The Songs of Two Cities
New York and Atlanta were recently highlighted as the subject matter of many memorable songs. Is your image of the Big Apple captured more by "Take the 'A' Train" or "On Broadway."? Is all of Georgia on your mind, or just the B-52's "Love Shack"?

In the Spring 2003 issue of Grammy magazine, which is distributed to members of the Recording Academy (NARAS), writer-historian Paul Grein describes how "for over 100 years, the dynamic pulse of New York has been captured in song." The largest city in the US, and longtime hub of the music industry, New York may indeed have more tunes devoted to it than anyplace in the world.

His picks for the 10 most memorable New York songs are, in chronological order:

• The Sidewalks of New York (1895, Lawler & Blake)
• Give my Regards to Broadway (1904, George M. Cohan)
• Manhattan (1925, Rodgers & Hart)
• Lullaby of Broadway (1935, Dubin & Warren)
• Take the "A" Train (1941, Strayhorn)
• On Broadway (1963, Leiber, Stoller, Mann & Weil)
• New York State of Mind (1976, Billy Joel)
• Theme from "New York, New York" (1977, Ebb & Kander)
• Native New Yorker (1977, Linzer & Randell)
• New York, New York (2001, Ryan Adams)

Meanwhile, Ron Sarig of Atlanta's free weekly paper, Creative Loafing, was making his own list of great songs that feature the Big Peach. Showing the true competitive spirit of Atlanta, his "best of" list named TWENTY-THREE songs, dating back to the 1865 Union anthem "Marching through Georgia."

The list includes songs by W.C. Handy, Blind Willie McTell, Gene Autry, Hoagy Carmichael, the Allman Brothers, Little Feat, Atlanta Rhythm Section, the B-52s, Freddy King, Taj Mahal, John Mayer, Jermaine Dupri and others.

Read Sarig's complete list, a "Hometown Mix Tape" for Atlanta

Visit the site of the Recording Academy at Grammy.com

Read Creative Loafing