I do not consider myself much of a world traveler. Indeed, when given the choice these days, I’d rather just stay close to home, which happens to be in Nashville.

But my wife enjoys traveling, so I go along with her plan if I can. This week, we’re booked on a Mediterranean cruise that began in Rome and moves on to Livorno, Italy; Monte Carlo, Monaco; Marseille, France; Sete, France; and Barcelona, Spain. Except for Rome, these are all places I’ve never seen. In fact, I’ve never been anywhere in France or Spain before, so I’m kind of excited to broaden my horizons.

And that’s the point of travel, isn’t it? Get out of our comfort zones of familiarity and try something different, and someplace new. I have friends who have been to 40-50 countries or more, and I have friends who’ve barely left the United States. I guess I fall somewhere in between.

In past posts on this blog, I have assembled playlists of songs that refer to specific U.S. states, American cities, world cities, and countries. This week, since I’m supposed to be on vacation, I am re-running the piece on songs with various countries in the title. I have switched out a few of the 15 selected nations just to give it a new, different twist than the one I published six years ago. These 15 songs by popular artists offer music and/or lyrics that pay homage to other nations (as well as the U.S.), including the places I’m currently visiting.

I hope you enjoy this sort of international music travelogue.

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“Little Italy,” Stephen Bishop, 1976

“Careless,” Bishop’s remarkable debut album, is full of gorgeous melodies and polished production.  The #11 hit “On and On” got most of the attention, but I’m also partial to “Little Italy,” Bishop’s appreciation for the Italian neighborhoods that bring spirited cultural life to many major US cities:  “Ah mama, am I holding on to the wings of a prayer, /Waiting for Rosie, tell me, do you think she cares? /Ah, dancing in the streets, in little Italy, ah, they’re all dancing in the streets in Little Italy…”

“France,” Grateful Dead, 1978

Guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Mickey Hart collaborated with Dead lyricist Robert Hunter to write a tribute to France for their “Shakedown Street” LP.  Hunter had traveled to the Riviera the previous year and found it every bit as delightful as he anticipated it would be:  “Way down in the south of France, all the ladies love to dance, clap their hands and walk on air, /Yeah, the feeling’s really there, won’t you take a little taste, raise it to your charming face?…”

“Never Been to Spain,” Three Dog Night, 1971

This tune, written by Hoyt Axton, may have been a big hit in the US for Three Dog Night, but as the title states, he doesn’t know much about Spain, since he’s never been there.  But he knows enough to know that the indigenous music is lively and the native women are friendly:  “Well, I’ve never been to Spain, but I kinda like the music, /Say, the ladies are insane there, and they sure know how to use it, /They don’t abuse it, never gonna lose it, I can’t refuse it…”

“Panama,” Crosby, Stills and Nash, 1994

CSN’s “After the Storm” LP was pretty much a dud critically and commercially, but there are still a few decent tracks buried in there.  One of them is Stephen Stills’ “Panama,” an ode to the Central American country where he spent time in his early years:  “Have you seen Panama, where I first fell in love, /It will forever be an emerald necklace set between the seas, /So clearly I recall the magic of Panama, and surely never will it let me go, /Yo Soy Panameno…”

“China Girl,” David Bowie, 1983

In 1976, Bowie teamed up with Iggy Pop to write this tune about an American man who falls in love with an Asian woman, even though he concludes he’s a bad influence on her. Iggy recorded and first released it on his 1977 LP “The Idiot.” Six years later, Bowie recorded his own version, which producer Nile Rogers turned into a pop song that became the second single released from Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” LP, reaching #10 on US pop charts: “My little China girl, you shouldn’t mess with me, /I’ll ruin everything you are, you know it, /I’ll give you television, I’ll give you eyes of blue, I’ll give you a man who wants to rule the world…”

“Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” Gordon Lightfoot, 1967

The CBC TV network commissioned Lightfoot to compose this marvelous song as part of Canada’s Centennial celebration in 1967.  The tune tells the story of the Trans-Canada Railway’s construction, balancing the optimism of the 1860s railroad age with the cost in blood and sweat of the “navvies” who labored to get the project completed:  “We are the navvies who work upon the railway, swingin’ our hammers in the bright blazin’ sun, /Layin’ down track and buildin’ the bridges, bendin’ our backs ’til the railroad is done…”

“Bermuda Triangle,” Fleetwood Mac, 1974

On “Heroes Are Hard to Find,” the last Fleetwood Mac LP before Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the lineup, guitarist/singer Bob Welch wrote this irresistible rocker concerning the urban legend about strange occurrences and disappearances that have allegedly happened in the vicinity of this Atlantic island nation. Turns out subsequent investigations have concluded no evidence of higher incidence there than any other region of the world. “There’s something going on, nobody seems to know just what it is, /It might be a hole down in the ocean, or a fog that won’t let go, /It might be some crazy people talking, or somebody that we ought to know, /Down in Bermuda, the pale blue sea, /Way down in the triangle, it’s easy to believe…”

“Ethiopia,” Joni Mitchell, 1985

Mitchell’s “Dog Eat Dog” LP is full of angry diatribes, a far cry from the emotional heartbreak that made her famous throughout the Seventies.  She was moved to write “Ethiopia,” she said, because of the too-brief concern shown by first-world countries during the terrible famine that has plagued the African nation:  “Betrayed by politics, abandoned by the rains, /On and on the human need, on and on the human greed profanes, Ethiopia, Ethiopia…”

“Postcards From Paraguay,” Mark Knopfler, 2004

Since the breakup of Dire Straits, songwriter-guitarist Mark Knopfler has quietly yet reliably put out intelligent albums marked by his trademark slow-burn guitar stylings, English folk structures and well-crafted storytelling.  On “Postcards From Paraguay” from his “Shangri-La” album, he describes the life of a criminal on the run:  “I robbed a bank full of dinero, a great big mountain of dough, so it was goodbye companero and cheerio, I couldn’t stay and face the music, so many reasons why I won’t be sending postcards from Paraguay…”

“Vietnam,” Jimmy Cliff, 1969

Cliff was among the first reggae artists to have success with U.S. audiences.  Like Bob Marley after him, Cliff combined a deep spiritual love of life with a fierce message condemning injustice and war.  At the height of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, he released this song on his debut album:  “His mother got a telegram, it was addressed from Vietnam, /Now, mistress Brown, she lives in the USA, and this is what she wrote and said: /‘Don’t be alarmed,’ she told me the telegram said, “But mistress Brown, your son is dead…’”

“Made in England,” Ian Anderson, 1983

Born in Scotland, Anderson also spent his formative years in England, and has lived in both countries off and on his whole life.  His love of native folk music is visible through much of the lighter acoustic numbers in the Jethro Tull catalog, and this song, from his debut solo LP “Walk Into Light,” celebrates England’s natural beauty and traditions: “Somewhere in a town in England, could be Newcastle, Leeds or Birmingham… /And were you made in England’s green and pleasant land?…”

“Far Afghanistan,” James Taylor, 2015

This is a powerful piece about a land most of us will never know or understand.  Taylor’s lyrics do a superb job in giving a mini-history lesson and a look at what U.S. soldiers found during their tours there:  “They fought against the Russians, they fought against the Brits, they fought old Alexander, talking ’bout him ever since, /And after 9/11, here comes your Uncle Sam, another painful lesson in the far Afghanistan…  /I expected to be hated and insulted to my face, but nothing could prepare me for the beauty of the place…”

“Move to Japan,” The Band, 1993

The Band had dissolved in 1977, but they reunited without Robbie Robertson to record the LP “Jericho.”  On “Move to Japan,” drummer/singer Levon Helm was inspired to write about a friend who gave up on the U.S. job market in favor of Japan’s:  “From the unemployment line I see lots to be done, and they’re taking all hands in the land of the risin’ sun, /I love my mom and my apple pie, but sayonara Uncle Sam, hello Samurai, /Hey, we’re gonna move to Japan, the home of the working man…” 

“Bangla Desh,” George Harrison, 1971

In early 1971, natural disasters and a military crackdown by the ruling government had brought about hundreds of thousands of deaths in East Pakistan, soon to be known as Bangla Desh.  Harrison’s friend Ravi Shankar, a Bengali native, solicited help from the sympathetic former Beatle, and the result was the “Concert for Bangla Desh” charity event and album, and the “Bangla Desh” single:  “Bangla Desh, Bangla Desh, where so many people are dying fast, /And it sure looks like a mess, I’ve never seen such distress, /Now won’t you lend your hand, try to understand, relieve the people of Bangla Desh…”

“American Tune,” Paul Simon, 1973

This amazing song from Simon’s “There Goes Rhymin’ Simon” LP, with music based on a Bach chorale, turned out to be prescient about what we’ve been facing here in the 21st Century — where we’ve been, where we are now, where we might be headed — and it’s a sobering analysis: “I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered, I don’t have a friend who feels at ease, /I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered or driven to its knees, /Oh, but it’s all right, it’s all right, for we’ve lived so well so long, /Still, when I think of the road we’re traveling on, I wonder what’s gone wrong…”

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Honorable mentions:

“Give Ireland Back to the Irish,” Wings, 1971;  “Cedars of Lebanon,” U2, 2009; “Angola,” Ambrosia, 1978;  “Jamaica Say You Will,” Jackson Browne, 1972;  “Mexico,” James Taylor, 1975; “In Germany Before the War,” Randy Newman, 1977; “Panama,” Van Halen.

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