What songs do you know about St. Louis?

September 18, 2009 8:45 AM

What songs are about St. Louis? Is there a list somewhere?

I recently stumbled on this wikipedia list of songs about Boston, and it made me wonder if there is a list of songs about St. Louis. Assuming there is not, what songs are out there? This would make a good playlist.

By "about St. Louis," I mean ones that reference the City in some way (rather than just name check it once in a list of city names). The ones I can think of from the top of my head are:

Heavy Metal Drummer, Wilco ("...we used to go see, on The Landing in the summer")
Meet Me In St. Louis
Talkin' Baseball (St. Louis Cardinals Version)
St. Louie, Nelly (and a host of other Nelly/St. Lunatics songs)
Missing Missouri, Sara Evans (sort of: she talks about "the Cardinals playing on tv" in the bridge)

posted by AgentRocket to media & arts (18 comments total)

The St. Louis Blues is a popular jazz standard.
posted by ORthey at 8:48 AM on September 18

Country Grammar by Nelly.
posted by oinopaponton at 8:48 AM on September 18

Route 66 mentions St. Louis. Pick your version.
posted by padraigin at 8:52 AM on September 18

East St. Louis Toodle-Oo by Steely Dan on Pretzle Logic.
Ghost of the St. Louis Blues by Leon Redbone on Sugar.
posted by Sculthorpe at 9:04 AM on September 18

"You Came A Long Way (From St. Louis)" and, I suppose, its Allan Sherman parody "You Went the Wrong Way Old King Louis".
posted by Melismata at 9:39 AM on September 18

This is at least the third time on MetaFilter I've mentioned "(Nobody Cares About the St. Louis) Rams" by Diskothi-Q.
posted by escabeche at 10:16 AM on September 18

Chuck Berry is from Stl and Back in the USA mentions it prominently. Also apparently he has an album called From St. Louie to Frisco that came out in 1968 so...there's something!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:47 AM on September 18

Tom Waits mentions St. Louis in Hold On
posted by backwards guitar at 10:52 AM on September 18

St. Louis Cemetery Blues - The Squirrel Nut Zippers, from the album Sold Out
posted by amyms at 10:56 AM on September 18

The rapper Chingy is from St. Louis and references it in multiple songs ("Holidae Inn," "Ridin Wit Me," "St. Louis Niggaz.")
posted by dlugoczaj at 11:01 AM on September 18

amyms, St. Louis Cemetery is actually in New Orleans, not St. Louis.
posted by dlugoczaj at 11:03 AM on September 18

St. Louis Tickle - sorry can't find a link.
posted by Pecinpah at 11:09 AM on September 18

St. Louis Cemetery is actually in New Orleans, not St. Louis.

Yikes, sorry about that. [insert an Emily Litella-voiced "Nevermind" here]
posted by amyms at 11:38 AM on September 18

'Meet Me in St. Louis' is another standard.
posted by box at 11:48 AM on September 18

Tom Petty mentions that he's "been to st. louis too" in Mind With A Heart of its Own.
posted by jeffamaphone at 12:42 PM on September 18

Stagger Lee
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 2:44 PM on September 18

(Show Me The Way To) St. Louis by the Little River Band (written by Vanda & Young, IIRC)
posted by Pinback at 6:37 PM on September 18

Oh, man... I feel like I got dozens of 'em, but I'll think on it more and try to get back to the thread, later. For right now, I'll just highlight two that are great as far as "illustrating an outsider's perspective on..."

Ice Cube - My Summer Vacation (St. Louis-centric storyline throughout, not without controversy amongst local gang members here, who feel that parts of it, especially parts related to the "dyin' for a street that they ain't never heard of" line, impugns them and shows a lack of understanding of the dynamics of that period. Still, in many ways a fair treatment, where the local HuSTLers win out, in the end.)

Excerpt: BOOM, my homie got shot he's a goner black/
St. Louis niggas want they corner back

DJ Quik - Just Like Compton

Excerpt: Moving on to St. Louis, where they country as fuck
With gold teeth in they mouth, but they still know whats up
Where its as hot as a mother-fucker
Hot enough to make you cuss
Thats why I kept my ass on the bus
...
Then they took us to a man named Gus in his store
He put me down with a herring-bone and shoes galore

(Guilty as charged on "country as fuck". Also: This part is even more hilarious if you've ever bought shoes from Gus.)
posted by jjjjjjjijjjjjjj at 9:21 PM on September 23