I think it's because people get a sense of the universal from any particular location whether they live there or not .
I was listening to Chuck Berry sing Promised land the other day for instance. I have never been to Norfolk Virginia, but I know what home is . When Chuck Berry wrote "I left my home in Norfolk Virginia" ,he conveyed the sense of "home" much more than if he had just said I left my home in North America . Chuck Berry localizes his songs and that's part of what makes them so strong and universal in my opinion.