List of References To Long Island Places in Popular Culture - Music

Music

• Billy Joel, a Long Island native, is strongly associated with Long Island, and has made frequent references to its places and culture in his songs. His 1971 solo debut album was titled "Cold Spring Harbor" .His song "The Ballad of Billy The Kid" features the line From a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island. The hit song "The Downeaster Alexa" is written about fishermen primarily on Long Island who struggle to make a living, and mentions Montauk and Gardiner's Bay.
• The song "Soul Power" off the 2002 album Iron Flag by Wu-Tang Clan features dialogue at the end by Method Man and Long Island-native Flavor Flav of Public Enemy that mentions Westbury, Freeport, Roosevelt, Hempstead, New Castle Park, and Hundread Terrace Avenues
• Several songs by the band Brand New include references to the Island. For example, in the song "Play Crack the Sky," one lyric is, "Four months of calm seas To be pounded in the shallows Off the tip of Montauk Point."
• The band Straylight Run also references the island, such as in the song "Your Name Here (Sunrise Highway)," which references Long Island's own Sunrise Highway, and Carmen's Road: Go east on Sunrise Highway, Turn left at Carman's Avenue, Go right at the first stoplight, And I'll be outside waiting for you, Oh, I'll be waiting for you."
• Hardcore group Silent Majority's song "And They Loved It To Death" off the album You Would Love To Know EP features the lines Head up to the North Shore with Huntington girls and Head down to the South Shore with Babylon girls. The album also features a song entitled "Amityville Horror". The song "Polar Bear Club" off the album Life of a Spectator also features the line I pray that we're still friends, in the sand at Gilgo Beach, which is located in Babylon.
• The 2005 album No Matter Where We Go...! by Latterman features the song "Fear & Loathing On Long Island"
• Public Enemy's hit "Rebel Without A Pause" features the line Strong Island, where I got 'em wild and that's the reason they're claiming that I'm violent
• The song "Vibes & Stuff" off the classic album ...The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest features the lines Found my thrill in Amityville, I'm always in the Island. Fudge and Luckey know the deal, they know who keeps me smiling and ...all the people in Long Island, we got the vibes. The song "We Got The Jazz" also features the line: Make sure you have a system with some phat house speakers. So the new shit can rock from Mars to Massapequa. Cause where I come from quality is job one. And everybody up on Linden know we get the job done.
• De La Soul's album Stakes Is High features the songs "Long Island Degrees" and "Wonce Again Long Island" which references many different towns (specifically "East Mass" (E. Massapequa), Amityville, Wyandanch, Bayshore, "C.I." (Central Islip), Brentwood, Hempstead, Roosevelt, Freeport, Uniondale, Long Beach, and Huntington) and aspects of Long Island.
• Beirut's 2007 EP is called Lon Gisland.
• Bayside also references Long Island in their song titled "Montauk" with the line meet me in, Montauk which is based on the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
• Circa Survive also references the movie with their song entitled "Meet me in Montauk" written and performed by Anthony Green
• Dogbowl and Kramer's 1994 album "Hot Day in Waco" contains the song "Tarantula" which contains the line "I was dreaming of that Central Islip field behind the school."
• Wyandanch native Rakim's 1999 album "The Master" contains the song "Strong Island" which references Long Island throughout the song. The chorus repeats the line "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"
• In "Hard Candy" by Counting Crows the lyrics include "In the evenings on Long Island" and describe time spent on Long Island beaches
• The Rolling Stones song "Memory Motel" is based on the motel in Montauk which the band spent time at while visiting Andy Warhol.
• The Movielife references the Long Island Sound in the song "Ship to Shore" off their 2003 album Forty Hour Train Back to Penn.
• Ron Pope's song "Seven English Girls" Long Island is referenced in the line, "we had our summer on Long Island.. now there's wounds that never heal"