Portland, Oregon

Everything Portland is known for

36 songs mention this city 120 artists from here

Portland, Oregon, often called the "City of Roses," has a notable connection to music, with 120 artists calling it home and 37 songs in our collection mentioning the city. The city has a thriving music scene that encompasses various genres.

Among the artists from Portland are the indie rock band The Decemberists and the jazz ensemble Pink Martini. The city is also referenced in songs like "Portland" by Drake and "Between the Bars" by Elliott Smith.

Music in Portland

Songs About Portland

Can't Hold Us
Macklemore
100%
The Imperial
The Delines
93%
"Imperial, Apartment 315"
I Can’t Black It Out If I Wake Up And Remember
Richmond Fontaine
93%
"I told you they closed down the Fitz"
Portland
Drake
83%
"Out in Portland, tryna get in her organs"
Portland (feat. Quavo & Travis Scott)
Drake
83%
Postcard from Portland
Richmond Fontaine
82%
Portland Woman
New Riders of the Purple Sage
80%
"We pulled into Portland town"
Portland; Maine
Chub Rub
79%
Portland Rain
Grace Lillies
78%
"Even if it rains in Portland in forever"
Portland East to Portland West
Cindy Woolf
78%
Portland
Middle Brother
77%
"Portland, oh no"
Between the Bars
Elliott Smith
65%
Miss Misery
Elliott Smith
60%
Down by the Water
The Decemberists
60%
Float On
Modest Mouse
55%
Drifters Wife
J.J. Cale
50%
"Portland, Oregon, to the Mexican line"
Different Days
Jason Isbell
50%
"You can strip in Portland from the day you turn 16"
One Ride In Vegas
Deryl Dodd
49%
"He'll ride em all from Portland to Texas"
Chicago (Acoustic)
Mat Kearney
49%
"Meet me in Portland"
Gilman street
Richmond fontaine
45%

Showing top 20 of 36 songs

Artists From Portland

T
The Kingsmen
rock Pop: 72
E
Everclear
indie Pop: 62
R
Red Fang
metal Pop: 61
T
The Shins
indie Pop: 60
P
Pink Martini
jazz Pop: 58
Y
Youngblood Brass Band
jazz Pop: 57
T
The White Buffalo
americana Pop: 55
S
Stephen Malkmus
indie Pop: 55
H
Haley Heynderickx
rock Pop: 54
T
The Dandy Warhols
indie Pop: 53
T
The Decemberists
indie Pop: 53
T
The Taxpayers
rock Pop: 52
T
The Blasting Company
folk Pop: 51
R
Richmond Fontaine
americana Pop: 50
K
Kutless
gospel Pop: 49
B
Bridge City Sinners
americana Pop: 47
T
The Bridge City Sinners
americana Pop: 47
D
Deb Talan
folk Pop: 46
B
Blind Pilot
indie Pop: 45
E
Esperanza Spalding
jazz Pop: 45

Showing top 20 of 120 artists

Rivers & Roads in Song near Portland

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Portland.

Interstate 405 4 songs Interstate 5 13 songs

History of Portland

Mill Ends Park RoadyGoat

1948

Mill Ends Park sits in the median of SW Naito Parkway near SW Taylor Street, beside Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland. It is a circle just two feet across, about 452 square inches, holding a single small tree. The story goes that journalist Dick Fagan, whose Oregon Journal office overlooked the spot, found a weed-choked hole meant for a light pole that never arrived, and planted flowers in it; he named it for his newspaper column, 'Mill Ends.' The Guinness Book recognized it as the world's smallest park in 1971. (Honest note: in February 2025 a park in Nagaizumi, Japan claimed a smaller footprint, so Portland's title is now disputed/second-smallest.) Each St. Patrick's Day the city still fusses over it as if it were a grand civic green.

Keep Portland Weird (Borrowed From Austin) RoadyGoat

2003

Painted on the exterior wall of Music Millennium, the oldest record store in the Pacific Northwest at 3158 East Burnside Street, are the three words that became Portland's unofficial motto: "Keep Portland Weird." Store owner Terry Currier brought the slogan to Portland around 2003, adapting it directly from Austin's earlier "Keep Austin Weird," as a campaign urging people to choose independent local businesses over national chains. He trademarked the phrase in 2007 and sold tens of thousands of bumper stickers. He first tried "Keep Portland Unique" and dropped it for not having the right ring. The broader lifestyle meaning came later; it began as a small-business rallying cry. (Sources: Wikipedia; KOIN.)

RoadyGoat →

Powell's City of Books: The World's Largest Independent Bookstore

1971

Powell's City of Books occupies an entire city block in Portland's Pearl District, housing over a million volumes across 3,500 sections on multiple floors.

Portland's Shanghai Tunnels: The Dark Side of the Waterfront

1850

Beneath Portland's Old Town, a network of tunnels connected tavern basements to the waterfront, where legend holds that men were kidnapped and sold as involuntary crew to ship captains — a practice called shanghaiing.

Voodoo Doughnut and the Rise of 'Keep Portland Weird'

2003

Voodoo Doughnut, opened in 2003 on SW 3rd Avenue, became a symbol of Portland's proudly eccentric culture with creations like the Bacon Maple Bar and the Voodoo Doll doughnut.

Fort Vancouver: The Empire on the Columbia

1825

Fort Vancouver was the Hudson's Bay Company's western headquarters from 1825 to 1849, the most important fur trading post in the Pacific Northwest and a magnet for early American settlers.

7.4 mi away

End of the Oregon Trail: Journey's End at Oregon City

1843

Oregon City was the terminus of the 2,170-mile Oregon Trail, where an estimated 400,000 emigrants arrived after months of overland travel to start new lives in the Willamette Valley.

11.4 mi away

Things to Do in Portland

food 0.6 mi away
Voodoo Doughnut

Portland's iconic pink box of weird doughnuts. The Bacon Maple Bar changed breakfast.

Everything Near Portland

60 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore Portland on the Map
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