There are many songs about well-known cities in America. There’s “New York, New York,” “Cleveland Rocks,” “K.C. Blues,” “I’ll Get by in Pittsburgh,” and “Freedom of ’76” (Philadelphia) to name a few. Some cities even have an official song, designated by their city council or by popular vote. You might think such a designation would not generate much controversy, but that was not the case in San Francisco back in 1984.

For many years, San Francisco’s unofficial song was “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” written by George Cory and Douglass Cross in 1953. But when the city was about to be in the national spotlight with the ’84 Democratic Convention, some believed it needed a more-dynamic song. Warren Hinkcle, a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner, went so far as to call the song popularized by Tony Bennett “sappy and out of date.” Another columnist, Herb Caen, claimed it was “representative of a city that died long ago.” Both Hinckle and Caen championed another candidate: “San Francisco (Open Your Golden Gate).” Ironically, this song predated the Bennett song, having been introduced in a 1936 movie starring Clark Gable.

The argument over San Francisco’s official song became increasingly intense. A radio station in Berkeley, rejecting both of the top candidates, held an alternative song contest. A punk band from Los Angeles won with a song that included the line, “Golden Gate and I’m ready to jump.”

San Francisco’s City Hall hosted a competition of its own with dueling pianists, the Gay Men’s Chorus, and the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra. The chorus and the orchestra performed “San Francisco (Open Your Golden Gate),” which quickly became the favorite. In fact, Tony Bennett, a guest of Mayor Dianne Feinstein, reportedly decided not to sing “I Left my Heart in San Francisco,” rather than be booed by the biased crowd at City Hall.

“I Left My Heart” didn’t have a chance, according to former San Francisco Deputy Mayor Jim Lazarus, “because the thing was set up to – believe it or not – have people vote for the song from 55 years earlier.” This presented a problem for the Deputy Mayor, who was charged with making a final selection; he didn’t want to make that selection based only on a questionable vote.

So, Lazarus took a Biblical approach, invoking the wisdom of King Solomon. “I suggested that maybe we ought to split the baby here, and maybe the approach was – two songs. One song could be the official song, and the other, the official ballad.“ Mayor Feinstein and Supervisor Quentin Kopp agreed, and the Administrative Code was changed accordingly:

Be it resolved: The official song of the City and County of San Francisco is, and shall remain, “San Francisco.”  Be it further resolved that henceforth: “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” shall be the official ballad.

There may be different ways of analyzing Lazarus’s strategy here, but to my way of thinking, he engaged in a creative use of words to determine what San Francisco’s official song should be. On one hand, he respected the result of the dubious vote by conferring the title of official song on “San Francisco (Open Your Golden Gate).” And then, he satisfied those who preferred Bennett’s song by defining it as the official ballad and giving it equal status to the official song. Lazarus’s creativity underscores the importance of definitions and the role they play in shaping our understanding of the world (See my blog http://www.claywrites.info/the-power-of-definitions/.) His ingenuity helped avoid controversy and opened a “golden gate” of opportunity for honoring two beautiful pieces of music.