Best/Favorite Song about North Carolina

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aGDevil2k said:
Identifying the "most popular" songs about North Carolina can vary based on genre, era, and the specificity of the reference (e.g., songs mentioning the state vs. songs explicitly about it).
Based on widespread recognition, sales/streams, and consistent inclusion on lists of North Carolina-themed music, here is a list of 20 popular songs that either explicitly mention or are widely associated with North Carolina.
🎶 Top 20 Popular North Carolina Songs
| # | Song Title | Artist | Year | Notes on NC Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carolina in My Mind | James Taylor | 1968 | Iconic folk song about longing for his childhood home in Chapel Hill, NC. |
| 2 | Raise Up (North Carolina) | Petey Pablo | 2001 | North Carolina's definitive hip-hop anthem, explicitly calling out cities and regions across the state. |
| 3 | Wagon Wheel | Old Crow Medicine Show | 2004 | Hugely popular folk/country song with a prominent lyric about hitchhiking "South of the border, down in Carolina." |
| 4 | Oh My Sweet Carolina | Ryan Adams | 2000 | A heartfelt ballad about returning to his home state, with a video shot in Raleigh. |
| 5 | Carolina Girls | The Chairmen of the Board | 1980 | A beach music classic celebrating the women of the Carolinas, widely associated with the NC coast and shag culture. |
| 6 | Carolina | Taylor Swift | 2022 | Atmospheric, haunting song written for the movie Where the Crawdads Sing, which is set in North Carolina. |
| 7 | Carolina in the Morning | Various Artists | 1922 | A Tin Pan Alley standard that popularized the phrase, "Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in the morning." |
| 8 | Heads Carolina, Tails California | Jo Dee Messina | 1996 | Country hit about a road trip, using "Carolina" as the destination of a coin flip. |
| 9 | North Cack | G Yamazawa | 2017 | A modern hip-hop track celebrating Durham and the state of North Carolina (often called "North Cackalacky"). |
| 10 | Charlotte's in North Carolina | Keith Whitley | 1988 | Classic country ballad about a love lost to a big city in North Carolina. |
| 11 | Blue Sky | The Allman Brothers Band | 1972 | Southern rock song with the line, "Goin' to Carolina won't be long 'til I'll be there," which Dickey Betts confirmed was about NC. |
| 12 | Carolina Moon | Scotty McCreery | 2011 | Country song by the Garner, NC native, evoking the beauty of the state's nights. |
| 13 | Freight Train | Elizabeth Cotten | c. 1900s (Recorded 1950s) | A folk classic written by the influential North Carolina-born musician when she was a child. |
| 14 | Carolina Calling | Mipso | 2013 | Bluegrass/folk song from a Chapel Hill band, expressing the pull and nostalgia for the state. |
| 15 | Deep River Blues | Doc Watson | 1964 | Signature song of the legendary North Carolina flatpicking guitarist, associated with the state's folk and blues roots. |
| 16 | Carolina | Parmalee | 2013 | Country rock hit about a guy missing his girl in Carolina, sung by a band formed in North Carolina. |
| 17 | Meanwhile in Carolina | Conner Smith | 2023 | Contemporary country song about life and love set in the Carolinas. |
| 18 | Asheville City Skyline | The Lonesome Trio | 2015 | A popular folk tune specifically celebrating the mountain town of Asheville, NC. |
| 19 | Carolina Drama | The Raconteurs | 2008 | A gripping narrative rock song about a dramatic family story set in rural Carolina. |
| 20 | The Carolinian | Chatham County Line | 2006 | Bluegrass/Americana song named after the Amtrak passenger train that runs through North Carolina. |
Would you like me to find a YouTube video or Pandora station featuring mu
sic about North Carolina?
Click to expand...
Carolina Drama by the Raconteurs is about South Carolina.
 
"I Am A Town" by Mary Chapin Carpenter (1992). Could be about either North or South Carolina, but I've always thought the lyrics were a better fit for North Carolina.

I'm a town in Carolina
I'm a detour on a ride
For a phone call and a soda
I'm a blur from the driver's side
I'm the last gas for an hour
If you're going 25
I am Texaco and tobacco
I am dust you leave behind
I am peaches in September
And corn from a roadside stall
I'm the language of the natives
I'm a cadence and a drawl
I'm the pines behind the graveyard
And the cool beneath their shade
Where the boys have left their beer cans
I am weeds between the graves
My porches sag and lean
With old back men and children
My sleep is filled with dreams
I never can fulfill them
I am a town
I'm a church beside the highway
Where the ditches never drain
I'm a Baptist, like my daddy
And Jesus knows my name
I am memory and stillness
I am lonely in old age
I am not your destination
I am clinging to my ways
I am a town
I'm a town in Carolina
I am billboards in the fields
I'm an old truck up on cinder blocks
Missing all my wheels
I am Pabst Blue Ribbon, American
And "Southern Serves the South"
I am tucked behind the Jaycees sign
On the rural route
I am a town
I am a town
I am a town
Southbound
 
Back in the late 70s there was a tv ad which had song lyrics “I like Callin’ North Carolina home”. I wasn’t from NC nor have I lived there since, but that song always made me prideful of choosing the best state to attend college.
 
OldWHEEL said:
Back in the late 70s there was a tv ad which had song lyrics “I like Callin’ North Carolina home”. I wasn’t from NC nor have I lived there since, but that song always made me prideful of choosing the best state to attend college.
Click to expand...
If your heart is aching for a journey
Come on home
North Carolina, it’s all there
North Carolina, it’s all here

That’s the words to one of those NC tourism songs. My housemate, Paul Price, wrote it and sold it to the state. They’d play it during Carolina games for a couple of years in the early ‘90s. Paul sang it and a couple of friends, Jack Whitebread (aka Michael McKinney) and Marvin Levy got bit parts in the background scenes.

It was a little something extra to cheer for during commercial breaks in those days - especially at game gatherings at Tijuana Fats’ where everyone knew Paul (and most knew Jack and Marvin).
 
This song isn't about North Carolina (I assume it's about Alabama) but I'll give it credit, due to the Winston Lights reference and beautiful description of growing up in a small town in the South:

Jason Isbell - Something to Love

I was born in a tiny southern town
I grew up with all my family around
We made music on the porch on Sunday nights
Old men with old guitars smoking Winston Lights
Old women harmonizing with the wind
Singing softly to the savior like a friend
They taught me how to make the chords and sing the words
I'm still singing like that great speckled bird
 
THIS SONG



HAS GOT TO BE ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA

MY IN-LAWS KINDA RESEMBLE IT SOMETIMES AND THEY KNOW THAT THEY DO...

AND I HELPED.
 
Even though North Carolina is never specifically mentioned, based on the lyrics where the truck driver tells the hitchhiker he can take him "as far as Gatlinburg", it sounds like Robbinsville native Ronnie Milsap is trying to get farther east into NC in "Smoky Mountain Rain".
 
fourheels said:
Even though North Carolina is never specifically mentioned, based on the lyrics where the truck driver tells the hitchhiker he can take him "as far as Gatlinburg", it sounds like Robbinsville native Ronnie Milsap is trying to get farther east into NC in "Smoky Mountain Rain".
Click to expand...


THIS is what I'm talkin' about.
 
A couple of new ones (Bluegrass)

Ketch Secor — Talkin’ Doc Blues



Ketch Secor — Ghost Train (blowin’ into Blowing Rock)

 
I’m not a country song person generally but often hear this one in local pubs that play country music:



And this

 
A favorite of mine, courtesy of Steve Martin



I’ll be looking for someone who wears her hair exactly like you
And who swears a blue streak when the Tar Heels lose the quarterfinals
Caroline ….
 
donbosco said:
If your heart is aching for a journey
Come on home
North Carolina, it’s all there
North Carolina, it’s all here

That’s the words to one of those NC tourism songs. My housemate, Paul Price, wrote it and sold it to the state. They’d play it during Carolina games for a couple of years in the early ‘90s. Paul sang it and a couple of friends, Jack Whitebread (aka Michael McKinney) and Marvin Levy got bit parts in the background scenes.

It was a little something extra to cheer for during commercial breaks in those days - especially at game gatherings at Tijuana Fats’ where everyone knew Paul (and most knew Jack and Marvin).
Click to expand...
Just a great story. Thanks for the memories
 
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