Vienna - Ultravox
London Calling - The Clash
Down to London - Joe Jackson
London Loves - Blur
First, We Take Manhattan - Leonard Cohen posted by pompomtom at 9:09 PM on April 8, 2007
"Arrivederci, Roma" (Dean Martin)
"On an Evening in Roma" (Dean Martin)
"Torna a Surriento/Return to Me" (Dean Martin)
theme? No, I'm not noticing a theme....
Also, many Elvis Costello songs are about London. "London's Brilliant Parade" is one of my favorites, but there's also "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea", as well as several others.
The dark horse TMBG candidate would be "Road Movie To Berlin". posted by katemonster at 9:10 PM on April 8, 2007
There are tons by the Mountain Goats - many can be found just by looking through the titles in their song catalog. While many are from a pretty personal perspective - not so much about their locations as they are set there - one of my favorites, "Tollund Man," might be like what you're looking for. "The Anglo Saxons" also might qualify. posted by bubukaba at 9:39 PM on April 8, 2007
Pop Music— M
Radio Prague— This Heat
Great Wall of Prague— Chinese Puzzle
We'll Always Have Paris— White Town
One Day In Paris— Martha and the Muffins
Twighlight in Paris— Jem and the Holograms
Meeting Paris Hilton— Cansei De Ser Sexy (sure, why not?)
Poor People of Paris— Latent Chaos
In and Out in Paris and London— Divine Comedy
April in Paris— The Tielman Brothers
Red Birds Will Fly Out of the East and Destroy Paris in a Night— Coil
Berlin Am Meer— Jeans Team
Steh Auf Berlin— Einsturzende Neubauten
Natty Past Through Rome— Prince Jazzbo
Church is a Rome— Prince Jazzbo
Roam (if you want to)— B-52s (why not?)
Warsaw— Joy Division
Warszawa— David Bowie
Wurzberg— AALY Trio
Harlem— Suicide (why not?)
Rusted Guns of Milan— Art Brut
London Life— Anita Harris
Jet Seem Slower in London's Skies— Martha and the Muffins
London's Burning— The Clash
Next Plane To London— Rose Garden
Get Out of London— Interferon
London I Dub— Jah Lloyd
I Don't Wanna Go To Chelsea— Elvis Costello
Guns of Navarone— The Skatalites
Guns of Brixton— The Clash
Sparta #2— The Fall
Theme from Sparta FC— The Fall
Moscow Nights— The Feelies
Scenes From France— The Promise Ring
Tour De France— Kraftwerk
Parlez-vous Francais— Glen Branca
German Bold Italic— Kylie Minogue (why not?)
It's a Long Way Back to Germany— The Ramones
Deutscher Girls— Adam Ant
Deutschland Brennt— D.U.R.
Deutsche Nepal— Amon Duul II
Bar Italia— Pulp
Going to Spain— Steve Bent
Spain!— The Rants
English Roundabout— XTC
English Scheme— The Fall
English Music— Destroyer
Cool Brittania— The Bonzo Dog Band
The Great British Mistake— The Adverts posted by klangklangston at 9:40 PM on April 8, 2007
Oh yeah, and Copenhagen China Box by James Kolchaka, and Denmark Street by The Kinks. (In fact, all of Arthur by the Kinks is about English life, as is the Village Green Preservation Society). posted by klangklangston at 9:44 PM on April 8, 2007
ABBA, "Waterloo"
Hair (musical), "Manchester, England"
Katrina and the Waves, "Going Down to Liverpool"
Aztec Camera, "Get Out of London"
The Pogues, "London Girl"
The Pogues, "London, You're a Lady"
The Pogues, "Dark Streets of London"
Ultravox, "Vienna"
Ringo Starr, "(It's All Da-Da-Down To) Goodnight Vienna"
Billy Joel, "Vienna" posted by kirkaracha at 9:50 PM on April 8, 2007
Back Home in Derry and any number of Irish folk songs where the narrator longs for home in Skibereen, Tralee or wherever. posted by Abiezer at 12:56 AM on April 9, 2007
London Bye Ta-Ta - David Bowie
London, London - Caetano Veloso
Swinging London - Magnetic Fields
Abigail, Belle Of Kilronan - Magnetic Fields
Amsterdam - John Cale
Paris 1919 - John Cale
Child's Christmas in Wales - John Cale
Andalucia - John Cale
Half Past France - John Cale
England's Dreaming - Cornershop
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - The Beatles
Back in the USSR - The Beatles
Kingdom of Spain - The Decemberists
King of Spain - Galaxie 500
The Fat Lady Of Limbourg - Brian Eno
Made in France - France Gall
Paris Summer - Lee Hazelwood & Nancy Sinatra
No Train To Stockholm - Lee Hazelwood
The Girls in Paris - Lee Hazelwood
Party in Paris - UK Subs
Modern Art - Art Brut (mentions the Pompidou in Paris) Theme de Yo Yo - Art Ensemble of Chicago (mentions the Seine, Champs Elysees)
Trimdon Grange Explosion - The Mekons
Holland, 1945 - Neutral Milk Hotel
Swansea - Joanna Newsom
West Germany - Minutemen
(Some of these might not be about the places mentioned in their titles.) posted by hydrophonic at 1:05 AM on April 9, 2007
Wow.. awesome suggestions so far! This is for a mixtape/CD that I'm making to get myself and my friends excited for our upcoming trip!
For any answers to come, could you please limit them to only songs that are actually about the places they mention? Sorry, I should have made that more clear in my original post. Thanks to everyone who contributed so far! posted by catburger at 1:39 AM on April 9, 2007
Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I want to be
Pony trekking or camping
Or just watching TV
Finland, Finland, Finland
It's the country for me
You're so near to Russia
So far from Japan
Quite a long way from Cairo
Lots of miles from Vietnam
Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I want to be
Eating breakfast or dinner
Or snack lunch in the hall
Finland, Finland, Finland
Finland has it all
You're so sadly neglected
And often ignored
A poor second to Belgium
When going abroad
Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I quite want to be
Your mountains so lofty
Your treetops so tall
Finland, Finland, Finland
Finland has it all
Finland, Finland, Finland
The country where I quite want to be
Your mountains so lofty
Your treetops so tall
Finland, Finland, Finland
Finland has it all
-- "Finland" by Monty Python posted by McIntaggart at 2:32 AM on April 9, 2007
Dirty Old Town about Salford. Lots of folk music may qualify but sometimes hard to unpick whether a song is "about" somewhere or just set there. posted by paduasoy at 3:53 AM on April 9, 2007
Barclay James Harvest - Berlin
Ideal - Berlin (German)
Einstürzende Neubauten - Steh auf Berlin (German)
Fischer-Z - Berlin
Martin Kesici - Angel of Berlin
Roger Cicero - So geil Berlin (German, swing style)
Seeed - Dickes B (German, ragga style)
U2 - Zoo Station
Other songs with Euopean reference:
E.L.O. - Last Train to London
Renato Rascel - Arrivederci, Roma
Herbert Grönemeyer - Bochum
A lot of German carnival songs contain local reference (e.g. Cologne), if you are interested in this kind of music ... posted by cwittmann at 6:13 AM on April 9, 2007
Spanish Bombs! posted by footnote at 6:43 AM on April 9, 2007
Regina Spektor has a song titled "Düsseldorf" that name-checks a bunch of European cities. posted by backwards guitar at 6:55 AM on April 9, 2007
Down in Albion -- Babyshambles (in addition to referring to England as "Albion", it name checks several English towns). posted by modernnomad at 7:26 AM on April 9, 2007
Mentions traveling through Paris, Barcelona, Athens, Turin, Amsterdam, Berlin among other European references. posted by yeti at 9:20 AM on April 9, 2007
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posted by easternblot at 8:39 PM on April 8, 2007