U.S. states named in Lyle Lovett songs?

June 29, 2007 8:09 AM

I went see Lyle Lovett & his Large Band last night and they did a song with a line about corn growing in Indiana. "Her First Mistake" mentions Alabama and Louisiana. Texas shows up in multiple songs, such as "That's Right (You're Not from Texas)." And of course there's "North Dakota" (which he did not perform last night). What other U.S. states does he mention in which of his songs? How about cities or other place names?
posted by needled to Grab Bag (19 answers total)

There is my very, very favorite Lyle Lovett song ever of all time, L.A. County, which has mentions of Dallas, California, L.A. specifically, Houston, and also is about a guy who kills the girl he loves at the altar when she's marrying another man.

Holy fuck, that song rules so hard.
posted by mckenney at 8:10 AM on June 29, 2007

Baltimore
Goodbye to Carolina
posted by MsMolly at 8:13 AM on June 29, 2007

Damn, mckenny, you beat me to it. I agree with your sentiments entirely.
posted by barnacles at 8:16 AM on June 29, 2007

San Antonio Girl.
posted by paleography at 8:21 AM on June 29, 2007

Georgia in "I Can't Love You Anymore". No states, but a lot of cities in "I've Been to Memphis"

It's not complete, but some of his songs are on LyricWiki.

And there's all kinds of Texas and a few Tennessee references on the songs on Step Inside this House
posted by 100watts at 8:27 AM on June 29, 2007

Oh, and once upon a time I found a recording of him singing that song about "England swings like a pendulum do."
posted by 100watts at 8:28 AM on June 29, 2007

Thirded on L.A. County. The bouncy tune & pretty chorus entirely snowed me and it wasn't until the fourth or fifth listening that I actually Really Listened to the words and realized that it was a happy-go-lucky song about a cross-country trip with the intention to do double murder.
posted by Wink Ricketts at 8:30 AM on June 29, 2007

There's the very sad "Road to Ensenada" on the album of the same name; mentions Ensenada and Tijuana.
posted by CRM114 at 8:55 AM on June 29, 2007

Lovett also helped Robert Earl Keen write "Front Porch Song", which mentioned Aqua Dulce, TX. Part of the song usually describes Lovett and Keen's time at College Station, TX.
posted by zabuni at 9:33 AM on June 29, 2007

"Memphis Midnight/Memphis Morning," "West Texas Highway," "Texas Trilogy," and "Texas River Song" on Step Inside This House (he didn't write the songs on this album; they're covers of other Texas songwriters)

"Nashville" on My Baby Don't Tolerate
posted by kirkaracha at 9:40 AM on June 29, 2007

"Walk Through the Bottomland" on Pontiac ("The New Jersey lady")

"Hello Grandma" on I Love Everybody ("She got married/and moved off to Chicago")

"Record Lady" on I Love Everybody ("Down in Acapulco"; if we're including Ensenada)

"Her First Mistake" on The Road to Ensenada (Birmingham, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana)

"That's Right (You're Not from Texas)" on The Road to Ensenada (Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Oh, and Texas.)

"Long Tall Texan" on The Road to Ensenada (Texas)

Lyle Lovett mentions Robert Earl Keen in "Record Lady." Lyle's also on the cover of Nanci Griffith's The Last of the True Believers.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:00 AM on June 29, 2007

"If I Were The Man You Wanted" from Lyle Lovett (Carolina and New Mexico)

Lyle recorded "Front Porch Song" as "This Old Porch" on Lyle Lovett
posted by kirkaracha at 10:18 AM on June 29, 2007

From LL's "North Dakota":

"The boys from North Dakota
They drink whiskey for their fun
And the cowboys down in Texas
They polish up their guns..."
posted by MonkeyToes at 12:35 PM on June 29, 2007

"Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and Baton Rouge" in "Angel In Distress."
posted by nebulawindphone at 3:39 PM on June 29, 2007

Y'all making me go put on L.A. County! Love that song.

Tennessee in Cute as a Bug
posted by gemmy at 4:49 PM on June 29, 2007

Also, the mention of Nanci Griffith is a good one - this is kind of obscure but good for say, the last song on a mixtape - Love at the Five and Dime (make sure it's the version off "Last of the True Believers) has Lyle Lovett singing backup, and there's a mention of Abilene in the lyrics.
posted by mckenney at 4:58 PM on June 29, 2007

He always says just "Carolina." Which one does he mean?
posted by kirkaracha at 6:10 PM on June 29, 2007

"Angel in distress" is from ""I Can't Love You Anymore."

"England swings like a pendulum do" is from a cover of Roger Miller's "England Swings."
posted by kirkaracha at 7:38 AM on August 28, 2007

He covered "Blues for Dixie" on Asleep at the Wheel's tribute to Bob Wills. That song mentions Alabama and Birmingham, and contains his ad libbed line at the end-- "Dixie, hell. Take me back to Texas!"
posted by ibmcginty at 1:37 PM on January 18, 2008