I recently took an airplane flight to and from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Just before landing, I queued up the Simon & Garfunkel song “America” to play on my headphones. I listened to this song as we landed because one line of the lyrics goes, “Michigan seems like a dream to me now,” and just after that, the Michigan city of Saginaw is name-dropped. This was about the best song I could think of in the moment that had some sort of connection to Michigan.

I do this often when traveling by air.

Here are a few other places I’ve traveled to in the past couple of years, along with the song I listened to during the final few minutes of the flight…

-Chicago, IL / “25 or 6 to 4,” by Chicago

-Memphis, TN / “Graceland,” by Paul Simon

-Honolulu, HI / “In Blue Hawaii,” by Brian Wilson

-Washington, DC / “When the President Talks to God,” by Bright Eyes

-Albany, NY / “New York State of Mind,” by Billy Joel

-San Diego, CA / “California,” by Mason Jennings

-Tulsa, OK / “My Oklahoma Home,” by Bruce Springsteen

-Washington, DC (again) / “Ronnie’s Rap,” by Ron and the DC Crew

-Los Angeles, CA / “Beverly Hills,” by Weezer

-Honolulu, HI (again) / “Rocking Chair in Hawaii,” by George Harrison

-Washington, DC (again again) / “American Idiot,” by Green Day

There have also been a few places I’ve flown to, and I couldn’t think of a song that would fit well (and that I’d like to listen to). This includes Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, and Portland. So, if you know of any good songs that might fit in with any of those places, let me know. I might need to use them if I ever return to those places.

Also it appears my next time on an airplane will be a flight that takes me to Salt Lake City, Utah. And…I don’t know which song to play. Any ideas?