Tuesday Top Ten: Songs About or Mentioning Chicago

It's a pretty good time to be a Chicagoan. Both baseball teams are poised to make the playoffs in the same season since 1906 (when the "Hitless Wonders" defeated the heavily favored Cubs in the World Series), some dude from Chicago is running for President, there is still a glimmer of hope that Chicago will get the 2016 Summer Olympics, the Blackhawks actually made off-season moves designed to increase the team's chances of making the playoffs, it's 80 degrees in late September, the Bulls got the #1 pick in the draft, and the Bears, well, the Bears are here. So what better time to unveil a list of songs about or mentioning Chicago, of which there have been many over the years. Here are my ten favorites (with a Mixwit mix tape to follow).

10. "Bear Down, Chicago Bears." One of the original -- and probably the best -- professional sports fight songs. While Chicagoans may disagree the Cubs and Sox and may be ambivalent to the Bulls and Hawks, the city is a football town at heart and united in support of the Bears. And how else would people remember the T formation? (I put two versions on the mix tape, since the one with words is rather polka-y; the one without words is more traditional.)
9. "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)" by Frank Sinatra. I chose the Sinatra version, rather than the original Fred Fisher version because fuck Fred Fisher.
8. "Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night" by The Hold Steady. As you have come to expect from The Hold Steady, the lyrics are smart and interesting. What other songs mention Nelson Algren?
7. "Peace Frog" by The Doors. This is possibly my favorite Doors song, and it discusses "blood in the streets in the town of Chicago," which is no doubt foreshadowing the self-inflicted bloodletting on the North Side when the Cubs lose to the White Sox in this year's World Series.
6. "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" by Jim Croce. For years I wouldn't go to the South Side out of fear of running into Leroy Brown, as he was rumored to "like to wear his diamond ring on ev'rybody's nose." (Unfortunately, this was not on Mixwit. To supplement the mix tape, however, I have added the song that came in a very close 11th: "Rock 'N' Roll McDonald's" by Wesley Willis.)
5. "Lake Shore Drive" by Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah. Sure it's a little cheesy, but there ain't no road just like it.
4. "In The Ghetto" by Elvis Presley. Probably one of The King's best songs.
3. "My Kind of Town" by Frank Sinatra. I'm sure I don't need to explain why this is on the list.
2. "When the Levee Breaks" by Led Zeppelin. My favorite Zeppelin song features thunderous drums, a wailing harmonica, and Robert Plant positing that, upon the breaking of the levee, a good place to go would be Chicago, presumably because there are no levees here. Actually, this is a cover of a Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy song about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, which resulted in many residents of the Delta packing up and moving north to Chicago.
1. "Sweet Home Chicago" by The Blues Brothers. I chose this version over the original Robert Johnson version simply because I like it better and because I think it's a bit more upbeat and because I think it encapsulates Chicago better than the original, as it doesn't assume that Chicago is in "the land of California."