The Very Best Songs About San Francisco, California

Discover the very best songs about San Francisco, California. Whether you’re traveling there tomorrow or simply dreaming wistfully of the City by the Bay, we have your back.

From Tony Bennet to Eric Clapton, from Judy Garland to June Carter Cash, from The Flowerpot Men to The Decemberists, we’ve gathered the very best songs about San Francisco, California in one place.

Start with our top ten songs about San Francisco, and then explore by genre—including rock, alternative, standards, blues, singer/songwriter, pop, country, electronic, jazz, Christmas, and even a spoken word track from Jack Kerouac.

You’ll find all the best songs about San Francisco, California right here.

Top 10 Songs About San Francisco, California

1. I Left My Heart in San Francisco – Tony Bennett (iTunes | Amazon) The epitome of San Francisco anthems, Bennett’s love letter to the City by the Bay is also his own signature song. It’s one of San Francisco’s two official songs.
2. Fake Tales of San Francisco – Artic Monkeys (iTunes | Amazon) Released in 2005, this song was the first recorded by from the British indie rock band and derides a fictional band for its falsely cited San Francisco and U.S. imagery
3. San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers in Your Hair) – Scott McKenzie (iTunes | Amazon) Released in 1967 to promote the Monterrey Pop Festival, this hit song inspired thousands of young people to head to the city in the late 60s
4. Save Me, San Francisco – Train (iTunes | Amazon) Catchy and rocking, Train’s title song from their 2009 album reads like a neighborhood tour of the City by the Bay
5. San Francisco Bay Blues – Eric Clapton (iTunes | Amazon) Clapton covered Jesse Fuller’s classic blues track on MTV’s Unplugged in 1992. The show and its subsequent Grammy-winning album made the song his to a generation
6. San Francisco – Judy Garland (iTunes | Amazon) Garland covers the title song from a 1936 film about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake – one of the two official songs of San Francisco
7. Come Back From San Francisco – Magnetic Fields (iTunes | Amazon) The Magnetic Fields pine for a distant love to return to New York City from the temptations of San Francisco in this pleasant alternative track
8. (Sittin’ on the) Dock of the Bay – Otis Redding (iTunes | Amazon) Yep, it’s that bay. Well, sort of. Redding was on a houseboat in Sausalito when he wrote this song. He recorded it a few days before he died
9. Grace Cathedral Hill – The Decemberists (iTunes | Amazon) Lead singer Colin Meloy sings reminisces about a moment experienced at and around the landmark Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill
10. San Francisco Days – Chris Isaak (iTunes | Amazon) Isaak can’t let go of a love from San Francisco in this 1993 soft rock track

Want more of the best songs about San Francisco, California? Check our list below for more favorites, standbys, classics, and a few oddball selections. No matter your musical taste, you can find a sound you like among the best songs about San Francisco. Like us on Facebook or check out more top 10 songs for other great cities and destinations.

MORE OF THE BEST SONGS ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO

ROCK SONGS ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO

• San Francisco FM Blues – Doug Sahm (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco – Brian Wilson &Van Dyke Parks (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco – Cordelia’s Dad (iTunes | Amazon)
• Mission In The Rain (Live at the Capitol Theatre) – The Jerry Garcia Band (iTunes | Amazon)
• We Built This City – Starship (iTunes | Amazon)
• Lights – Journey (iTunes | Amazon)
• My Side of the City – Beulah (iTunes | Amazon)
• Left of the Dial – The Replacements (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Franciscan Nights – Eric Burdon & The Animals (iTunes | Amazon)
• Let’s Go Back To San Francisco – Stamford Bridge (iTunes | Amazon)
• Haight Street Blues – Hunter McKithan & the Offenders (iTunes | Amazon)
• Tenderloin – Rancid (iTunes | Amazon)
• Golden Gate Bridge – Ocean Colour Scene (iTunes)
• Alcatraz – Sound of Guns (iTunes | Amazon)
• Sausalito Summernight – Diesel (iTunes | Amazon)

ALTERNATIVE SONGS ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO          

• San Francisco – Jay Farrar and Benjamin Gibbard (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco – Wesley Jensen and the Penny Arcade (iTunes| Amazon)
• Honeymoon in San Francisco – Of Montreal (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco – Hello Saferide (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco – The Mowgli’s (iTunes | Amazon)
• California On My Mind – Wild Lights (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco – Foxygen (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco – They Might Be Giants (iTunes)
• All The Lost Souls Welcome You In San Francisco – American Music Club (iTunes | Amazon)
• Haight Street – Anberlin (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco B.C. – Silver Jews (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco’s Doomed – Crime (iTunes | Amazon)

STANDARD SONGS ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO

• San Francisco – Nancy Sinatra (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco – San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (iTunes | Amazon)
• Got the Gate on the Golden Gate – Mel Torme & Marty Paich (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco Blues – Peggy Lee (iTunes | Amazon)
• Fisherman’s Wharf – Peggy Lee (iTunes | Amazon)
• California Here I Come – Ray Charles (iTunes | Amazon)
• Golden Gate – Al Jolson (iTunes | Amazon)
• I’m Always Drunk in San Francisco – Nancy Wilson (iTunes | Amazon)
• I’m Always Drunk in San Francisco – Carmen McRae (iTunes | Amazon)
• The San Francisco Treat – Rice-a-Roni (iTunes)
• San Francisco – Jeanette McDonald (iTunes)

BLUES SONGS ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO

• San Francisco Breakdown – Doctor Ross (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco Blues – Lowell Fulson (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco Bay Blues – Richie Havens (iTunes | Amazon)
• Frisco Town – Memphis Minnie (iTunes | Amazon)
• Frisco Blues – John Lee Hooker (iTunes | Amazon)
• Hello San Francisco – Buddy Guy (iTunes | Amazon)
• Mean Old Frisco Blues – Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup (iTunes | Amazon)
• Callin’ San Francisco – Tommy Castro (iTunes | Amazon)

SINGER/SONGWRITER & FOLK SONGS ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO

• Scene In San Francisco – Ed Hale (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco – Brett Dennen (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco – Gregory Alan Isakov (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco Saturdays – John Callahan (iTunes | Amazon)
• Golden Gate Bridge – Rose Melberg (iTunes)
• Ballad of San Francisco – Caedmon’s Call (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Golden Gate Bridge – Andrew Calhoun (iTunes | Amazon)

POP SONGS ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO

• Let’s Go to San Francisco – The Flowerpot Men (iTunes | Amazon)
• Ride Captain Ride – Blues Image (iTunes | Amazon)
• Half Moon Bay – Train (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco – Cascada (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco – Tor Endresen (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco – Vanessa Carlton (iTunes | Amazon)
• Back In San Francisco – The Orange Peels (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco (You’ve Got Me) – The Village People (iTunes)

HIP HOP SONGS ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO

• The City – Richie Cunning (iTunes | Amazon)
• San Francisco Knights – People Under the Stairs (iTunes | Amazon)
• In My City – DaVinci (iTunes | Amazon)
• I’m in the Bay B**** – LMFAO (iTunes | Amazon)

COUNTRY SONGS ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO

• Danville Girl – Woody Guthrie (iTunes | Amazon)
• Streets of San Francisco – Sanford Clark (iTunes | Amazon)
• Alcatraz – June Carter Cash (iTunes | Amazon)

ELECTRONICA SONGS ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO

• The Sound of San Francisco (San Francisco Dreaming) – Global Deejays (iTunes | Amazon)

JAZZ SONGS ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO

• Coit Tower – Cal Tjader (iTunes | Amazon)

SPOKEN WORD PIECES ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO

• San Francisco Scene – Jack Kerouac (iTunes | Amazon)

CHRISTMAS & HOLIDAY SONGS ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO

• Christmas in San Francisco – Russ Lorenson (iTunes | Amazon)

SUGGEST SONGS ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

Is there a great, good, or not half-bad song about San Francisco or that takes place in San Francisco that we missed? Drop us a line or contact us on Facebook and let us know. If it’s a fit, we’ll be sure to add it to our list of the best songs about San Francisco, California.