The Ultimate Places In Song Quiz | Geography in Songs

Answer: New Orleans

"I met him in a cell in New Orleans I was down and out..."
This was Jerry Jeff Walker's "keeper". He wrote it after meeting an itinerant dancer in a jail cell. The song was a hit for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who took it to Number Nine on the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts in 1971. It has been covered by more than 200 artists over the years.
Born in New York State, Jerry Jeff Walker eventually settled in Austin, Texas. While more often associated with country music, Jerry Jeff had a wide repertoire of song styles.

Answer: Hollywood

"I've been to Hollywood
I've been to Redwood
I crossed the ocean for a heart of gold.
I've been in my mind,
It's such a fine line
That keeps me searching for a heart of gold."

Born in Canada in 1945, Young's career began in the 1960s and he co-founded Buffalo Springfield in California in 1966. He later joined up with David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash to form Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. With them, and as a solo artist, he recorded a number of well-received albums. "Heart of Gold" came from the 1972 solo album "Harvest". The single was his first US Number One. It was also Number One in Canada. Both single and album were chart-toppers.

Answer: Dublin

"In Dublin's fair city, where the girls are so pretty
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone
As she wheeled her wheelbarrow through streets broad and narrow
Crying cockles and mussels alive a-live O!"
The first written reference to the lyrics appeared in 1883. Although it was about a fictional fish seller in Dublin, lyrics were by James Yorkston, who was from Edinburgh, Scotland and the music was composed by Edmund Forman.
Sinéad O'Connor was among a host of singers to record the song. I could have attributed a recording to the Dubliners, but that would have made the question even easier, wouldn't it?

Answer: Nantucket

"Well I'm on the Downeaster Alexa
And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound
I have charted a course to the Vineyard
But tonight I am Nantucket bound."
This was Billy Joel's song about a fishing boat skipper who had to sail farther out from his home port on each voyage to find fertile fishing grounds.
The song was a single from Joel's 1989 "Storm Front." album. The album was a chart topper, but the single failed to make the Top 30.
Block Island Sound is a ten-mile wide strait separating Block Island from Rhode Island.

Answer: Adelaide

This was Warren Zevon's song about a boy from Washington State who started off stealing from the church poor box and went on to have a chain of nefarious and criminal adventures"
"I'm Mr. Bad Example, intruder in the dirt
I like to have a good time and I don't care who gets hurt
I'm Mr. Bad Example, take a look at me
I'll live to be a hundred and go down in infamy."
At one point he fled from Monte Carlo after losing a fortune and ended up 14 hours later in Adelaide.
"Mr Bad Example" was the title song on Chicago-born Zevon's 1991 album.

Answer: Rome

"Meet me on the Spanish steps oh you will not wait long
Near the place where we first met it was on the streets of Rome..."
Eric Andersen described the song as "a brief chronicle of frequently separated lovers." Beginning in Rome, it mentions several other places in Europe.. The song was on the 1988 album "Ghosts Upon The Road," which contained several autobiographical numbers, including the lengthy title track.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1943, Andersen was an influential member of the 1960s folk movement. Judy Collins and Bob Dylan covered one of his early songs: "Thirsty Boots".

Answer: Norfolk, Virginia

"I left my home in Norfolk Virginia
California on my mind..."
Chuck Berry also listed a number of other locations before he got to the 'promised land' - Los Angeles.
The song appeared on the 1964 album "St. Louis to Liverpool" and was written while Berry was in jail serving time for armed robbery.
Set to the folk tune "Wabash Cannonball", the song has been covered by numerous artists.

Answer: Baltimore

"Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack
I went out for a ride and I never went back".
"Hungry Heart" was single taken from Springsteen's 1980 album "The River." It reached Number Five in the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Answer: Cleveland

"The poets tell how Pancho fell, and Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
So the story ends we're told..."

There are those who contend that Texas-born Townes Van Zandt was a better songwriter than Bob Dylan. While he never achieved commercial success himself, his songs were well received by contemporaries. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard duetted to take "Pancho and Lefty" to Number One in the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles in 1983.
Throughout his career, Van Zandt's recordings were under-promoted. He also suffered from his demons - alcohol the chief among them.
You can learn more about TVZ from my quiz "The Late Great Townes Van Zandt" on this site. See also "The Songs of Townes Van Zandt" by quiz editor Agony.

Answer: New York

"New York is waiting
For you and me, baby
Waiting to swallow us down
New York, we're coming
To see what you're made of
Are you as great as you sound..."
"Big Apple Dreamin'" was on Alice Cooper's 1973 album "Muscle of Love". Cooper later said in an interview that the title was based around the Hippopotamus Club in New York City where his band were familiar.
Alice Cooper, born Vincent Damon Furnier in Detroit, Michigan in 1948, brought a lot of theatricals into his concert performances. Initially, "Alice Cooper" was the name of the band, but Furnier took it for himself in his solo career. The band's best album was "Billion Dollar Babies", a US Number One in 1973. Their previous album produced "School's Out", a US Number Seven single hit, which topped the hit parade in the UK.