Best Songs About Leeds

Leeds is not only the birthplace of exciting artists and legendary venues but has also inspired a rich variety of songs and compositions too.

From chart hits to more esoteric tracks via a range of genres and musical styles, we've explored some of the best music to take inspiration or reference the city of Leeds in the lyrical content. 

ICMP will also be launching its music courses in Leeds in September 2025 - contact our team to find out more. 

The Kaiser Chiefs | 'I Predict a Riot' 

Ricky Wilson and his indie outfit the Kaiser Chiefs will be marking the 20th anniversary of their debut album 'Employment' in 2025 with a huge show in their hometown of Leeds. 

The group has seen various twists and turns over their career, originally starting out as a band called Parva before renaming and finding success. 

One of their early hits, 'I Predict a Riot', was inspired by a night out in Leeds when Nick Hodgson, lead songwriter and drummer, was coming home after DJing in the city centre. 

In an interview with the Guardian, he said: "The inspiration for the verses came from me DJing at the Cockpit in Leeds, and at the end of the night we'd drive home past this club called the Majestyk." 

The title came from their own club night where local electro punk group Black Wire were performing. 

"The band were taking their clothes off and the crowd were hanging from the ceiling pipes. I said to the club owner: "I predict a riot". Then I thought: "I’d better write that down"."

Image credit

The Smiths | 'Panic' 

The Smiths were one of the defining indie bands of the eighties with the sprightly guitar lines of Johnny Marr and spiky lyrics of frontman Morrissey proving to be a winning combination. 

'Panic' was released in 1986 and refers to the city of Leeds in the lyrics with Morrissey singing about 'the Leeds side streets that you slip down/Provincial towns you jog 'round'. 

The most commonly held interpretation is that the lyrics focus on the state of pop music at the time, with much of the musical landscape consisting of synthesised electronica.

Morrissey starts the song by referring to chaos across the UK and Ireland, then in the second half he describes how the source of this upheaval is pop which 'says nothing to [him] about [his] life'.

LFO | 'LFO' (Leeds Warehouse Mix) 

While not explicitly referencing the city of Leeds apart from in its title, this electronic track from Mark Bell and Gez Varley of acid house act LFO perfectly encapsulates the musical revolution so derided by Morrissey.

The otherworldly bleep techno, beats and euphoric rush capture the hedonism and release of the acid house movement at the end of the eighties and early nineties. 

Their acclaimed debut album, 'Frequencies', was released in 1991by Warp Records with this Leeds Warehouse mix of 'LFO' emerging in the same year.

This track is the sound of many late night raves in warehouses, squats and anywhere else that could house a sound system - it was a movement, not just unique to Leeds, but erupting across the whole country at the time.

The KLF/Justified Ancients of Mu Mu | 'It's Grim Up North' 

The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu were also known as the KLF, the art rock rave vehicle for the musical whims, fancies and madness of provocateurs Bill Drummond and his collaborator Jimmy Cauty.

The duo began recording together in 1987 under the moniker of The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (also known as The JAMs), naming themselves after the fictional conspiratorial group, The Justified Ancients of Mummu, from cult book, 'The Illuminatus! Trilogy'. 

'It's Grim Up North' is a hit single released in 1991 and features a list of cities (including Leeds) and towns from across the north of England shouted out by Drummond alongside a riotous blast of techno rock.

In awarding the 1991 release 'Single of the week', the NME said: "The Scotsman [Drummond] picks over the place names with gruesome relish, the backing track pummels and tweaks, blasts and buffets him round the furthest God-forsaken reaches of this demi-paradise, this land of kings, this sceptred isle, this England... A thing of feverish, fiendish irreverence and conceptual genius..."

Image credit (Graffiti Advert from the NME, 2 Nov 1991)

Kano | 'P's and Q's'

UK grime legend Kano is from East Ham in London and burst onto the music scene with this debut track, 'P's and Q's' in 2004. 

Released by the 679 label, in the song, Kano lyrics include the lines: 'I hate losing, so I ain't snoozing/From London to Luton, I'm moving/I'm even merking overseas/And I got it locked from London to Leeds' with the reference to the city aimed at showing his ambitions to become a mainstream success across the UK. 

Some 20 years later, Kano's declaration has become a reality with MOBO awards and Mercury Prize nominations to his name alongside six critically acclaimed albums, including 'Made in the Manor' and 'Hoodies All Summer'.

Kano is also known for playing the role of Sully in hit television show, 'Top Boy'.

Amanda Palmer | 'Leeds United'

American singer songwriter Amanda Palmer is perhaps an unlikely artist to have a song called 'Leeds United' as part of her discography, particularly as she is known for her community-led creative pursuits alongside trailblazing the use of a crowdfunding.

The track was included on her 2008 debut album, 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer?', and was inspired by a brief period where she dated Kaiser Chiefs frontman, Ricky Wilson.

According to Amanda Palmer, the song stems from a visit to see Wilson in Leeds where he gifted her a Leeds United football shirt.

In a Guardian Q&A, she said: "I loved it, became sentimentally attached, wore it on stage one single night, and promptly lost it. That was what prompted the song." 

At the same time, Amanda supposedly lost her wallet and house keys which all fed into inspiration for the track.

Mountain Goats | 'Andrew Eldritch is Moving Back to Leeds'

Taken from their 2017 album, 'Goths', 'Andrew Eldritch Is Moving Back to Leeds' is a track released by US band, Mountain Goats.

This cult group are based around the songwriting brilliance of John Darnielle and have released more than 20 albums to date.

Many of the initial releases were lo-fi bedroom recordings but since the group were picked up by the likes of 4AD and Merge Records, their sound has increased in sophistication.

'Andrew Eldritch is Moving Back to Leeds' is a song inspired by the frontman of cult Leeds band, the Sisters of Mercy.

In a press release surrounding the album release, John said: "In the lyric, I imagine one of my teenage heroes returning to the town where the band worked and played when they were young. His friends give him a hard time about ending up back where he started, but not because they're mad: it's good to see an old friend wearing the marks of time on his hands and face like well-loved tattoos."

The Cribs | 'Martell'

The Cribs were an indie act from Wakefield led by twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. This band crashlanded into public conscience during the 2000s as part of what the music press described as 'the New Yorkshire' movement.

The group were initially known for the energy and chaos of their live shows, likened to the Libertines and even saw former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr join as an official member in 2008.

'Martell' is taken from their second album, 'The New Fellas', and is seen as a critique of the hype surrounding the Leeds indie music scene at the time with the lyrics saying how 'your precious Leeds is dead'. It's euphoric, feel-good and undeniably catchy with a lyrical sting in its tail. 

The Sisters of Mercy | 'Floorshow' 

The Phono was a notorious nightclub in Leeds located underneath the Merrion Centre and a place to hang out for goths, post punk fanatics and new romantics in the late seventies and early eighties.  

Supposedly, it was also the inspiration for an early track by Leeds' cult gloomsters, the Sisters of Mercy and their song, 'Floorshow', which took its pointers from the dance moves of the Phono's alternative patrons. 

The lyrics in the track say: 'I feel the bite I feel the beat I see the dancing feet/I feel the light I feel the heat I see the new elite/I see the final floorshow I see the western dream/I see the faces glow and I see the bodies steam'. 

According to Dazed, the unique layout of the Phono, with a pillar in the middle of its dance floor, "led to and popularised the ‘two steps forward, two steps back’ style of goth dancing".

The Sisters of Mercy, featuring the frontman Andrew Eldritch, went on to become cult stars.

Half Man Half Biscuit | 'With Goth on Our Side'

Formed in 1984 in Birkenhead (what the band describes as the 'Oblong of Dreams'), the band are another cult favourite, having released 15 studio albums to date. 

The lyrics are a huge part of the appeal of the group, often surreal, witty and acerbic with no subjects out of bounds for their songwriting lens. 

'With Goth on Our Side' is taken from their first album of the 2000s, 'Trouble over Bridgwater' and is an ode to the goth scene of the city. The lyrics describe how the song's protagonist would 'rather be some place/Like Bradford or Leeds/Where the Gipton teenagers/Could meet in my shed/For advice on mascara/And all things undead'. 

The song is also a parody of Bob Dylan's 'With God On Our Side'  with the Kettle Mag calling it "a folksy riot of Bob Dylan references, gothic culture and living in Gipton or Leeds - [this] makes it a fine tune indeed."