San Francisco, You’re the Town for Me

Written and composed by Richard Lancaster, “San Francisco, You’re The Town For Me” was published in 1947 and dedicated to “His Honor Elmer E. Robinson.” The song was published the year before Robinson, who was then superior court judge, was elected as San Francisco’s 33rd mayor, serving from 1948 to 1956.

 

The San Mateo newspaper The Times describes a small scandal trailing Robinson’s win, prompting the winning candidate to opt for an early swearing-in: “Former Superior Court judge Elmer E. Robinson was taking no chances today on being next mayor of San Francisco. Robinson and a number of lesser city officials… who take office with him on January 8 were sworn into office yesterday [December 30, 1947]…as a ‘precautionary’ measure after it was discovered their certificates of election were dated December 1st.”

 

The sheet music cover is a collection of odes: below the title and the photo of Robinson are two images of San Francisco: a drawing from 1847 and a photo from 1947.

Image Credit: Sheet music courtesy of SFPL’s Sheet Music Collection.