9 Songs About Cape Cod to Add to Your Vacation Playlist

In this post, you’ll find a list of songs about Cape Cod, or at least mention the Cape!

Painters, screenwriters, photographers, authors, filmmakers – artists of all kinds come to the Cape to create. Musicians have also found inspiration in the ‘dunes of the Cape’ (wink, wink). Here are nine songs about Cape Cod that garnered our little corner of the world a little recognition.

I like discovering cover songs, so I’ve included alternative versions of the songs if they were available. Add your favorites from this list to your own Cape Cod vacation playlist, and enjoy!

Add These Songs About Cape Cod to Your Vacation Playlist!

My Spotify playlist (embedded below) includes all these songs, so you can easily create a playlist with your favorite songs about Cape Cod.

1. The Downeaster ‘Alexa’ by Billy Joel

The Downeaster ‘Alexa’ is written from the perspective of a fisherman from Long Island who is bound for Nantucket. He must be sailing north from Block Island Sound on a Downeaster (a type of ship) named Alexa.

I had to look this up because I was confused at first since the Downeaster I’m aware of is an Amtrak train that runs between Boston, Massachusetts, and Brunswick, Maine.

Fun facts aside, this is a beautiful song with mentions of the Vineyard and Nantucket.

2. Old Cape Cod by Patti Page

Old Cape Cod is a classic song about the “good old days” on Cape Cod – the 1950s. Cars, interstates, and road trips were booming at this time, and Cape Cod was a popular seaside vacation destination.

I like the Bing Crosby version of this song! Bette Midler also did one.

3. Escape (The Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes

You might only know this song as “The Pina Colada Song.” I was many years old when I learned that Escape was even in the title.

If you have never heard this song before, it’s about a man who discovers that he and his wife both love Pina Coladas, getting caught in the rain, and making love at midnight in the dunes of the Cape by communicating through personal ads they both placed in the newspaper. They laugh at the end, so it’s all ok.

There are versions by Jack Johnson and Sugar Ray on my Songs About Cape Cod playlist. Plus, a lullaby version by Dream House that I had to include!

4 + 5. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa & Walcott by Vampire Weekend

Ok, so Vampire Weekend has two songs that mention Cape Cod on one album, the self-titled Vampire Weekend. However, in interviews, the band has admitted that only 1/4 of members have even been to Cape Cod, the vocalist being the only one.

According to the internet (Wikipedia), Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (the title) is the vocalist’s reflection on the aesthetic connection between preppy culture and native cultures after traveling through London and India. So, Cape Cod (preppy) Kwassa Kwassa (a dance rhythm from the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Walcott was definitely an anthem during an angsty time in my life – after graduating college into a recession, I felt like I would get stuck on Cape Cod for the rest of my life (I went away for a while and happily returned, btw). The lyrics mention Hyannisport, Wellfleet, and Provincetown specifically, and not in a good way.

Read this CapeCod.com article about the two songs to learn about the speculated connection to a short film the vocalist created called – none other than – Vampire Weekend.

I find this band’s influences so intriguing, and these two songs are by far my favorite on this entire list. Add them to your playlist!

6. Fear and Loathing on Cape Cod by Piebald

This song is not my cup of tea, but I included it because it might be someone else’s.

Piebald is a Massachusetts (Boston via Andover and Somerville) indie rock band that I hadn’t heard of until looking up songs about Cape Cod.

If you’ve read the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (or seen the movie), I’m sure you can imagine what the song is referring to. The lyrics do mention a reference to the Kennedy family.

7. Cape Cod Girls by Bounding Main

Cape Cod Girls is a fun sea shanty with great lines like the one about Cape Cod girls who “comb their hair with codfish bones.” There are a few other funny lines that you have to hear. All lyrics lead to being bound for Australia, of all places.

If this one isn’t your style, listen to other versions by Peter Marston, Storm Weather Shanty Choir, Bounding Main, and Baby Gramps.

8. Small Town by Nappy Roots

This little-known Nappy Roots song is all about getting out of the city and back into the small town where you’re from. One of those small towns (despite Cape Cod not being just one town) mentioned is Cape Cod!

9. Rock & Roll Band by Boston

This song is not about Cape Cod at all, but all you need is a little “dancing in the streets of Hyannis” to become one. This is a classic karaoke song that I heard at least once a night as a cocktail waitress in my early 20s on none other than Main Street in Hyannis.

Listen to My Cape Cod Playlist!

I added all these songs about Cape Cod to one Spotify playlist! Add the ones you like to your playlist or listen to mine. Either way, enjoy!

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