Duluth Songs

Twenty years ago today — May 9, 2000 — Twin Cities alt-rock/country band the Jayhawks released its sixth studio album, Smile. The song “Life Floats By” references Duluth at the 1:52 mark.

We hit Duluth on a jag, baby
We hit Duluth on a jag, baby
I grab my coat, my hat and my paperback
From the corner of my eyes, I see you smile

From the 1946 film The Shocking Miss Pilgram, Betty Grable and Dick Haymes sing “The Back Bay Polka,” written by George and Ira Gershwin. A reference to Duluth is around the 50-second mark. (more…)

In the ongoing effort to chronicle songs that call out “Duluth,” here’s a recent one by local hip-hop act LowH1Funk from the three-track EP Ghostly. “Duluth” is referenced at the 36-second mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK4S3pkbaWU

In January 2000, Mason Jennings released his second album, Birds Flying Away, featuring a track titled “Duluth.” Twenty years later, on Friday, Jan. 24, he’s in town performing at Sacred Heart Music Center.

Third verse:

We’ll live in a little town
North of Duluth
Where my grandmother
Lived in her youth

Brooklyn, New York-based musician Dave Hudson references Duluth on this track from his 2001 album New Sickness.

Minneapolis-based singer/songwriter Brianna Lane released her song “Duluth” on the 2002 album On Rooftops. (more…)

It’s not easy to find reliable information online about musician Dylan Thomas, since he shares the name of a famous Welsh poet. But what seems to be the case is that in 2007 Thomas released the album Pieces of an Overhead View, featuring a song with Duluth in the title and the lyrics. (more…)

Darling Drive, the solo acoustic music project of Enrique Aguilar, released the song “At a Loss” on the 2014 album Shipwrecked. The song mentions Duluth, and depending on how one interprets it there might also be a reference to the city of Superior or Lake Superior. (more…)

Minneapolis-based hip-hop outfit Atmosphere name-drops Duluth in a hidden track on its 2003 studio album Seven’s Travels. (more…)

From the 1975 soundtrack album to the TV series The Hanged Man comes the short instrumental piece “Duluth Blues.” The band Bullet was a collection of session players assembled in Germany to play the soundtrack music composed by Alan Tew. (more…)

Minneapolis band the Autumn Leaves released the song “Back to Me” on the 2008 album Long Lost Friend. Duluth lands in the lyrics at the 1:26 mark.

The photographs we took in the photo booth
The trips we planned to take up near Duluth

In the song “Ides of May,” Luke Redfield lyrically implores, “If I’m the one for you, baby, meet me in Duluth.” (more…)

The famed folk trio of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Noel Paul Stookey and contralto Mary Travers parenthetically referenced Duluth with the 1968 single “Love City.” (more…)

Ely-formed and Twin Cities-based White Iron Band released a Duluth ditty on its 2005 outlaw country album Take it off the Top. (more…)

Austin, Texas-based musician Matt the Electrician referenced Duluth in the song “Sad Lisa Waltz” from his 2004 album Long Way Home. (more…)

Grammy-winning musician T Bone Burnett referenced Duluth on the track “Every Time I Feel the Shift” from his 2006 album The True False Identity.

At the 1:12 mark he sings:

It all comes down to a moment of truth
Clock ticking in a soundproof booth
From Corpus Christi to Duluth
From Genghis Kahn to Babe Ruth

The Christian children’s television series VeggieTales referenced Duluth in the 1996 episode “Dave and the Giant Pickle.” A regular feature on the show is a segment called “Silly Songs with Larry,” in which Larry the Cucumber and other Veggie characters sing a silly song. (more…)

The 1947 Broadway musical Finian’s Rainbow featured the song “The Begat,” which included a reference to Duluth. It’s at the 1:24 mark in the clip above from the original Broadway cast album, featuring Jerry Laws, Lorenzo Fuller and Louis Sharp. (more…)

The Felice Brothers note that “every tooth in Duluth is Baby Ruth-proof,” in this track from their 2016 album Life in the Dark.