What Is Your Favorite Song About The City?

The week at WAIM, we're commuting into town for an hour of tunes centered on life in the big city. Which tune about town is your favorite?

My mom just returned from a trip to South America with my sister and niece. During their stay they visited Buenos Aires in Argentina and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil as well as taking a trip to the famed Iguazú Falls. When the trio returned from their trip, I picked up my Mother at Detroit Metro Airport to save my sister the extra driving of bringing her all the way back to the Lansing area.

During the 90 minute drive back home, I asked my mom about the trip and her experiences seeing a new slice of a continent she’d already visited a few times prior. After a bit of reflection and discussion, she said, “I think that maybe I just don’t like cities anymore.”

I knew what she meant. She’s grown tired of the hustle and bustle of city travel. Cities are filled with marvelous sights, sounds, smells, and attractions, but they can be an exhausting and even lonely place to travel. For my mom, the highlight of the trip was a three day stint in the jungle at Iguazú Falls. There was no hustle, or bustle, but there was still activity and buzz, albeit with a more fundamental purpose.

My mother Deborah, my sister Emily and my niece Sidney at Iguaźu Falls in Argentina.

I still find joy and exhilaration in the city. While my patience level with the manic pace of city life is thinner than it once was, I can still thrive for a few days in the concrete jungle. Last year as I traipsed across America I was welcomed into many of its greatest and busiest cities. Like an urban explorer, I availed myself of every available minute to take in the offerings of each locale.

In Washington DC, I was moved to tears more than once at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History & Culture. In Pittsburgh, I stopped to pay tribute to the great Fred Rogers. In San Francisco, I walked in the steps of Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. In Memphis, I shook the ghosts with Elvis at Sun Studios. And of course in Detroit, I prayed to the Gods at the temple of soul, Hitsville USA, the home of Motown Records.

It’s not without its challenges, but I still love the city life. This week we’re celebrating the big city environs with a full hour of tunes on the town. We’ve got classic country in spades, a pair of legends from the Bohemian haunts of Sixties’ era New York, and a trio of odes to Los Angeles. Plus, you’ll even find another entry from one of my outfits.

What is your favorite song about the city? Tell us all about it.

You can listen to the full show in the player above. Make sure to also check out the full tracklist below for full details on what made the show. You can tune in Friday at Noon Eastern on Suburbs Radio to hear each show live as it airs. New episodes are also archived here at WAIM each Tuesday. Feel free to go back and listen to any of our episodes at any time in the WAIM Radio archive.

Cheers,
Matty C