New Jersey songs

November 2, 2006 3:25 PM

i have been enjoying making theme mixes/playlists lately and i have been working on this one for a while. Songs About New Jersey. or at least songs that mention somewhere in the great garden state. yup there is

i need more songs. i have quite a few, but i know there must be a lot more out there.
i am partial to the pop punk/indie rock/punk/hardcore/emo styles but anything is good.
can be as obvious as "New Jersey Girl" by Nerf Herder or a little more buried like "Hoboken" by Operation Ivy.

here is some of what i have so far:
Black Science Orchestra - New Jersey Deep
Jersey's Where It's At Belle And Sebastian
Alone In New Jersey Bigwig
Jersey Blessed Bluetip
Jersey City Spring Water Bob Evans
So Jersey Bouncing Souls
Devil In Jersey City Coheed & Cambria
Jersey Thursday Donovan
jersey never seemed so long element 101
thunder in jersey fiction
three teeth shy of south jersey the funeral bird
Jersey City Hudson Falcons
Tiger Rag - Jersey Bounce Jimmy Dorsey
New Jersey In My Rearview The June Spirit
Dostoyevsky Gets Mugged Outside a Donut Shop in Jersey Kind Of Like Spitting
Grovers Corners, New Jersey Lanemeyer
Never Going Back To New Jersey Less Than Jake
Somewhere In The Swamps Of Jersey lifetime
Jersey LWL Quarter Life Crisis
I Love New Jersey Mohawk Barbie
New Jersey Girl Nerf Herder
New Jersey The Nerve Agents
See You In Jersey NJ Joystick
Jersey Shore Promise Ring
New Jersey Red House Painters
Sometimes, New Jersey Saves The Day
Timberwolves At New Jersey Taking Back Sunday
Jersey Girl Tom Waits
Jersey/California Life A Day At The Fair
My Ancestral Homeland, New Jersey The World/Inferno Friendship Society

so yeh, the ones where the mention is more in the song are better.

posted by annoyance to media & arts (30 comments total)

Practically every Fountains of Wayne song is about Jersey. Specifically everything on Utopia Parkway.
posted by brina at 3:38 PM on November 2, 2006

Can't Go Back To Jersey - G. Love (he probably has others, but that one comes to mind)

Being From Jersey Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry - Cobra Starship

I'll try to think of some others... I wouldn't be surprised if My Chemical Romance had one or two since they're from Jersey.
posted by inigo2 at 3:42 PM on November 2, 2006

"Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike" -- America, Simon and Garfunkel

"Atlantic City" and "My Hometown", among others, by Bruce Springsteen
posted by katemonster at 3:45 PM on November 2, 2006

I guess it's safe to assume by the fact that he's not listed that you're not interested in Springsteen? Maybe he's too obvious for the list.

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion has a song about the jersey turnpike, "Big Road."

There was an old song about Wildwood..."Wildwood Days" by Bobby Rydell.

Marah has a song called "Walt Whitman Bridge."

Also, I would guess (not knowing the song) that Belle and Sebastian might be referring to the original Jersey in the British Channel Islands, not the new-fangled American state.
posted by jessicak at 3:49 PM on November 2, 2006

I came in just to tell you about your last one, but it's already in there.
posted by Brainy at 3:54 PM on November 2, 2006

The album Keasbey Nights by Catch 22 and the newly re-recorded Streetlight Manifesto version are all about New Jersey.
posted by headlessagnew at 4:03 PM on November 2, 2006

And how could you forget Blondie's Union City Blue?
posted by TheRaven at 4:09 PM on November 2, 2006

Go to All Music and do "Jersey" and "New Jersey" song searches. You'll get a bunch.
posted by davebush at 4:12 PM on November 2, 2006

Also, I would guess (not knowing the song) that Belle and Sebastian might be referring to the original Jersey in the British Channel Islands, not the new-fangled American state.

Aye, ditto the Donovan ditty.
posted by TonyRobots at 4:18 PM on November 2, 2006

The Bloodhound Gang have a track called "The Ten Coolest Things About New Jersey", but I'm not sure it's what you're looking for. For those of you who don't know it, here's a hint: it's only 10 seconds long.
posted by chimmyc at 4:23 PM on November 2, 2006

Simon and Garfunkel, "America"
Das EFX, "Brooklyn to T-Neck"
posted by nasreddin at 4:29 PM on November 2, 2006

jessicak, there's also a quick line in Marah's "East" that mentions Camden.

Does Bon Jovi have anything that mentions Jersey? He was born there, wasn't he?
posted by backseatpilot at 4:30 PM on November 2, 2006

Bran Van 3000's song "Speed" talks about a "New Jersey Girl" born in Asbury Park, an interstate babe, etc. It's also a really good song.
posted by np312 at 5:30 PM on November 2, 2006

Jill Sobule, "Jetpack". Great mix cd song-- sweet and funny.
posted by hermitosis at 5:31 PM on November 2, 2006

"You Can't Catch Me" by Chuck Berry, or the Stones' cover.

"New Jersey Turnpike in the wee, wee hours -- I was rollin' slowly 'cause of drizzlin' showers..."
posted by ROTFL at 6:42 PM on November 2, 2006

""3 Blocks From Grove Street"
"Night Falls On Hoboken"
"Let's Save Tony Orlando's House"

All by Yo La Tengo. All, at least ostensibly, about New Jersey.
posted by klangklangston at 6:51 PM on November 2, 2006

good stuff! yeh, i did the allmusic search and these were the ones i liked.
i am more looking for songs that mention NJ or a town or whatever in the lyrics but not in the title. you guys did get some great ones of that though too.
keep them coming if possible!

thanks all!
posted by annoyance at 7:34 PM on November 2, 2006

More Springsteen:
New Jersey is My Home
Atlantic City
State Trooper

"Jessie and My Whetstone" by Saves the Day mentions the 'Pike.

I highly recommend The Wrens--they're north Jersey boys, and all the songs are imbued with that aesthetic. "Happy," "Thirteen Grand," "Everyone Choose Sides" (mp3), all off The Meadowlands, mention Jersey or places in it.

These kids are friends of mine, so YMMV, but "New Jersey Is Sinking" by Maxwell's Demon (mp3) lists a bunch of towns.

...if you're really scraping the bottom of the barrel, there's always the "Bayonne Anthem."
posted by hippugeek at 9:50 PM on November 2, 2006 [1 favorite]

Whoops, katemonster already said "Atlantic City." Sorry.

Google sez Queen Latifah has a song called "Jersey."
posted by hippugeek at 9:56 PM on November 2, 2006

James McMurtry's "Down Across The Delaware" is about a non-native trying to make a go of it in the garden state. It's far, far better than good.

(I'm sorry, I don't know how to link to specific sections of a web page, so you'll have to scroll down just a bit. It's song number five.)
posted by Clay201 at 1:28 AM on November 3, 2006

the belle and sebastian track isn't actually a song, it's a 22 second dialogue clip from the movie 'storytelling' by todd solondz (who is from new jersey) to which they did the soundtrack. so it's about new jersey, but not a song!
posted by noloveforned at 5:44 AM on November 3, 2006

The Wrens Secaucus is all about New Jersey, as is Meadowlands.
posted by OmieWise at 6:13 AM on November 3, 2006

No Left Turns in Jersey - Eddie From Ohio (my favorite band from back home)
posted by timepiece at 7:16 AM on November 3, 2006

There's

Freddy Cannon - Palisades Park, which was also covered by The Ramones.

Pal Park was an amusement park up in Bergen County and now is the name of a town up there.

I know that Armor for Sleep is from Jersey, not sure if they have any Jersey related songs though.
posted by carpyful at 7:24 AM on November 3, 2006

Nice one - Hudson Falcons are great.
posted by ImJustRick at 8:34 AM on November 3, 2006

There's the whole album, including title track, called Lawrence of Newark by Khalid Yassin (Larry Young).
posted by klangklangston at 9:26 AM on November 3, 2006

John Gorka has a song about New Jersey. I don't know the name, but it starts out :

I'm from New Jersey, I don't expect much
If the world ended today I would adjust.
posted by chocolatepeanutbuttercup at 9:44 AM on November 3, 2006

There is a music blog called Trees Lounge that did a compilation for every state. it was a while ago so you would have to search the archives, but you will find a lot o songs there.
posted by vronsky at 1:09 PM on November 3, 2006

looks like Trees Lounge only got 23 of the states done. and never got to NJ. oh well.
i am liking many of the suggestions, although i do have many of them already which is a shame. but i will look for the ones i do not. a fun time for a bored me.
thanks and if you think of anymore, keep em coming!
posted by annoyance at 1:48 PM on November 3, 2006

Yeah sorry annoyance - I could have sworn they got through every state. I used to check it every week or so but had not been there in a long time. My bad.
posted by vronsky at 5:11 PM on November 3, 2006