There are countless awesome songs about our Golden State:
~ "California Love" by 2Pac (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWbXQQG9B6c)
~ "California Girls" by the Beach Boys (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0av63J-OuQ)
~ "Freeport Blvd" by Jackie Greene (couldn't find a video, but you can check it out on his website under "Gone Wandrin'" here: http://jackiegreene.com/albums/)
~ Joni Mitchell - California - chock full of places other than CA, too!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWJQmQsjT6g)
~ "Sweet Home Alabama (I like the Counting Crows version better than Lynard Skynard's.) I can't find a video of Counting Crows' version... but also have the mp3 of that if you want it! Sometimes I change the lyrics so that I sing "Sweet Home El Dorado" instead of "Alabama," which is why I'm putting it under CA songs. :)
~ "Goin' to California" - Led Zeppelin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luDgb5vVHuA)
~ "Lights" by Journey (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-OKRVHPj5A)
East Coast/NYC:
~ "On Broadway" by George Benson - a personal fave for me on karaoke nights! LOL! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voNjeUUcdSo)
~ "Empire State of Mind" by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UjsXo9l6I8)
Midwest/Rocky Mountains:
~ "Omaha" by Counting Crows, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsdcZhfgo90) (Hehe - mentions "heather" in the first verse!)
~ "Ohio" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI7-m919ynU) - about the 1970 Kent State Massacre, as you probably know.
~ "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver. I remember insisting on putting this on the stereo on a road trip when we entered Colorado! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udQ4i2NbxLY)
~ "Chicago" by Sufjan Stevens. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDRrqcZbdPU)
Overseas:
~ "Kashmir" by Led Zepp (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAzdgU_kpGo&ob=av2n")
~ "Kathmandu" by Cat Stevens (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8420UW2_veM)
~ "Ivory Coast" by Rancid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGrtHN3qc2o)
~ "China" by Tori Amos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6kvysYPe9E) (very sad but beautiful)
~ "A Day In The Life" by the Beatles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWjVffR5EdM) - I put this in here because when I was visiting a friend in Blackburn, Lancashire, in the UK, her mother told me that when this song came out, her town went nuts with visitors trying to figure out the lyrics... ("Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire/ And though the holes were rather small,/ I had to count them all/ Now I know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.")
The South:
~ "Leavin on a Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdfZnWsps34)
US in general:
~ "Peace Frog" by the Doors
Three "place songs" I like by Creedence Clearwater Revival are:
~ "Proud Mary" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfyEpmQM7bw)
~ "Green River" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XcxFNONz64) Did you know "Green River" was written about Winters, CA? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_River_%28song%29); and, of course:
~ "Lodi" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUehLKZSedw)
If I had to choose one artist for road trips/traveling, I'd choose Simon and Garfunkel. Their songs are sometimes about specific places:
~ "Bleecker Street" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q98pbT-ok3s)
Sometimes just about traveling, seeing new places, dreaming of home:
~ "America" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCbOEZ8c8dM)
~ "Homeward Bound" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtCDjV_WrDc)
~ "American Tune" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTZkk66pd1I)
Another great artist for "place songs" is Frank Sinatra:
~ "New York, New York" with Tony Bennett (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP_NUgXK8Dw);
~ "My Kind of Town" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4ax0hI47Ec);
~ "California" (couldn't find a good video for it, but let me know if you want to hear the song - I have it on mp3);
~ Two songs of his about Brasil: "The Girl from Ipanema" with Antonio Carlos Jobim (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0deXfDzRzg)
"The Coffee Song" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVGXcjM9SOQ)
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