List of references to Long Island places in popular culture

Below is a list of references to Long Island locations in popular culture.

Books

Comics

  • Characters in the comic book Marvel Universe from Long Island include:
    • At least three members of the superhero team the X-Men: Archangel (real name Warren Worthington and previously called Angel) is from Centerport; Iceman (real name Bobby Drake) from fictional Fort Washington (unrelated to real-world Port Washington); and Dazzler (real name Alison Blaire) from fictional Gardendale.
    • Siblings Susan Storm Richards (the Invisible Woman) and Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) of the superhero team the Fantastic Four lived in a fictional Long Island town, Glenville, early in their careers.
  • In the DC Comics universe, the 1970s Teen Titans superhero team was headquartered in a Farmingdale club named Gabriel's Horn. The writer of the series, a Farmingdale native, based it upon an insurance building which he could see from his bedroom window as a boy.

Film

Television

Reality shows

Stage

Music

  • Billy Joel, a Long Island native, is strongly associated with Long Island, and has made frequent references to its places and culture in his songs. His 1971 solo debut album was titled "Cold Spring Harbor" .His song "The Ballad of Billy The Kid" features the line From a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island. The hit song "The Downeaster Alexa" is written about fishermen primarily on Long Island who struggle to make a living, and mentions Montauk and Gardiner's Bay. In "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me", he asks "Are you gonna cruise The Miracle Mile?", presumably a reference to the well-known shopping (and teen hangout) area along Northern Boulevard in Manhasset. In "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", Joel references hanging out "on the Village Green," widely interpreted as a reference to the West Village Green area on Newbridge Road in Hicksville, a short distance from the high school that Joel attended.
  • The song "Soul Power" off the 2001 album Iron Flag by Wu-Tang Clan features dialogue at the end by Method Man and Long Island-native Flavor Flav of Public Enemy that mentions Westbury, Freeport, Roosevelt, Hempstead, New Castle Park, and Hundread Terrace Avenues
  • Throughout his career in numerous songs, rapper YelloJaket mentions hometown Westbury and neighboring towns such as Levittown, Salisbury, Garden City, Hempstead, and even mentions the East Meadow School District with W.T. Clarke Middle School. Along with his hometown, specific places such as Jones Beach and Eisenhower Park are also mentioned.
  • Several songs by the band Brand New include references to the Island. For example, in the song "Play Crack the Sky," one lyric is, "Four months of calm seas To be pounded in the shallows Off the tip of Montauk Point."
  • Hardcore group Silent Majority's album You Would Love To Know EP features a song entitled "Amityville Horror".
  • The 2005 album No Matter Where We Go...! by Latterman features the song "Fear & Loathing On Long Island"
  • The 2003 album Welcome Interstate Managers by Fountains of Wayne features the song "Fire Island."
  • De La Soul's album Stakes Is High features the songs "Long Island Degrees" and "Wonce Again Long Island" which references many different towns (specifically "East Mass" (E. Massapequa), Amityville, Wyandanch, Bayshore, "C.I." (Central Islip), Brentwood, Hempstead, Roosevelt, Freeport, Uniondale, Long Beach, and Huntington) and aspects of Long Island.
  • Aesop Rock attended high school in Northport, New York, and has referenced Long Island in songs like Catacomb Kids.
  • Garage rock band Ungrateful Millennial's album "Negative Energy" has a song called "A Guy From Long Island"
  • Beirut's 2007 EP is called Lon Gisland.
  • Bayside also references Long Island in their song titled "Montauk" with the line meet me in, Montauk which is based on the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
  • Circa Survive also references the movie with their song entitled "Meet me in Montauk" written and performed by Anthony Green
  • Dogbowl and Kramer's 1994 album "Hot Day in Waco" contains the song "Tarantula" which contains the line "I was dreaming of that Central Islip field behind the school."
  • Wyandanch native Rakim's 1999 album "The Master" contains the song "Strong Island" which references Long Island throughout the song. The chorus repeats the line "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"
  • In "Hard Candy" by Counting Crows the lyrics include "In the evenings on Long Island" and describe time spent on Long Island beaches
  • The Rolling Stones song "Memory Motel" is based on the motel in Montauk which the band spent time at while visiting Andy Warhol.
  • The Movielife references the Long Island Sound in the song "Ship to Shore" off their 2003 album Forty Hour Train Back to Penn.
  • Biz Markie laments about a friend from eastern Long Island in his rap "My Man Rich". Biz went to high school in Brookhaven.

See also

References

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