5 Songs About Small Towns
If Jason Aldean isn’t your style
Before a few weeks ago, I had never heard of Jason Aldean. I understand he wrote a song about small towns.
Since I’m over age 30, I have no obligation to listen to new music. So, I’m not going to listen to Try That in a Small Town. However, all the fuss did get me thinking about some other songs with small-town themes. Here are a few of my favorites.
Listen to them. If you want to.
My Little Town by Simon & Garfunkel
And after it rains there’s a rainbow And all of the colors are black It’s not that the colors aren’t there It’s just imagination they lack Everything’s the same back in my little town
This song reminds of Springsteen’s Born in the USA. Like that track, if you aren’t listening closely then it might seem like a rah-rah upbeat jam about how wonderful a place is. Or, you can examine the lyrics and soak up the darkness.
I adore Simon & Garfunkel. Their music is soft, but their hearts are heavy metal. Since I started writing this article, I can’t stop playing this song over and over again.
It concludes with this shouted refrain:
Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town
Rockin’ Chair by The Band
Oh, to be home again, Down in old Virginny
The Band is my favorite band. Someday I’ll write an article or two all about the genius of their music.
Rockin’ Chair features mournful singing, prominent accordian, and the incredible instrumental tension and vocal harmonies that mark so many Band tracks. The lyrics suggest a small-town homecoming after years away.
Here are a few words from drummer/vocalist Levon Helm on The Band’s self-titled album that Rockin’ Chair appears on:
Some of the songs, like Rockin’ Chair, sound like folks playing accordion and mandolin on the back porch of some farm … There was nothing normal about it. The title we had for the record was Harvest, because we were reaping this music from seeds that had been planted many years before we’d even been born.
Helpless by Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
There is a town in north Ontario With dream comfort memory to spare In my mind, I still need a place to go All my changes were there
Neil Young’s high-pitched voice singing of “big birds flying across the sky, throwing shadows on our eyes.” A beautiful song.
Woodstock by Joni Mitchell
Well, then can I walk beside you? I have come to lose the smog And I feel myself a cog In somethin’ turning
Woodstock is one of the world’s most famous small towns. Joni Mitchell wasn’t present for the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Festival, but she wrote this song based on her impressions of the event and her disappointment at missing out on attending. The song is a strange, poetic reflection on the spiritual journey and our place in the universe.
The Love You Save by Joe Tex
I’ve been pushed around I’ve been lost and found I’ve been given ’til sundown To get out of town
The concept of a small town is romantic for some, a nightmare for others.
Joe Tex sings about violent racism in a song that might be primarily about romantic heartbreak. It’s a haunting ballad that defies expectations or categorization.
I remember first stumbling across this video on YouTube many years ago and being caught completely off-guard by Tex’s voice, words, and facial expressions.
Read more of my musical musings: