18 December 2006

5 Songs For... Going Home (Chattanooga Edition!)

I'm less than 18 hours from starting my Christmas vacation in glorious Chattanooga, Tennessee. And to celebrate, here's "5 Songs For... Going Home." But it's the special Chattanooga edition!

(1) "Tennessee" by Arrested Development -- Sure, Speech is talking about going to Tennessee in order to confront the racism that has haunted his and his family's life, but let's not dwell. The song is still cool after all these years.

(2) "Tennessee Homesick Blues" by Dolly Parton -- Because when Dolly yodels, it sounds cool. GWEN STEFANI AND JEWEL.

(3) "Chattanooga Choo Choo" by The Andrews Sisters -- There are plenty of versions, but The Andrews Sisters are so quintessentially big band!

(4) "It's Good to be on the Road Back Home" by Cornershop -- Remember Cornershop? They had that one song, "Brimful of Asha?" Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow? Well, they also had this song, which is on their one popular album, "When I Was Born for the Seventh Time." It's a mid-tempo ballad that features a special guest vocalist, and in it, Cornershop's British singer and the woman start trading verses about how they're leaving Chattanooga to go home. I'm sure that the songwriters just saw Chattanooga's name on a map, thought it sounded cool, and stuck it in a song. I can't imagine the people in Cornershop ever made it to the scenic city. But it's still awesome to be name-checked.

(5) You choose! -- And you don't even have to stick with the Chatts theme. What are you favorite "going home" songs?

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5 Comments:

At 11:52 PM, Blogger Laura Barger said...

As I am also preparing to go to Chattown--but am actually flying into Nashville--I would like to choose "Nashville" by Liz Phair, a great song from way before bought a condo in and ran for mayor of Sucktown.

 
At 12:50 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ok, so this will probably get me banned from this site, but Kenny Chesney has a song called "Back Where I Come From" and it's about East Tennessee.
I'm sure you would hate it, but it reminds me of good ole Chattavegas, especially high class Ooltewah and Owl Holler (is that how you spell a place called holler?).

 
At 7:25 PM, Blogger Mark Blankenship said...

Don't be silly! No one would ever get booted out of the I Totally Hear That family for liking anything. Everyone's welcome, and so is everyone's taste.

I'll admit that I generally prefer the country gals to the fellas, but I do love me some Rascal Flatts.

 
At 1:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

When I used to live in San Fransisco, I noted that there is practically a whole genre of music about living in California and being homesick for the south, including such luminous hits as Midnight Train to Georgia and Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay.

 
At 2:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

One of my favorite "going home" songs is "Callin' Baton Rouge" by Garth Brooks. Now, I'm not from Baton Rouge (not everyone has Travis's luck), but there's just something about it that gears me up for my trip back to Texas. In all of the many times I've made the car trip from Atlanta to Houston, I've usually put the Garth Brooks greatest hits business in my CD player when I hit the Texas border and let the dulcet tones guide me home.

 

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