The 21 best ‘Memphis’ songs of the 21st century (so far)
Yo Gotti performs on Friday, July 15, 2022 at the FedExForum. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
It’s been asserted, if not quite proven, that Memphis is referenced in more songs than any other city.
Given how much music the city has produced, it’s not much of a surprise that the more than reasonably self-proclaimed home of the blues and the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll punches well above its weight as a music subject, too.
There are standards: W.C. Handy’s “Memphis Blues,” Chuck Berry’s “Memphis,” Tom T. Hall’s “That’s How I Got to Memphis” and, sure, Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis.”
There are cult favorites: Joni Mitchell’s “Furry Sings the Blues,” Mott the Hoople’s “All the Way from Memphis” and the Replacements’ “Alex Chilton.”
There are celebrations from hometown artists: Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Memphis Beat,” Rufus Thomas’ “The Memphis Train” and Jesse Winchester’s “Talk Memphis.”
But if the rate of new “Memphis” songs has slowed — another assertion not quite proven — it hasn’t stopped, and 2024 has been a good reminder.
On July 4, Oklahoma country singer Zach Bryan released one of the year’s most talked about albums, “The Great American Bar Scene,” and tucked away on it was a song titled, “Memphis; the Blues.”
This spring, a less talked about major album led with, less surprisingly, a song titled “Memphis.” That album was Justin Timberlake’s “Everything I Thought I Was,” a title derived from a lyric to “Memphis,” where Timberlake’s flat, studio-altered, after-the-goldrush vocal sings, “Put on for your city/For your state ... whatever you do just make us proud/And ain’t gonna be no crying from the crowd.”
Amid these, in a popular corner of the local hip-hop scene perhaps increasingly forbidding to outsiders, one of this year’s bangers is “M.N.E.I.G.,” from rappers idontknowjeffrey, Duke Deuce and Marcus 901. The acronym: “Memphis n---- everywhere I go.”
In honor of this recent eruption of “Memphis” songs, here’s one listener’s list of the 21 best “Memphis” songs — songs about Memphis or that reference the city — of the 21st century so far.
Which of those make the list? Find out.
Topics
Subscriber Only Jerry Lee Lewis Booker T. Jones Phoebe Bridgers Project Pat Zach Bryan Lisa Marie Presley Justin Timberlake Linda Gail Lewis Juicy J Yo Gotti Three 6 Mafia Gloss Up MusicThank you for supporting local journalism.
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Chris Herrington
Chris Herrington covers the Memphis Grizzlies and writes about Memphis culture, food, and civic life. He lives in the Vollintine-Evergreen neighborhood of Midtown with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.
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