There are plenty of solid choices for Minnesota—home to Prince, The Replacements, and Robert Zimmerman, just to name a few. Girl From the North Country would be the classic pick, while Prince’s Rock and Roll is Alive, and It Lives in Minneapolis would be the modern angle. Then there’s Atmosphere’s Say Shh, if you want to go for something a little cornier (“Got trees and vegetation in the city I stay / The rent’s in the mail and I can always find a parking space”). The Hold Steady have three or four albums about the Twin Cities, with plenty of great songs in there to choose from. And while it’s not really a personal favorite, there’s no denying the jagged pathos of Tom Waits’ Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis.
At the end of the day, though, I have to go with what I love, and that’s Westerberg and co., singing a hymn to the skyways that run all through downtown Minneapolis. It’s a simple, lovely little song about the small barriers between us, and the sense of loss they instill.