He wrote the song "City of New Orleans", which was recorded by artists including Arlo Guthrie, John Denver, The Highwaymen, and Judy Collins.

During high school he began his public singing career by leading the junior choir at Temple Beth Israel in Albany Park.

In the early spring of 1967, Goodman went to New York, staying for a month in a Greenwich Village brownstone across the street from the Cafe Wha?, where he performed regularly.

Though he experienced periods of remission, Goodman never felt that he was living on anything other than borrowed time, and some critics, listeners and friends have said that his music reflects this sentiment.

His wife, writing in the liner notes to the posthumous collection No Big Surprise, characterized him this way: Basically, Steve was exactly who he appeared to be: an ambitious, well-adjusted man from a loving, middle-class Jewish home in the Chicago suburbs, whose life and talent were directed by the physical pain and time constraints of a fatal disease which he kept at bay, at times, seemingly by willpower alone... Steve wanted to live as normal a life as possible, only he had to live it as fast as he could...

He extracted meaning from the mundane.Goodman's songs first appeared on Gathering at The Earl of Old Town, an album produced by Chicago record company Dunwich in 1971.

He also remained closely involved with Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, where he had met and mentored his friend, John Prine.

Later in 1971, Goodman was playing at a Chicago bar called the Quiet Knight as the opening act for Kris Kristofferson.

Inspired by this version Rudi Carrell, a Dutch TV host and entertainer who was also very successful in Germany, covered the song with German lyrics ("Wann wird's mal wieder richtig Sommer?")

A Hebrew version of the song "Shalom Lach Eretz Nehederet" was sung by famous Israeli singer Yehoram Gaon in 1977 and became an immediate hit.

[5] According to the liner notes on the Steve Goodman anthology No Big Surprise, "City of New Orleans" was written while on the campaign trail with Senator Edmund Muskie.

[6] During the mid and late seventies, Goodman became a regular guest on Easter Sunday on Vin Scelsa's radio show in New York City.

Another comic highlight is "Vegematic", about a man who falls asleep while watching late-night TV and dreams he ordered many products that he saw on infomercials.

On October 2, after clinching the National League East division title, the Cubs played their first post-season game since the 1945 World Series.

Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn declared October 5, 2007, Steve Goodman Day in the state.

In 2010, Illinois Representative Mike Quigley introduced a bill renaming the Lakeview post office on Irving Park Road in honor of Goodman.