The ultimate soundtrack for travelling in the US (2023)

Ever since Francis Scott Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner in 1814, Americans have had a tendency to write songs about being American.

For them, a sense of place, no matter how prosaic it may be in reality, is something to celebrate, to put down in song. Patriotism too, it's all there in their hits: America The Beautiful. Living In America. R-O-C-K In The USA. American Girl. God Bless The USA.

Australians may cringe at such self-appraisal – even the best-selling song about ourselves is a parody dressed up (Men At Work's global hit, Down Under, is full of lines like "Where beer does flow and men chunder…" We rest our case).

But Americans aren't afraid to scream their love of country from any stage. It's part of the fundamental differences between us and them.

Many of us had a quasi-American childhood thanks to too much American television (and yes, all their school buses are orange, their national park service workers do dress like Ranger Smith and highway patrol cops do wear those skin-tight pants), so everything feels familiar there and yet completely foreign at the same time.

Anything pretty much goes in the US: wear those cowboy boots you bought in Denver, go roller-blading in Miami Beach, hire that Mustang convertible in LA - (take the red one, you know you want to. And play The Eagles too loud in its stereo, who cares, they sure don't.)

It's no surprise that Americans don't have an equivalent of the Tall Poppy syndrome. Maybe that's why their songs celebrate their "American-ness" and for a lot of Australian visitors to the US, they are a perfect, authentic soundtrack for their travels.

"Ain't that America/ Home of the free" John Mellencamp proclaims. "Living in America/ Got to have a celebration…" James Brown hollers. "America, I love you America," sings Ray Charles. It wouldn't happen in Australia, well not to such a degree, but isn't that the whole point?

Come with us as Traveller celebrates America through song and the corresponding places that are the embodiment of certain lyrics.

THE SONG

EMPIRE STATE OF MIND, SUNG BY JAY Z

THE LYRIC Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

THE PLACE Sinatra's New York, New York may be an obvious choice for this exercise but it's Jay Z's modern, manic take on NYC that captures it best for the 21st century. This should be screamed at the top of your lungs – perfect for a city that never sleeps. America's arts, restaurant and bar capital is all jammed into a compact grid accessible by foot, or subway. Anything's possible on a NYC holiday: "… there's nothing you can't do".

EXPERIENCE IT Jay Z plays tour guide with his lyrics. Most important: catch a Knicks basketball and a Yankees baseball match. And check out Brooklyn's indie-hip bar and street scene. And don't forget the Empire State Building (of course).

DON'T MISS Hop between America's best retro cocktail lounges in the city's hipster Meatpacking district. See the tippler.com

ESSENTIALS Avoid winter if you like to walk. See visitnewyork.com

THE SONG

ALASKA, SUNG BY MAGGIE ROGERS

THE LYRIC I was walking through icy streams that took my breath away/And I walked off you

THE PLACE Listen closely to Rogers' 2016 hit and you might hear something amazing: croaking frogs; the patter of rain; the creak of a glacier. Rogers spent many summers hiking in Alaska and recorded the noises around her. Those sounds contribute to the sonic landscape of Alaska, the song, lending a beautiful sense of place – the epic wilderness, the clean air, the connection with nature – to this dreamy reminiscence of heartbreak and hiking.

EXPERIENCE IT Grab a pack and strap on some boots: Alaska is riven with hiking trails, the best of which just might be the 53-kilometre Chilkoot Trail from Dyea in Alaska to Bennett in Canada's British Columbia.

DON'T MISS The Kenai Peninsula, near Anchorage also offers amazing walks, including the 11-kilometre Lost Lake Trail, which has plenty of icy streams to take your breath away.

ESSENTIALS The best time to hike in Alaska is June to August. See travelalaska.com

THE SONG

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN', SUNG BY THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS

THE LYRIC California dreamin'/On such a winter's day

THE PLACE The song that defines California, written during a cold winter in New York City. Released in 1965, it became symbolic of California's drop-out counter-culturists who took the lyrics to heart: "I'd be safe and warm/If I was in LA." There's always a sense of rolling back the years when you visit California, like the '60s never ended… embrace the retro vibe, man.

EXPERIENCE IT Dream on and take a vintage Mustang down Highway One with this song playing on your stereo. Be sure to include San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district to revisit California's Summer Of Love.

DON'T MISS Stay at the Ventana Big Sur Resort where Hollywood star Steve McQueen stayed before you, overlooking California's blue ocean. See ventanabigsur.com

ESSENTIALS California's weather allows year-round visitation, though summer gets manic. See visitcalifornia.com

THE SONG

GRACELAND, SUNG BY PAUL SIMON

THE LYRIC The Mississippi Delta was shining like a national guitar

THE PLACE Simon's iconic track isn't so much about Graceland, the former home of Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tennessee, as it is about the journey toGraceland. It's a road trip in the US South, as Simon and his son follow the highway "through the cradle of the civil war". Graceland is about travel itself, the chance to bond with a child and get over a break-up and make a pilgrimage somewhere special.

EXPERIENCE IT A road trip through the Deep South is easy to achieve. Simply fly into New Orleans, hire a car and point it north, calling through Vicksburg, Cleveland, Greenville and Tunica before arriving in Memphis.

DON'T MISS An exhibition at Graceland, "The Influence of Elvis Presley", features original wardrobe and instruments from artists influenced by the King of Pop, including Springsteen, Hendrix and Lennon. See graceland.com

ESSENTIALS The months from February to May are the most comfortable time to visit the Deep South. See visitusa.org.au

THE SONG

SWEET HOME ALABAMA, SUNG BY LYNYRD SKYNYRD

THE LYRIC Sweet home Alabama/Where the skies are so blue

THE PLACE Sweet Home Alabama is a celebration (and a defence) of America's South in totality. Lynyrd Skynyrd celebrates the simplistic lifestyle and mentality of God-fearing Southerners – you can smell the wood-fire barbecues and taste the southern rye whiskey dripping out of its verses.

EXPERIENCE IT Get out on the road and travel between the states of The South – they're all side-to-side, so road-tripping is easy. Southerners cop a lot of criticism for their un-PC ways but you won't meet friendlier souls on Earth. Expect lots of chit-chat and to be addressed as "sir" or "madam".

DON'T MISS A Southern barbecue. Each state has its own way of barbecuing but they all involve hours of meat roasting in wood-fire under the watchful eye of a "pit-master", meatboss.com

ESSENTIALS It gets hot and sticky in summer, choose the shoulder seasons, March-May, September-November. See travelsouth.visittheusa.com

THE SONG

SWEET HOME CHICAGO, SUNG BY ROBERT JOHNSON

THE LYRIC Baby don't you wanna go/ My sweet home Chicago

THE PLACE Johnson's Chicago ode is a little confusing, given its chorus of "Oh baby don't you want to go/Back to the land of California/My sweet home Chicago". This 1937 classic was later popularised by the Blues Brothers, who changed the lyric to "Back to that same old place"; it's now settled as an elegy to a modern city that retains its links to blues culture.

EXPERIENCE IT If you're interested in Chicago's jazz and blues scene, check out any of the myriad clubs in the Bronzeville neighbourhood, or visit icons such as Buddy Guy's Legends and the House of Blues. See buddyguy.com; www.houseofblues.com

DON'T MISS Though it has little to do with jazz and blues, if you love sport, no visit to Chicago is complete without catching a baseball game at Wrigley Field. The home of the Chicago Cubs is a historic arena that lives up to its "Friendly Confines" nickname.

ESSENTIALS Chicago is bitterly cold in winter, though otherwise pleasant (if not windy). See choosechicago.com

THE SONG

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH, SUNG BY JOHN DENVER

THE LYRIC Colorado Rocky Mountain high/ The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullaby

THE PLACE Rocky Mountain High is Denver's love song to his then new home state, Colorado, and more specifically, Aspen. Written after watching a meteor shower while camping, the "high" in the title was considered a drug reference (marijuana is legal here). But it's really a natural high he's singing about, apparently. You can't help but be happy here, what with more than 300 days of sunshine each year and counter-culturists and ranchers living peacefully in dreamy little mountain villages beneath America's tallest mountains.

EXPERIENCE IT While its ski resorts make Colorado famous, visiting outside winter allows you to follow Denver's lead. Take a hike through its national parks and sleep overnight.

DON'T MISS Hike between two of Colorado's prettiest mountain towns – Aspen and Crested Butte – beneath America's most photographed mountains, the Maroon Bells. See blazingadventures.com

ESSENTIALS Summer mountain hiking tours run from May to November. See colorado.com; aspensnowmass.com

THE SONG

ROUTE 66, SUNG BY NAT KING COLE

THE LYRIC Get your kicks on Route 66

THE PLACE Nat King Cole's 1946 classic sums up everything that's great about the US's most famous highway, a 4000-kilometre journey through the heart of the country from Chicago to LA. Get your kicks roaring through the promised land: the song name-checks St Louis, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arizona and New Mexico, among other locations.

EXPERIENCE IT Though Route 66 was removed from the US highway system in 1985, travellers can still follow "the highway that is best". These old roads will take you through small-town US with plenty of museums and other sights along the way.

DON'T MISS Forget four wheels – soon you'll be able to do Route 66 on two. The US government is developing the US Bicycle Route 66, a cycling path that will run the full 4000 kilometres of the old Route 66 See adventurecycling.org

ESSENTIALS This is an all-seasons experience, beginning in either Chicago or LA. See visitusa.org.au

THE SONG

MARGARITAVILLE, SUNG BY JIMMY BUFFETT

THE LYRIC Strummin' my six string on my front porch swing/ Smell those shrimp, hey they're beginnin' to boil

THE PLACE After "wasting away" in Key West (in the Florida Keys), Buffett wrote the ultimate ode to beach drinking. Whether it's in Florida, Louisiana or Texas or any other southern US state with a beach, Margaritaville captures the regions' unique beach resort and bar lifestyle and the folk who live it. We've all been to some version of Margaritaville.

EXPERIENCE IT Take a ride south out of Miami till you reach the Keys, then settle in for at least a week. Check into a hotel on the beach and do a crawl of tiki beach bars, between fishing charters and diving excursions.

DON'T MISS Sleep in your own tiki hut in the water off Key West. Stay in one of two tiki suites floating on the ocean. See tiki-suites.com

ESSENTIALS Summer gets hot as hell, winter's best, but avoid Christmas and New Year. See visitflorida.com

FIVE ANTHEMS THAT DON'T CELEBRATE AMERICA

BORN IN THE USA, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

Surely the most famous of all the patriotic American songs, right? America's biggest rock star, after all, sings, "I was born in the USA"? Well, no, this is the most misinterpreted rock song of all time with Springsteen's song a protest against the US government for its conduct in the Vietnam War ("Sent me off to a foreign land/ To go and kill the yellow man").

AMERICAN PIE, DON MCLEAN

It may sound as American as apple pie, with one right there in the title, but McLean's immortal lyrics "'bye, bye Miss American Pie", refers to the death of the American dream, and its verses talk about decades of civil unrest: 'And in the streets, the children screamed? The lovers cried and the poets dreamed…'

AMERICAN GIRL, TOM PETTY

Stick the word "American" in your song title and people tend to think it will be reverential. Petty's classic, however, written in 1976 as the US fully emerged from an age of innocence, captures a generation's ennui, telling of an American girl who "couldn't help thinkin'/That there was a little more to life somewhere else".

FORTUNATE SON, CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL

This 1969 hit starts off sounding like an ode to those patriotic folks "born made to wave the flag". However, this is a Vietnam War protest song through and through. Fortunate Son is a swipe at the ruling class – the senators, the millionaires, the military leaders – who dragged the US to war, and their "fortunate sons" who will avoid the draft and never feel its effect.

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND, WOODY GUTHRIE

It's sad to realise that a protest song penned in 1940 is still so poignant. Guthrie's folk classic was interpreted by some as patriotic celebration; however, with lyrics such as "There was a big high wall that tried to stop me/The sign was painted, it said Private Property/But on the back side it didn't say nothing/This land was made for you and me", it's clear this is a commentary on the US's treatment of migrants.