyone know of any? It's even better if a song specifically references Buffalo, Rochester, or the Adirondacks.

By: Miko

Miko — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:22:29 -0800

Leo Kottke's Back in Buffalo is a great song. Sorry I can't find an audio link - but it's worth a lookup to download. Discordant, loud acoustic guitar and gravelly voice.

Buffalo Gals, of course. And "The Erie Canal" for Rochester, Albany, and Buffalo. Some other Erie Canal songs here.

By: Mael Oui

Mael Oui — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:27:59 -0800

'Shuffle Off To Buffalo' from 42nd Street.

By: pullayup

pullayup — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:38:55 -0800

I might be a little embarrassed to know this, but, um, there is possibly a Dar Williams song about western New York state.

By: knile

knile — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:58:06 -0800

Grateful Dead - Truckin
"Truckin.. up to Buffalo..."

By: harkin banks

harkin banks — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:04:09 -0800

There's the leadoff track "Buffalo" from Kathleen Edwards' latest record, "Asking for Flowers". Coincidentally my favorite record of 2008!

By: GaelFC

GaelFC — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:15:27 -0800

"The New World," by X, mentions Buffalo in a list.

"Flint, Ford Auto,
Mobile, Alabama
Windshield wiper,
Buffalo, New York."

By: premortem

premortem — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:29:09 -0800

"Truckin, up to Buffalo. Been thinkin, you got to mellow slow
Takes time, you pick a place to go, and just keep truckin on."

Truckin' - Grateful Dead

By: Jonsnews

Jonsnews — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:45:04 -0800

My mom used to listen to a song called "The Ballad of the Adirondacks" I think.
I know its started out with a Loon calling. I remember it being quite catchy.

By: thejoshu

thejoshu — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:25:14 -0800

Steely Dan's "Barrytown," off Pretzel Logic, references the tiny Hudson Valley burb near the town of Red Hook.

By: thejoshu

thejoshu — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:39:59 -0800

Also, in the song "St. Dominic's Preview" Van Morrison sings "and it's a long way to Buffalo, / it's a long way to Belfast City, too."

By: Scram

Scram — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:41:26 -0800

Pretty much everything by Wide Right is seeped in Buffalo lore, and they come by it honestly.

By: moonmilk

moonmilk — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:27:37 -0800

Ooh ... the ER-I-EE was risin'
And the gin was gettin' low
And I scarcely think
We'll get a little drink
'til we get to Buffalo!

also

Get up there mule, here comes a lock,
We'll make Rome 'bout six o'clock.
One more trip and back we'll go,
Right back home to Buffalo.

By: Jinkeez

Jinkeez — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:05:44 -0800

Cutpaste:

During the 1970s, the Nickel City lost much of its shine. High unemployment, a miserable football team and poorly planned downtown urban renewal projects had Buffalo in the doldrums. To combat the negativity, advertising executive Alden Schutte produced the Talkin' Proud campaign. Anyone who grew up in Buffalo during that time can remember the chorus of singers dancing through the streets singing loudly, "Buffalo's got a spirit, talkin' proud, talkin' proud!"

Anyway, ">here's my copy of the song, be nice to my webserver :)

By: Jinkeez

Jinkeez — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:07:04 -0800

Whoops, bad html.

Here :)

By: lobstah

lobstah — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:09:35 -0800

Steely Dan " My Old School" references Annandale, as in Annandale-on-Hudson, home of Bard College, where they attended.

By: booth

booth — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:55:04 -0800

Ani Difranco must have a song that mentions Buffalo. Let's see...

Could it be that Hello Birmingham is the only one?

By: maurice

maurice — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 07:49:21 -0800

There was just an article in the Syracuse newspaper about the song "Sally From Syracuse" by Stu Nunnery.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:04:11 -0800

Steely Dan " My Old School" references Annandale, as in Annandale-on-Hudson, home of Bard College, where they attended.

Huh. Given the bits about William and Mary, I'd always assumed it was Annandale VA.

I came in to mention the Dar Williams song as well.

By: knile

knile — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:40:13 -0800

Chris Trapper - Boston Girl
"Well, Albany's so fun I spent a month there one day
But Buffalo is cool so I can't stay away"

Friends of mine from upstate wrote a song called Elmira, but I don't think the town is mentioned by name in the lyrics, at least according to my quick listen now. Would this still fit? I can see if they're okay with distribution.

By: Muffy

Muffy — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 10:11:55 -0800

Ani Difranco must have a song that mentions Buffalo.

You're thinking of Lullaby.

I live in New York New York the city that never shuts up
in the daylight everything is so gory
you can hear snatches of stranger's sorry stories

and I moved there from Buffalo but that's nothing
the TRICO plant moved to Mexico
left my uncle standing out in the cold
said there's your last paycheck have fun growing old

By: lobstah

lobstah — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:02:22 -0800

@ ROU_Xenophobe,

The Wolverine was (is) a train that used to run from NY-Boston-Detroit-Chicago, and had a stop near A on H. Now I think it just goes back and forth from MI to IL. I have a buddy who went to Bard, who taught me all this important stuff !

By: thejoshu

thejoshu — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:49:53 -0800

Bard alum here, can confirm the Steely Dan connection. Not to derail or anything...

By: chr1sb0y

chr1sb0y — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:42:23 -0800

There's a track called Upstate here, from Rochester rapper L.I.

I KNOW I've heard another track on college radio here that mentions Charlotte beach and a bunch of other Rochester area spots... will keep looking for it.

By: Riverine

Riverine — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:41:33 -0800

Greg Klyma's "Two Degrees in Buffalo."

Ani's earliest songs (1985 demos) have more Buffalo mentions, but aren't widely available.

Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere" mentions Buffalo in a list.

By: chr1sb0y

chr1sb0y — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 11:40:21 -0800

Here's another hip-hop track called 585 by Emilio Rojas - about Rochester. On a quick listen I heard him mention Clinton, St. Paul, Krudco skate shop, Java Joe's, Kodak, Midtown Plaza, ice, rain and sleet, and Charlotte Beach.

By: chr1sb0y

chr1sb0y — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 14:15:04 -0800

And in a different genre, Peter Hughes, (aka Peter Peter Hughes) who is generally considered to be the bass player for The Mountain Goats, has a song called "We'll always have Rochester", which is available free online.