What well-known songs were inspired by real places?

The places around us can provide endless inspiration - and that can be seen in the lyrics of songwriters and musicians from across the decades.

Some destinations were already hot-spots for travel, with cities like New York being some of the most sung about places in the world. Others, on the other hand, were made famous by the records themselves.

Join BBC Bitesize as we look at five surprising places that inspired famous songs, from the UK and beyond.

The exterior of The Black Dog pub — Image caption,
In the song, Swift sings about spotting an ex walking into a venue called The Black Dog.

The Black Dog - The Black Dog by Taylor Swift

On Taylor Swift’s album The Tortured Poets Department, you will find track 17, The Black Dog. After speculating that it may be referring to a pub in Vauxhall in south London, fans flocked to the venue when they realised it may have been the inspiration for the song.

As well as in the track title, the pub’s name also appears in the first verse and the chorus.

While Swift has never confirmed it as the exact location, there are clues that it might be the subject of the song. Shortly after Swift’s 11th album release, BBC News spoke to Lily Bottomley, an event manager at The Black Dog who revealed that Swift had previously come to the pub herself.

In April 2024, The Tortured Poets Department broke Spotify’s record for the most streamed record in a single day.

The red gates of Strawberry Field — Image caption,
In 2019, Strawberry Field opened to the public for the first time.

Strawberry Field - Strawberry Fields Forever by The Beatles

As a child, a young John Lennon lived near the grounds of a Salvation Army-owned children’s home called Strawberry Field. He would often sneak into the home’s garden with friends to play, and these memories later inspired Lennon’s work as part of the Beatles.

The heritage site, which can be found in Woolton, Liverpool, was immortalised in the band’s 1967 single Strawberry Fields Forever.

The site was demolished six years after the song was released and was replaced by a smaller children’s home. After Lennon’s death, his widow, Yoko Ono, saved the home from closure with a donation in 1984 - but it later shut its doors in 2005.

Today, it has been transformed into a star attraction for Beatles fans, with many travelling to see the iconic red iron gates. In 2019, the Liverpool tourist board estimated that approximately 60,000 people had visited the site.

A sunset view of St Lawrence River — Image caption,
Cohen's song was inspired by a dancer called Suzanne Verdal.

St Lawrence River - Suzanne by Leonard Cohen

Perhaps one of his most well-known compositions, Suzanne featured on Leonard Cohen’s 1967 debut album. In the song, the poet-singer describes the river, a reference to St Lawrence River, in Cohen’s hometown, Montréal, Canada.

At around 800 miles (1,287 km) long and 250 feet (76 m) deep, St Lawrence River is one of the largest rivers in the world.

Later in the song, Cohen sings about Our Lady of the Harbour. Also known as the Star of the Sea, Our Lady is a statue of the Virgin Mary which crowns the harbour’s historic Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel.

A birds eye view of Framlingham Castle — Image caption,
This 800-year-old castle inspired one of Ed Sheeran's biggest hits.

Framlingham Castle - The Castle on the Hill by Ed Sheeran

Released in January 2017, the Castle on the Hill was one of Ed Sheeran’s biggest hits of the year - spending a total of 53 weeks in the Top 100. But did you know the song was based on a real place?

Framlingham Castle was constructed in the 12th Century and can be found in Suffolk, the county where Sheeran grew up. It was built by the Bigod family - with one family member, Roger Bigod, being one of the barons who challenged King John, resulting in the Magna Carta in 1215.

Described by Sheeran as his “love song for Suffolk”, the castle itself features in the final scene of the Castle on the Hill music video.

In the same year of the song’s release, English Heritage reported that visitor numbers had increased by 100,000 - up 15% compared to 2016.

A segment of the Berlin Wall — Image caption,
The Berlin Wall was visible from the studio windows where David Bowie recorded Heroes.

Berlin Wall - Heroes by David Bowie

Written in 1977, against the backdrop of the Cold War, Heroes is an anthem by London-born musician David Bowie. The song was created while Bowie was living in the German capital. It tells the song tells the story of two lovers, one from East Berlin and the other from the West, who dream of freedom.

In one of the later verses, Bowie describes the lovers standing by a wall, a reference to the Berlin Wall. Erected in 1961, it formed a border which divided the Soviet-controlled East and the UK, USA and France controlled West.

In 1987 Bowie performed a rendition of the song near the Reichstag in West Berlin, a stone’s throw away from the wall.

On 9 November 1989, days after half a million people gathered in East Berlin in mass protest, the wall came down.

This article was published in September 2024