San Francisco’s culture, history, and extraordinary character have inspired some acclaimed songs known all around the world. From Tony Bennett‘s glorious “(I Left My Heart) In San Francisco,” which is an official city ballad; to The Mowgli’s “San Francisco,” which has over 100 million streams on Spotify, these are the most famous songs about San Francisco that should be in your musical rotation.
1. “(I Left My Heart) In San Francisco” by Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett released his signature ode to San Francisco in 1962, and it is now one of the city’s official anthems. The ballad is considered so significant that the Library of Congress selected to preserve it in the National Recording Registry in 2018. Pianist and composer George Corey wrote the music, while Douglass Cross wrote the lyrics.
Bennett first sang “(I Left My Heart) In San Francisco” in the Venetian Room at SF’s Fairmont Hotel in 1961, and on his 90th birthday, the hotel honored the singer with an eight-foot-tall bronze statue of himself right out front. Bennett passed away just recently in 2023 at the age of 96, but his legacy is inextricably tied to the city’s identity because of this song.
I left my heart in San FranciscoHigh on a hill, it calls to meTo be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars
2. “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” by Scott McKenzie
John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas wrote this ode to San Francisco, which was sung by Scott McKenzie and released in 1967. The simple folk-rock song was released to promote that year’s Monterey International Pop Festival, but quickly became a massive summer hit. Many considered it to be an unofficial counterculture anthem for the Hippie movement and the Anti-Vietnam War movement.
If you’re going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you’re going to San Francisco
You’re gonna meet some gentle people there
3. “San Francisco” by The Mowgli’s
Michael Vincze and Colin Louis Dieden of the Mowgli’s took an impromptu road trip to San Francisco from their home in Calabasas in 2009. They wrote “San Francisco” in a cheap motel room as an ode to the city, eventually releasing it in 2013 to great success. The song has over 100 million streams on Spotify, making it the platform’s most popular song about San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Well, I lost my head in San Francisco
Waiting for the fog to roll out
But I found it in a rain cloud
It was smiling down
4. “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding
Soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper released “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” in 1968 while staying on a houseboat in Sausalito. The lyrics reference leaving home for the “Frisco Bay” and watching ships pass by. Redding recorded the song twice in 1967, the second of which was just three days before his tragic death in a plane crash in Wisconsin. The song became the first posthumous #1 single in the United States.
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bayWatchin’ the tide roll away, ooh…
I left my home in GeorgiaHeaded for the Frisco Bay
5. “Lights” by Journey
Journey’s “Lights” is one of the most famous rock songs about San Francisco. Steve Perry and Neal Schon originally wrote it to be about Los Angeles, but later changed the lyrics to honor San Francisco, which is where the band formed. The song was released in 1978 and is often played before SF Giants baseball games at Oracle Park.
“I love San Francisco, and I love the Bay and the whole thing, and the words ‘the bay’ fit in so nice,” Perry said on the Ultimate Classic Rock Nights radio show. “…It was one of those early-morning-going-across-the-bridge things when the sun was coming up and the lights were going down. So, it was perfect.”
When the lights go down in the cityAnd the sun shines on the bayOoh I want to be there in my cityOh-oh-oh
6. “San Francisco Street” by Sun Rai
L.A.-based Australian songwriter Rai Thistlethwayte, known as Sun Rai, released “San Francisco Street” in 2012. The song describes driving down a California freeway with nowhere to stay, and imagining waking up in San Francisco. It’s Sun Rai’s most popular song on his album “Pocket Music,” with over 60 million streams on Spotify.
I’d be waking upIn your houseOn a San Francisco streetWe tune out all the nasty weatherAnd it’s all in front of you and me
7. “San Frandisco” by Dom Dolla
Australian house music producer Dom Dolla released the single “San Frandisco” in 2019 as an homage to the crowds he’d performed for in San Francisco, and as a nod to the popularity of house music in the Bay Area. The dance-worthy track features a brief clip of SF-based DJ Justin Martin saying, “I was supposed to go out there for like a semester of college, and I ended up never leaving…”
San Francisco, where’s your disco?
8. “Fake Tales of San Francisco” by Arctic Monkeys
English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys released “Fake Tales of San Francisco” in 2005 as part of their first EP, Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys. The lyrics tell the story of a band singing about San Francisco despite never having been there, culminating in the refrain, “Get off the bandwagon and put down the handbook.”
He talks of San Francisco, he’s from Hunter’s BarI don’t quite know the distance, but I’m sure that’s farYeah, I’m sure it’s pretty far
9. “San Francisco” by Foxygen
Indie rock duo Foxygen released “San Francisco” as part of their 2013 album, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic. The song is one of Foxygen’s most popular, with clear references to SF’s landscape like “Up in the San Francisco where the forest meets the bridge.” The chorus “I left my love in San Francisco” is a riff on Tony Bennett’s famous “I left my heart in San Francisco.”
I left my love in San FranciscoThat’s okay, I was bored anywayI left my love in the roomThat’s okay, I was born in L.A.
10. “San Francisco Days” by Chris Isaak
Chris Isaak’s song “San Francisco Days” is part of his 1993 album of the same name. The lyrics include multiple references to San Francisco, such as “Walking down on Market Street / And feeling my heart skip a beat,” and “I’m heading for that Golden Gate / and hoping I won’t be too late.” The album was partially recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley.
Dreaming of the one I loveYou know what I’m dreaming ofSan Francisco days, San Francisco nights
Any local music fan knows that the Bay Area is a major contributor to the global music scene, bringing up big names including Journey, the Grateful Dead, Too $hort, Green Day, and so many more. We can’t help but love when musicians produce an ode to their hometown, releasing these famous songs about San Francisco that we’ll continue to sing for decades.