Memories of
the Phonograph
The
"Place in a Song" Phenomenon
An Atlas Obscura article in December
2018 asked the question "What's Your Favorite Song About
a Place?
In 2001 I wrote my Phonograph
Recollection and the "Our
Song" phenomenon. The "Our Song" phenomenon
has the power to transport anyone back to a remembered event and
place.
But if you have a favorite song about a place,
is just hearing the name of that place in the lyrics enough
to transport you to that place, i.e., 'what songs just take you
there"...?
The following is the Atlas Obscura
article about that potential power of hearing the name of a place
in a song.
What’s
Your Favorite Song About a Place?
Tell
us about the tunes that capture where you’ve been.
By
Eric Grundhauser December 04, 2018
Some
songs can really take you places (HOFFNUNGSSCHIMMER/CC BY-SA
2.0)
WHO
DOESN’T LOVE THAT MOMENT when you hear the name of a place you’ve
been, mentioned in a song? Whether it’s your hometown or just
a place you visited once, in the best cases, songs about recognizable
places can make you feel like you’re part of a bigger, shared
experience.
Myself,
I often think of the song “Salt Lake City” by the Beach Boys.
Growing up in Salt Lake City, I could never imagine why someone
would want to write a song about the city I wanted so badly
to get away from. But they mention our local amusement park,
Lagoon! And Park City (sort of)! Realizing that these iconic
musicians were referencing some of the same places I haunted
as a kid made my own experience feel a bit more important. To
this day, despite not really liking the Beach Boys, I’ll always
listen to that song.
What’s
your favorite song about a place? Fill out the form below to
tell us about it, and we’ll collect our favorite responses in
an upcoming article, complete with a playlist of some the greatest
place-based songs of all time. Let us know what songs just take
you there (and where “there” actually is).(1)
What's
your favorite song about a place?
Who
performed it?
What
makes the song special to you?
SOUND
THAT TAKES YOU THERE
DB
Postscript -- Here is an ad for United Airlines that is another
kind of "Our Song." In this example the wife hopes that
the "Our Song" will become an "Our Place"...and
the place doesn't even matter. She just wants to go with him:
"Take me along with you My heart will ride..."
1967 United Airlines: Our Song, Take
Me Along print ad
(1)
Atlas Obscura article with
form for submitting favorite "Place" song
Phonographia
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