What’s your favorite song about Albany? Is it Arlo Guthrie’s “City of Albany?” Or maybe that chipper little Monkees track, “Last Train to Albany”? Elvis Presley’s “Viva Albany,” about blackjack and poker and the city that sets his soul on fire? Or wait — I know. Ol' Blue Eyes' rendition of the classic John Kander tune: "… It’s up to you, Albany, Albany!” Cue trumpets.
Yes, I kid. There aren’t that many songs about our humble and historic capital city — certainly nothing that gets massacred in karaoke bars with any regularity. But they’re out there. And as the Times Union just released its 30th-annivesary redo of “Let’s Have a Party, Albany,” the cheeztastic 1986 music video peopled with prominent Albanians, now is a good time to chase down and round up some of the songs that sing our city’s praises… or something.
The list below emphasizes tunes that focus on the cap city specifically — “You’re So Vain” is a classic, but the horse naturally won elsewhere — and is, I’m sure, incomplete. Albany has been around for 330 years, and folks have been singing about it for the duration.
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‘Let’s Have a Party, Albany’ (1986)
The Sharks, et al
Albany’s answer to the “We Are the World” celebrity-crowd-pop phenomenon was this big-haired tribute to the city’s 300th.
David Allan’s tune is boppy and chipper, the lyrics festive (“You’re older than the USA!”), the video packed with local characters of the era: Mayor Whalen, Bishop Hubbard, random hula-hoopers, you name it.
‘Let’s Have a Party, Albany’ (2016)
With Tom Templeton on lead vocals, the Times Union’s remake packs in the politicos (Paul Tonko, Pat Fahy, Kathy Sheehan) and other Albany peeps. But no random Hula-Hoopers.
‘O, Albany’
Mike Warren
The official song marking the city’s tricentennial in 1986 is a sweet, lilting folk track. “300 years and countin', and still making history / This proud old city in the land of the free.”
The Erie Canal Song
Assorted titles and artists
Penned in 1905 by Thomas S. Allen, the lyrics follow a mule named Sal along the bustling waterway. “We’ve hauled some barges in our day / Filled with lumber, coal, and hay / And every inch of the way we know / From Albany to Buffalo.”
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‘Albany’
Kev Brown
This slow, liquid jam of lost love is set in the 518 but doesn’t get specific, dwelling instead on chill vibes and goodnight kisses.
‘Christmas in Albany’
The Reverberators
Twangy good cheer from local roots-rockers. “I want to see the lights twinkle down in Washington Park / I want to kiss my true lover on Madison and Lark.”
‘Albany (The Egg)’
They Might Be Giants
The indie duo's quirky ode to the Albany performance space from outer space. "The Egg, permission to land / The Egg, where should I stand / The Egg, the Egg, no corners for yoooou."
‘When Tulips Bloom Again’
Angela Bove’s 2015 cover of the 1950s Tulip Festival tune, written by Jean B. Stephens and Betty Bonpane Crummey and popularized by singer Christina Teré. Bove’s version is one of several submitted last year in the city’s “Tulip Mania Music Project.”
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‘O Albany We Hope’
We Are Jeneric
Lilting and melancholic folk-rock ditty with tight harmonies and banjo. “We’ve met some good friends … in the ancient little city of Albany.”
‘From Sulphur to Sugarcane’
Elvis Costello
“The girls from Poughkeepsie take their clothes off when they’re tipsy / but in Albany, New York, they love the filthy way I talk.” As Arts Talk commenter Joe observed: When sung with an English accent, it rhymes.
‘My City’
Mirk
Groovy, gritty hip-hop-soul track from 2012 that goes beyond the usual field-trip destinations. “We got the Governor’s Mansion a block away from the ’hood / where the buildings abandoned and the drugs are all good.”
‘Why Do They All Take the Night Boat to Albany?’
Al Jolson
Zippety tune from Jerome Kern’s 1920 musical “The Night Boat” about a serial philanderer who fakes being a skipper on the Hudson to explain his nocturnal truancy. “Why do they all take the night boat to Albany? / That’s what’s puzzling me / They all claim it’s just for the sights / Just the same, they travel at night.”
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‘Boston Girl’
Chris Trapper
Do you suppose he’s being sarcastic? “Well, Albany’s so fun I spent a month there one day / but Buffalo is cool so I can’t stay away.”
‘UAlbany Song’
Neil Roche (from Asher Roth’s “I Love College”)
Probably not the image the university wants to promote, but: “I Go to SUNY U of A and I (bleepin’) love it. … I go insane and get drunk in public.”
‘The Fly That Rode From Buffalo’
Southern Culture on the Skids
“The fly that rode from Buffalo got in at Albany / Flew around the van lookin' for a place to land and settled on the drummer’s knee.”
‘Cold Hands From New York’
Gordon Lightfoot
The song concerns a rather unwelcoming Big Apple, but hey: “I came down from Albany to New York to find what I’d been missin'.”
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