He never actually names the city in the title. Most people just call it the i think i'll go to boston song, but the real name is "Please Come to Boston." It’s one of those tracks that feels like a humid breeze from 1974. Dave Loggins wrote it. Not Kenny Loggins—his second cousin. That’s the first thing everyone gets wrong.
It’s a song about a guy who is perpetually elsewhere. He's a drifter. A dreamer. A bit of a flake, if we’re being honest. He moves from Boston to Denver to LA, begging his girl to join him, but she stays put in Tennessee. It’s a classic 70s soft-rock tug-of-war between the lure of the road and the comfort of home.
The Real Story Behind the i think i'll go to boston song
Dave Loggins didn't just pull these cities out of a hat. He was on a tour. A real one.
The song was born from a period of intense loneliness while Loggins was traveling across the United States. He was seeing all these iconic skylines, but he had nobody to share them with. It’s a specific kind of ache. You’re standing on a pier in Boston, the air is salty, the history is thick, and all you can think about is someone thousands of miles away who isn't seeing what you're seeing.
Why the "i think i'll go to boston song" works so well
The structure is brilliant. Each verse is a postcard.
In the first verse, he’s in Boston. He talks about the "rambling boy" and how he’s found a home. But it’s a lie. Or at least, it's a temporary truth. Then he hits Denver. He mentions the mountains and the snow. Finally, he’s in LA, talking about the "willow tree" and the Pacific Ocean.
The girl? She answers every time with the same refrain. "No." Well, not a flat no, but a "please come to Tennessee." She’s the anchor. He’s the kite.
The 1974 Context: Why It Hit So Hard
You have to remember what 1974 felt like. The Vietnam War was winding down. Watergate had just shattered everyone’s trust in the "system." People were looking for something authentic and small. Something personal.
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"Please Come to Boston" climbed all the way to number five on the Billboard Hot 100. It topped the Adult Contemporary charts. It wasn't flashy. It didn't have synthesizers or disco beats. It was just a guitar, some soft strings, and a guy who sounded like he’d been driving for three days straight without a nap.
Misconceptions About the Artist
People always confuse Dave with Kenny. It’s a running joke in the music industry. While Kenny was busy being the "King of the Movie Soundtrack" with Footloose and Top Gun, Dave was a songwriter’s songwriter.
He wrote hits for other people. He wrote the theme for the Masters golf tournament—"Augusta." Think about that. The same guy who wrote the i think i'll go to boston song is the reason you feel peaceful when you see a green on a Sunday in April. He had range.
Why We Still Sing It at Karaoke
There is a specific vulnerability in the chorus. When he hits that high note on "Please come to Boston," you can feel the desperation.
It's not a song about a successful guy. It’s a song about a guy who is trying to be successful and failing to stay in one place long enough to make it happen. We’ve all been there. Maybe you didn't move to Denver to become a ski bum, but you’ve definitely wanted to quit your job and disappear to a city where nobody knows your name.
The "i think i'll go to boston song" captures the American wanderlust better than almost any other folk-pop track of that era.
The Covers: From Joan Baez to Reba
A song’s true legacy isn't its chart position. It’s who decides to sing it later.
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- Joan Baez covered it and made it feel like a haunting folk tale.
- Reba McEntire gave it a country twang that highlighted the Tennessee roots of the female character.
- Kenny Chesney brought it into the modern era, making it a staple for people who love "island vibe" country music.
Every time someone covers it, the meaning shifts slightly. When a woman sings the verses, it changes the power dynamic of the "rambling boy" narrative. It becomes about a woman seeking her own path while a man stays behind.
The Geography of the Lyrics
Let's look at the specific imagery Dave Loggins used.
In Boston, he’s "staying with a number of friends." That’s code for couch surfing. He doesn't have a place. He’s a guest. In Denver, he’s talking about the "canyon." In LA, he’s mentioning the "willow tree" and the "man from Mexico."
These are vivid, postcard-style snapshots. They aren't deep travelogues. They are the things a tourist notices. This is intentional. The narrator isn't a local; he’s a transient. He’s always looking at the exit sign.
The girl’s response is always grounded in nature. "The grass is green," and "the gold is in the morning sun." She doesn't need a skyline. She needs the earth.
The Hidden Sadness
The song is actually kind of a tragedy. They never meet in the middle.
He keeps moving. She keeps staying. By the time the song ends, you realize they are probably never going to be together. He’s never going to come home to Tennessee for good, and she’s never going to step on a plane. It’s a beautiful, melodic breakup happening in slow motion across 3,000 miles.
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How to Listen to It Today
If you want to experience the i think i'll go to boston song the way it was intended, don't play it on a cheap phone speaker.
Find a vinyl copy of Apprentice (In a Musical Workshop). It’s the 1974 album this song lives on. Listen to the way the acoustic guitar strings buzz slightly. It sounds human. It sounds like a guy sitting in a room, pouring his heart out.
The production by Jerry Gillespie is subtle. It doesn't overwhelm Dave’s voice. In an age of Autotune and over-compressed audio, "Please Come to Boston" feels like a relic of a time when you could hear the singer breathing.
Actionable Insights for Songwriters and Fans
If you're a musician looking to capture this kind of magic, focus on the "Answer Song" format. The dialogue between the man and the woman in the lyrics creates a narrative tension that most modern pop songs lack. You aren't just hearing one side of the story; you’re hearing the rejection in real-time.
For the fans, next time you hear the i think i'll go to boston song, pay attention to the third verse. The LA verse is where the narrator sounds the most tired. He’s moved through the whole country and he’s still empty-handed.
- Verify the Artist: Always check if it's Dave or Kenny before you win that bar trivia bet.
- Listen for the Masters Connection: If you’re a golf fan, listen to Dave Loggins' "Augusta" right after this. You’ll hear the same melodic DNA.
- Analyze the Lyrics: Look at how the city names are used as metaphors for escapism versus the "Tennessee" metaphor for reality.
The song remains a masterpiece of the "soft rock" genre because it refuses to give a happy ending. It just gives you a melody and a sense of longing that never quite goes away.