Many songs about Chicago and songs that mention Chicago have been written and recorded over the years, and as one might expect, there’s a huge list of Chicago songs on Wikipedia. Among those about Chicago, here are the ones that stand out to me:
- Back to Chicago (Duke Tumatoe)
- Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town) (Fred Fisher)
- Chicago Bound (Jimmy Rogers)
- Chicago (Sufjan Stevens)
- Lakeshore Drive (Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah)
- My Kind of Town (Chicago Is) (Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen)
- Sweet Home Chicago (Robert Johnson)
- We’re All Crazy in Chicago (Jonathon Brandmeier)
As a songwriter, I’ve always wanted to add to the list, and I’ve done just that with my upcoming single by The Jerrys, “Chicago USA.” Not just another Chicago song, the tune is also a tribute to two of my favorite childhood songs, “Downtown” and “I Know a Place”—both written by Tony Hatch and made popular by Petula Clark. Stay tuned.