Talk:List of songs about cities

a proposal
I propose that songs in these categories be listed as follows:

1. songs with their own articles that are very much about the subject

2a. songs, from albums with their own articles, that are very much about the subject 2b. songs with their own articles that moderately refer to the subject, directly or indirectly

3a. songs, from artists with their own articles, that are very much about the subject 3b. songs, from albums with their own articles, that moderately refer to the subject, directly or indirectly 3c. songs with their own articles that occasionally or once refer to the subject

4a. songs that are very much about the subject 4b. songs, from artists with their own articles, that moderately refer to the subject, directly or indirectly 4c. songs, from albums with their own articles, that occasionally or once refer to the subject

5a. songs that that moderately refer to the subject, directly or indirectly 5b. songs, from artists with their own articles, that occasionally or once refer to the subject

6. others (exclusive—not elsewhere on the list a. albums about the subject b. songs about different subjects, but from the same name, such as "Los Angeles" by Frank Black (which may be about Los Ángeles, Chile; or Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet’s “[Memories of Gay Paree] may be about Paris, Ontario. c. songs that aren’t about the city namely, lyrically, or by content; but the video is. The lyrics of Luscious Jackson’s Citysong, Daughters Of The Kaos, and 69 Année Érotique might have nothing to do about New York City, but in the videos, it’s quite prominent.

7. others (inclusive—elsewhere on the list) a. songs with videos that are notable and/or made by the artist/producer/record company specifically to promote the song b. specific type of songs, say Heavy Metal songs about LA, or Punk songs about New York City c. songs within a more specified area, such as Harlem, Manhattan, Hollywood, or Parkdale (Toronto

d. songs immediately outside the specific area, such as the County of Los Angeles  or  Huntington Beach

e. songs that appear on other lists. Is Neil Diamond’s “I am I said” about New York City, Los Angeles, or rootlessness? It appears on his discography, and it might appear on a future list of songs covered by Killdozer.

8. unsorted i.e. editor posts an entry here, or it’s moved here by editors who doubt where it is previously on the list.

If any sections get too lengthy, one might create new lists: combined in the case of 1 to 5, and separate in the case of 6 and 7.

Note: I’ve posted this on,

Talk:List of songs about cities Talk:List of songs about Berlin Talk:List of songs about Boston Talk:List of songs about London Talk:List of songs about Los Angeles Talk:List of songs about Toronto Civic Cat (talk) 23:03, 2 November 2009 (UTC)

songs shouldn't be on lists that are in sub-lists
I intend to move songs in sections where lists exist, to such lists. Example, songs in the section List of songs about cities should be moved to List of songs about Berlin. Otherwise, the page will get too long.Civic Cat (talk) 14:34, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Badly organized
Yikes, what a mess. You can't find what you're looking for here, and it doesn't make too much sense to group them alphabetically by city. For example, there's only one song about Allentown, PA, so it doesn't make too much sense for it to have its own section.

How about organizing them by country, then city? --Scharb (talk) 08:26, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

I would even go so far as moving the US cities to a seperate list, since they are a large part of them. Other countries, as necessary, could be as well. This list will eventually become unwieldy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.65.230.52 (talk) 16:04, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

List of songs about Birmingham
Merge proposal: It does not seem to make sense to have a separate "List" article with only two entries; it makes more sense to collect songs here until a sufficient number has developed to sustain a separate article, and then create that article. IMO, Liverpool is close to this threshold. Rodhull andemu  00:02, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
 * More have been added. ;-)  Civic Cat (talk)  —Preceding undated comment added 22:48, 15 December 2010 (UTC).

I have added more songs and improved the article - don't see why it should be delted and others not 05:00, 18 March 2011 Sdrawkcab (talk) 05:00, 18 March 2011 (UTC)sdrawkcab

United Kingdom
So only four UK cities have had songs written about them? or notable songs? or notable cities? or what? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:13, 20 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Or are no further contributions now wanted here? Martinevans123 (talk) 08:39, 24 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Or is there a numerical criterion? Or do they have to be cities in England, as opposed to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? Martinevans123 (talk) 22:37, 19 May 2013 (UTC)
 * D) None of the above. Wikipedia aims to become an exhaustive enciclopedia of everything worth enciclopedying, but it does not claim to have succeded, nor may it ever lay that claim. In other words, if there exist more songs, add them. If you have added songs and they have been deleted, state which ones and ask why it was so. Eventually, the list should grow. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 187.194.212.246 (talk) 22:53, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Ok, so any song, about any UK city, is fine then. Martinevans123 (talk) 18:11, 7 September 2014 (UTC)

Cleanup needed
As per the AFD which closed as KEEP a week ago his article requires a cleanup. The specific problem is: The page should only contain songs which have been specifically written about a city. Please help improve this article if you can.  ·Add§hore·  T alk T o M e ! 06:21, 24 January 2013 (UTC)
 * So, what's the criterion exactly? Whole song exclusively about one city, and nothing else? Regardless of title, yes? Martinevans123 (talk) 22:39, 19 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Looking back at the AFD, the title itself doesn't seem to matter. The question is, is the song content itself about the city.  ·Add§hore·  Talk To Me! 23:09, 19 May 2013 (UTC)

To add: David Bowie - Warszawa The Bee Gees - Odessa — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.143.91.74 (talk) 20:44, 13 February 2014 (UTC)  "Gary, Indiana? by Meredith Willson, from the Broadway show and movie, "The Music Man" JHamilton
 * Added! Doctorhawkes (talk) 06:36, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

Songs or song versions?
We appear to be getting some duplication of the same songs by different artists (e.g. see Rio). Should we include only one, if possible the original? Or how to we denote multiple versions? This list is meant to be just about the song, I think. Any very notable songs will have their own article where multiple versions/ artists can be added. Martinevans123 (talk) 18:09, 7 September 2014 (UTC)
 * "Copacabana" by The Chakachas
 * "Copacabana" by Herbie Mann
 * "Copacabana" by Two Man Sound
 * Are these three different songs? If so, where is the supporting evidence? Martinevans123 (talk) 21:19, 7 September 2014 (UTC)
 * And now a fourth: "Copacabana" by Joe Panama Sextet. Martinevans123 (talk) 22:14, 16 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Maybe we need a separate article for Songs about Rio de Janeiro? Martinevans123 (talk) 22:47, 18 November 2014 (UTC)
 * I tend to agree. Doctorhawkes (talk) 06:20, 19 November 2014 (UTC)

Criteria
Presumably the location at least has to be described as a "city" in an en:wiki article? But that's the least problematic part of the equation. Are there any criteria at all for the artists here, or can any song be included, as along as it's "about" a city, even if it's by a singer or band which has no en.wiki article and which may be unknown outside its own country? How does one even know a song (especially if not in English) is "about" a city? Does the artist have to have written the song or just have to have performed it? Martinevans123 (talk) 19:43, 6 October 2014 (UTC)


 * Should this list be restricted to English language songs? Do the performers need to have any kind of accepted notability? Do entries need to be supported by any kind of reliable source(s)? Martinevans123 (talk) 20:28, 30 April 2015 (UTC)


 * Per WP:CSC, Every entry meets the notability criteria for its own non-redirect article in the English Wikipedia. Red-linked entries are acceptable if the entry is verifiably a member of the listed group, and it is reasonable to expect an article could be forthcoming in the future. This standard prevents Wikipedia from becoming an indiscriminate list, and prevents individual lists from being too large to be useful to readers. Many of the best lists on Wikipedia reflect this type of editorial judgment.


 * I've been trying to limit the entries to songs by artists that have their own article. If it was limited to songs that have their own articles, or suitably referenced, the list would be short enough to be near useless. Alternately, if we included every song, it would just be a hodge-podge of people listing that song they wrote about Paris as a teenager. It's a flawed compromise but it works better than the alternatives (IMHO).


 * I have no problem with non-english language songs. Doctorhawkes (talk) 21:19, 30 April 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the clarification. I'm still unsure how one assesses whether a song is really about a city or just contains a city name in the title and/or lyric, e.g. Budapest (George Ezra song). With non-English language songs, it's a bit more difficult. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:25, 30 April 2015 (UTC)


 * I second this issue. Just a casual run through the list shows a number of songs that aren't about the city in question. "Amy's Back in Austin" is a breakup song and barely mentions the city. Marty Robbins' "El Paso" is a murder ballad that takes place in a part of El Paso and its surrounding environs. There are others, I'm sure, but you get the idea. Sensei Le Roof (talk) 21:21, 17 October 2016 (UTC)

Inconsistent section headers
For cities in the United States, the section headers are inconsistent. Some list only the city, some list the city with the state abbreviated, and some list the city with the state spelled out. I think one of the latter two ways would be ideal. →Wordbuilder (talk) 20:30, 10 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Is disambiguation the driving requirement here, or just consistency? Seems not to be an issue with UK cities, as they are usually unique. Martinevans123 (talk) 20:38, 10 May 2018 (UTC)
 * I believe consistency is key but not being ambiguous can also come into play. →Wordbuilder (talk) 16:47, 10 June 2018 (UTC)

Theme songs
Should this list include theme songs from television or films? What if they were released as separate recordings? And/or if they charted? Just wondering what is the criteria in regard to this. Thank you. → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 14:34, 25 August 2018 (UTC)

City and country names
Please remember that the place name headings should match the English Wikipedia page name forms. The song-titles, of course, may utilize other forms but the headers do not need to list every different language or spelling variant for a place. --Khajidha (talk) 14:29, 26 March 2019 (UTC)

Marienbad and Dundee
Two little remarks:

– Marienbad is not in Germany, at least not today. Founded in 1818 in Bohemia (then ruled by the Habsburgian Monarchy), from 1918 in Czechoslovakia, today in Czech Republic (Mariánské Lázně). The only time when it was German were the years from 1938 until 1945. As I don't know the lyrics to the mentioned song by Barbara, I cannot say which time is dealt with in the song (and if it is really about Mariánské Lázně and not any other spa of the same name). Maybe somebody who knows the lyrics can check that.

– Should „The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee“ by Gloryhammer be included in the UK part of the list? The story is a fantasy story, of course – but the town of Dundee is real (although probably it never became destroyed by undead unicorns :-)).

(Sorry for my bad English – my mother tongue is German.) 77.235.185.9 (talk) 15:15, 14 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Good suggestions. Ta. Doctorhawkes (talk) 00:38, 15 September 2023 (UTC)