Wichita makes some quite obscure appearances in music. Our playlist collects some of the best songs about Wichita to draw you back home to that warm heartland ambience, whether you’re a Wichita resident, an escapee, or simply dreaming of somewhere new.
Songs About Wichita
1. Whitaker – Wichita
Whitaker’s 2013 track, Wichita, uses the city as a subtle backdrop to their lyrical story. This track hosts a bright and soothing indie-pop sound based in acoustic guitar, hinting at the country music influence held closely to the state of Kansas.
As as a track centred around returning home to Wichita, Whitaker’s track carries a nostalgically hopeful ambience, reflecting the long-awaited alleviation from the burdensome feeling of homesickness, and escape from the troubles found on your out-of-state adventures.
Wichita’s final verse concretes the band’s profound sentiment of finding peaceful change by uprooting and returning home; “If I’m gonna make it, make it into next year, I’m gonna make it alone, I will be surrounded, by everything that has been, and all that won’t be any more.”
2. Glen Campbell – Wichita Lineman
Undoubtedly one of the most famous songs about Wichita, Glen Campbell’s 1968 hit Wichita Lineman was the first of innumerable versions of this iconic track to be released.
This cosy retro piece peers into the world of a man working on the Wichita telephone lines and longing for his wife back home.
Woven throughout the lyrics are stunning references to Wichita’s erratic weather patterns, conjuring the ambience of the open Kansas air with a heart-warming underlying message;
“I am a lineman for the county and I drive the main road, searching in the sun for another overload … I know I need a small vacation but it don’t look like rain, and if it snows that stretch down south won’t ever stand the strain.”
Wichita Lineman is one of those timeless love songs whose out-dated, vintage aura only adds to the track’s enchanting, romantic character, embellished with captivating lines of devotion such as, “And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time.”
3. Caskey – Witchita
Caskey’s hip-hop track, Wichita, uses the isolation of the middle-American city as a metaphor for describing the scope of his criminal contacts.
Caskey’s lyrics threaten to hunt down an enemy, “Y’all so pussy dodging phone calls, someone end up shooting you just know that it’s ya own fault,” whilst cleverly drawing inspiration from the city to craft a unique layer of omnipotence to his threat; “I know shooters from out here to Witchita, if I had a problem witcha you would know just who ya are.”
4. The Eastern Plain – Wichita
The Eastern Plain’s track, Wichita, summons the dreamy atmosphere of a peaceful area suspended far from the reaches of coastal cities notorious for violence and spurts of claustrophobic chaos.
The Eastern Plain’s indie track is a picturesque love letter to the city, centred in the colourful reminiscence of growing up in Wichita after returning to your old hometown.
This track harbours an array of rich imagery and emotive descriptions, whilst its lyrics are styled to translate equally as well as either talking to a lover, or to the city you love;
“We were down by the river all through the night, watching the stars and the city lights, right from the start, said we’d never grow apart … Surrounded by colours, it’s such a sight, watching all the lovers fall into the night.”
5. American Aquarium – Wichita Falls
American Aquarium’s Wichita Falls harnesses a lush blend of country, prog rock and Brit pop to create a sound that’s compellingly fresh and masterfully inspired.
Oasis-style chorus progressions are backlit by a retro prog organ, topped with country slides and a warm, natural feeling which seeps to the heart of the track’s lyrical content.
American Aquarium use Wichita Falls as the centrepiece of their crushing story, crafting a spellbinding power ballad for anyone led astray by love;
“I’m sending you a postcard from Wichita Falls, that’s where it all started baby, that’s where it all started falling apart, you went and broke my heart, now every single day, you running through my mind…So if you see her around, just tell her I called and that I’m sitting here alone by Wichita Falls.”
6. Shawn Colvin – Wichita Skyline
This soft and atmospheric country track by Shawn Colvin uses the comparison of the Wichita skyline to the likes of New York and LA, to create a stunning metaphor for emptiness and insignificance.
Witchita Skyline’s lyrics are beautifully moulded to reflect the feeling of being inescapably tied down to your home, no matter how desperately you aspire to leave, “And I must have been high to believe that I would ever leave, now I’m just a flat, fine line like the Wichita Skyline.”
Shawn Colvin’s track is an anthem for anyone who finds their every struggle met despicably with even more failure;
“I wished hard enough to hurt, drove fast enough to catch the moon, but I must have been dreaming again ’cause there’s nothing around the bend, except for that flat, fine line, the Wichita skyline.”
7. Miranda Lambert – Wichita Falls
Ending our list is Miranda Lambert’s country track, Wichita Falls; a song about leaving Witchita once and for all. As upbeat and optimistic as Miranda’s track may be, her bright sound distracts from the crippling, tear-stained nature of her lyrics, as the narrator contemplates her life and abandonment of the man she loved.
Miranda paints a mesmerising scene for the narrator to travel through, drawing on the heart of the vast, sun-dusted American lands, her sadness uplifted by her warm country pop soundscape;
“Back out on the highway towards Oklahoma, I’m driving and crying and hating it all, this old Chevrolet is raising the sunset and taking me further from Wichita Falls.”
This is a track for anyone leaving an unfulfilling or abusive relationship behind, instead moving to a new city without fear for the future because they know the worst is already over;
“I guess that he thought I would stay there forever, living my life with my back to the wall, well maybe the waitress will send him that letter I left on the table in Wichita Falls.”