From 'Fire Island' to Farmingdale': 8 songs that name-check Long Island (and not one's by Billy Joel!)

Long Island may not rival New York City as a source of musical inspiration, but the region has found its way into more than a few pop songs. Even if you weed out the obvious Billy Joel numbers (such as “The Downeaster ‘Alexa’ ”), anything that merely mentions the Hamptons (as on Halsey’s “New Americana”) and the usual hip-hop shout-outs (to Coram, Greenport and other hoods on Biz Markie’s “Biz Dance Part 1”), you can find enough Long Island-themed tracks to make a decent — if wildly diverse — playlist. Here’s a start:

“Long Island Degrees” by De La Soul

The Amityville trio helped put the region on the hip-hop map by singing about suburban, not urban, concerns. On this 1996 track, they really show their hometown pride: “It's Strong Island for real, where the critters run wild / The prefix is 516, the top of the dial.”

“80’s Films” by Jon Bellion

The pop singer from Lake Grove is best known for his breakup song “All Time Low,” which reached No. 16 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in 2016. It’s off his debut album (“The Human Condition") and right next to it is “80’s Films,” a wistful number about a romantic night that ends in a Smithtown parking lot. "The Island is long," says the song's heroine, "but life is short in this town."

“Before the Kiss, a Redcap” by Blue Öyster Cult

A deep cut from the local rockers’ eponymous debut disc (from 1972) tells of a debauched night at Conry’s Bar. The place was real and reportedly there were two, an East and a West, both on Hempstead Turnpike (also alluded to in the song). The band frequently played both, according to the U.K. fan website HotRails.

“Long Island Lady” by The Marshall Tucker Band

Be she from Nassau or Suffolk, she certainly left an impression on these Southern rockers. Singer Doug Gray (who co-wrote with Jerry Eubanks) initially describes her as a golden-haired but fickle beauty. Even after two minutes of groovy guitar-work and a flute solo, Gray still can’t forget her: “Oh, Long Island lady,” he laments, “do we have to be just friends?” Request this deep cut when the band comes to the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts in February.

“Farmingdale” by They Might Be Giants

On their 2004 live concept album, the brainy indie band wrote and recorded songs at various stops along their tour — and The Downtown in Farmingdale made the cut! The song is really just a minute-long ode to the venue’s scant food options (“They've got nuts / They've got crackers”) but it certainly captures a moment. The Downtown closed the following year.

“Fire Island” by Village People

The cop, cowboy, construction worker, Native American, sailor and leather man of Village People scored a number of suggestive disco hits (“Y.M.C.A.,” “Macho Man”) in the late 1970s. Not obvious enough? Try “Fire Island,” the band’s ode to the gay hubs of Cherry Grove and The Pines. "Don't go in the bushes,” they warn, “someone might grab ya.”

“Montauk” by Rufus Wainwright

The son of folk royals Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle married his husband at their house in Montauk and have a child, Viva, whose mother is the daughter of Leonard Cohen. Got that? Wainwright makes it sound quite simple on this tender song: “One day you will come to Montauk / And see your dad playing the piano / And see your other dad wearing glasses / Hope that you will want to stay for a while.”

“Memory Motel” by The Rolling Stones

The Side One closer of 1976’s “Black and Blue” is named for a still-operating motel in Montauk. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richard (as he then called himself), the song describes a brief fling with “Hannah,” who might be either a local woman (Avenue magazine claims to have interviewed her in a 2022 article) or the singer Carly Simon (according to rumors). Whatever the case, the result is a seven-minute ballad that ends with the yearning line: “Been a lonely night at the Memory Motel.”