Favorite “Town” Songs

There are so many songs that have the word “town” in the title, but we’ve all got our favorites. I made a list of a bunch I know and chose my favorites to share with you. Here they are in order of how old they are:

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ “There is a Tavern in the Town” is a traditional 19th century folk song that wikipedia says was “the college anthem of Trinity University College.[citation needed].” One would imagine that would not be with the lyrics that tell the story of a woman’s true love leaving her for “a damsel dark.” It has been recorded by a number of men, like Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby. Generally, the men just leave the damsel dark part out. Burl Ives changed it to a gambler dark.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ “He’s in Town” is a song from 1964 written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It was first recorded by The Tokens who are far more famous for “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, but would you recognize Jay Siegel’s voice if I didn’t just tell you that?

❤️❤️❤️ “Big Man in Town by The 4 Seasons also came out in 1964 but a month or so after the Tokens’ song. At No. 20 on Billboard, it wasn’t the Seasons’ biggest hit that year (that was “Rag Doll”), but it wasn’t their lowest (that was “Alone”).

❤️❤️❤️ “The Boys Are Back in Town” was a 1976 hit for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Actually, it was their biggest hit and a No. 1 in Ireland.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ “Rock this Town” by the Stray Cats came out in 1981 in the U.K. and in 1982 in the U.S.A. As hard as it is to believe, it peaked at No. 9 on the charts of both countries. This song rocks hard!

More “Town” songs:
“Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” (1958) by Johnny Cash
“Little Town Flirt” (1962) by Del Shannon
Lonesome Town (1958) was a Top 10 hit for Ricky Nelson. He was backed by the Jordanaires, who are more well known for backing Elvis Presley.
“New Kid in Town” (1976) was a No. 1 hit for the Eagles. Even so, a lot of people thought the title was “Johnny Come Lately”
“Old Town Road” (2018) by Little Nas X. The 2019 remix featuring Billy Ray Cyrus won a Grammy.
“Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” (1969) by Kenny Rogers and The First Edition
“Small Town” by John Cougar Mellencamp (1986)
“There’ll Be a Hot Town in the Old Town Tonight” which spawned the parody “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow” about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871
“Town Without Pity” Gene Pitney (1961)

Compound Words:
“Allentown” by Billy Joel
“Crosstown Traffic” by Jimi Hendrix
“Darktown Strutters’ Ball” by Fats Domino
“Downtown’ by Petula Clark
“Funkytown” by Lipps
“Sugartown” by Nancy Sinatra
“Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel

Christmas songs:
“O Little Town of Bethlehem”
“Santa Claus is Coming to Town”