Country Songs About U.S. Cities

Lots of singers across genres like to pay homage to their home cities, or just about cities in general. Of course when thinking about songs with cities in their name, we think "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra, "Philadelphia Freedom" from Elton John and "Allentown" by Billy Joel. But there are plenty more songs about cities than those.

Here are a few country songs with cities in their names:

Tulsa, Oklahoma: "The Day She Left Tulsa (in a Chevy)" by Wade Hayes
One of my earliest country concerts was in the early mid-90s. Faith Hill opened a concert for Wade Hayes and Brooks and Dunn. Now, Faith Hill is a bigger star than them all. Brooks and Dunn are still going strong, but Wade Hayes' career, at least on mainstream country radio, fell to the wayside. However, at one time, Wade Hayes was a constant on country radio with songs like, "What I Meant to Say," "Tore Up From the Floor Up," "When the Wrong One Loves You Right" and the song discussed here, "The Day That She Left Tulsa."

I always related to this song because I lived in Tulsa for a few years and my first car was a Chevy. And when I left Tulsa, it was indeed in a Chevy. But there was not hit country singer crooning about my leaving. The Day That She Left Tulsa was a classic "she's leaving me" country song. The chorus went something like this: The day that she left Tulsa.../In a Chevy in a hurry in the pouring down rain/With the caution lights flashing in the passing lane/From a bridge I watched our dreams goin' down the drain/In a Chevy in a hurry in the pouring down rain

Little Rock, Arkansas: "Little Rock", by Collin Raye
I was a huge Collin Raye fan. He was a wildly radio-friendly artist in the late 90s and early 2000s with dozens of catchy songs. And I can vouch that is concerts totally rocked. He's still making music, although not charting on the Hot Country Charts. He had hits such as "That's My Story (and I'm Stickin' to it)," "Love Me," "Couldn't Last a Moment," "What I Meant to Say," "Rodeo," and "One Boy, One Girl."

"Little Rock" was a song about a recovering alcoholic who started over in Little Rock-but he really missed his old life. The memorable chorus goes like this: I think I'm on a roll/Here in Little Rock/I'm solid as a stone/Wait and see/I got just one small problem/
Here in Little Rock/Without you/Baby I'm not me/Without you/Baby I'm not me.

Memphis, Tennessee: "Maybe it was Memphis" by Pam Tillis
Pam Tillis was popular in the late 90s with songs like "All the Good Ones Are Gone," "Mi Vida Loca," "Cleopatra, Queen of Denial" and of course, "Maybe it Was Memphis." The song about love in the Tennessee city went something like this: What was I supposed to do/Standin there lookin at you/A lonely boy far from home/Maybe it was Memphis/Maybe it was southern summer nights/Maybe it was you maybe it was me/But it sure felt right....

"Margartiaville," by Jimmy Buffet
Okay. It's not a country song, except that Alan Jackson covered in on a 1999 album. And it's not a real city. But it's everyone's favorite city song.

Other country songs about cities:
"Little Rock," Reba McEntire
"Okie From Muskogee," Merle Haggard
"Chattahoochee," Alan Jackson
"Queen of Memphis," Confederate Railroad
"Living in Tulsa Time," Don Williams
"Amarillo by Morning," George Strait
"By the Time I Get to Cheyenne," George Strait