It’s hard to turn down “Roadrunner.” And I do love “They Came to Boston” by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, particularly for the way it captures the strange mix of cultures that make up Boston. And speaking of that weird mash of cultures, I also gave some thought to Vampire Weekend, who give a slightly less blue collar perspective. All great choices, but never in serious contention.
There were two other songs that I really wanted to go with but couldn’t quite justify. The first is James Taylor’s “Sweet Baby James.” It’s my favorite song of his, largely for that second verse, which hits me right in the feels in a way very few songs have ever managed. But for all that it’s grounded in the transit of the Berkshires, it isn’t quite a song about the state, if you know what I mean.
The second is “M.T.A.” by The Kingston Trio. This one plucks a special heartstring for me, since my family used to spend many a car ride listening to the Kingston Trio when I was a kid, and we particularly loved singing along to this one, lamenting poor Charlie stuck on the MTA. And it’s also a great song because it represents a previous era in political campaigns. Songs like these were the social media technology of the era, and there’s something wonderfully quaint about the whole thing.
Still, at the end of the day, I had to go with the Standells. There’s just something perfectly Boston about the love the city has for a song that extolls all of its worst features. And, of course, “Dirty Water” has become a key symbol of the Boston sports landscape. And, for me at least, the heart and soul of Massachusetts is the Red Sox. Their decades of futility. The heartbreak and the pain. Buckner. The ever-growing chip on the shoulder directed southward toward the hated Yankees. Fenway. And, very much tied into all of that: this song.