TikTok users share video love letters to Chicago in new trend
CHICAGO (CBS) -- There are countless songs inspired by Chicago.
It's always a joy to hear "My Kind of Town" – made famous by Frank Sinatra; "Sweet Home Chicago" – whether the 1936 Robert Johnson blues version or the Blues Brothers' update decades later; "Saturday in the Park" – its writer says it's actually about Central Park in New York, but it's by Chicago the band and likely makes Chicagoans think of Lincoln, Jackson, or Humboldt Park.
Now, there is a trend on TikTok where people share their favorite things about Chicago, all using the same song.
In Rick Wojcik's Dusty Groove record store, at 1120 N. Ashland Ave. in the East Ukrainian Village neighborhood - it takes only seconds to find an artist with ties to Chicago, or a record inspired by the city.
"It's all over," Wojcik said. "I mean, it's all over this store."
Dusty Groove in particular has a vast collection from Sun Ra – who had a long run in the Chicago jazz scene from the 1940s to the early 1960s. But Wojcik conceded that he was not familiar with a new TikTok trend set to a song by an artist who also has Chicago connections – but who was born just a year before Sun Ra died.
The trend uses the song "End of Beginning" as people post their favorite places, activities, and memories of Chicago. The song's chorus goes: "And when I'm back in Chicago, I feel it. Another version of me, I was in it. I wave goodbye to the end of the beginning."
People write about their experiences in Chicago in the video love letters – and the city's buildings, beaches, and trains get features. So does the "rat hole" of Roscoe Village, and that Chicago rite of passage spirit Jeppson's Malört.
"Chicago really is that place that holds like such a beautiful spot in my heart," said Abby Greer. "It holds a beautiful spot in the heart of so many of my friends."
Greer participated in the trend. She is a former Chicago resident now living in Naples, Florida.
"Honestly, if I had to choose between like beautiful 75-degree days like I have here, and riding the Brown Line over the river and getting to see that view, I would pick the Brown Line any day," said Greer.
The song is not new – it came out about a year and a half ago. But the trend is brand new.
The artist, Djo, is a project from "Stranger Things" actor Joe Keery, a graduate of DePaul University.
Keery seemed surprised by the track's sudden popularity - though he performed the track at Lollapalooza in 2022, with the crowds cheering when the city got its shoutout.
It may be the next song to find a space in the great Chicago songbook.
"Chicago is just such a vibrant city. I mean we've got so many different cultures so many different people and I mean, it's a real melting pot city,: said Wojcik, "and I think it really just inspires people's imagination – I think not just people who live here, but who think about it."
And as to the TikTok trend that Wojcik just learned about?
"I think it's great," he said. "I mean like, this is the best city in the world. I'm a lifer here."
