I go to a weekly session at an Irish pub in Boston. One of the singers learned hundreds of "Irish Parlour" type songs, growing up in Ireland. I have never heard so many songs about specific places & geography. I've recently been trying to make some educated guesses why. One obvious reason is all the people who had to leave Ireland, their songs are about longing to be back in their homeland. The rural nature of life in Ireland over a hundred years ago, would make the people very close to the land. And being severely oppressed by another country (England), sometimes makes people more nationalistic, & more appreciative & proud of their land & their culture. Just some thoughts...

On the other topic, I know severeal people who went a little out of their way to see places named in American songs - they didn't plan a whole trip around it, but they said it was really neat to see the river, canal, town, etc. mentioned in a song.