Jan 9: 'Sailing to Philadelphia' and 'Hometown'

Scattered through the year will be songs with a geographical connection on the basis of them being about places... here's the first few of many, and two songs I was listening to when I got the original idea for the blog.

Mark Knopfler and James Taylor sing here about Mason and Dixon: the surveyors who drew up the Mason-Dixon Line. 

This is a story song, told in two monologues between Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon as they travel from Great Britain to Pennsylvania for the survey work that created the Mason-Dixon Line in 1763.

The song was inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s novel Mason and Dixon.

Besides providing a wonderful history lesson, it also humanises these people for us; giving us some perspective on their motives and emotions.

Source: https://genius.com/Mark-knopfler-sailing-to-philadelphia-lyrics

I like songs when people talk about their home and bring in some of the little details that only those who know the place will be familiar with: the little vernacular details which bring it to life.

This second song is from an album by Francis Dunnery. Dunnery was the vocalist and guitarist of the 80s band 'It Bites' and has had a long solo career, and also worked as a musician with other acts including in Robert Plant's band and with Big Big Train.

This track is called 'Hometown'. It is from the 2001 album 'Man'.

A live album – Hometown 2001 – was recorded 14 June 2001 at the Whitehaven Civic Hall in Cumbria and released later the same year.

Dunnery's home town is Egremont, in Cumbria. The lyrics reference Murphy's Pies: a bakery on the Market Place in Egremont which has since closed.

The title of his 2005 album 'The Gulley Flats Boys' is a reference to the council estate in Cumbria, North-west England where Francis grew up.

His most recent album and tour through early 2026 is about his upbringing on this council estate.

What other songs can you think of that articulate a close connection to a place?

Add them in the comments please.