songs that reference New York?

well... i'll be taking my first!ever look at New York City this weekend, and i'm making some mixtapes for me and a couple of my travelling companions... thus, i thought it would be fitting that they would be new york themed... so... what songs do you know that reference New York?

"Cross-border Shopping"... granted, that's more Western NY then the NYC...

Well, if you want to go that way, then there's "Southern California Wants To Be Western New York", by Dar Williams (Why does she pick such long names for titles?)

(Why does she pick such long names for titles?)

so that everyone can make acronyms!
SCWTBWNY
ACAIA
AYOT
MOTF
PYPCOAC
WDYHITS

and the list goes on and on...

acaia78 was my first online screen name. :)

These may have already been mentioned...

King of New York (from Newsies)
Broadway (Goo Goo Dolls) - no specific New York mentions, I don't think, so it could be a Broadway somewhere else but what the heck? :)

Should be the first and last song on the mix!

Bleeker to Broadway
New York State of Mind
Truckin' (Chicago, New York, Detroit, it's all on the same street)(New York's got the ways and means but just won't let you be)
Santa Fe (From Rent: New York City... center of the universe. Times are shitty... but I'm pretty sure they can't get worse! It's a comfort to know when you're singing the hit-the-road blues that the only place else you could possibly go after New York would be a pleasure cruise)
59th Street Bridge Song

I'll think of more when my brain starts working.

There must me lots and lots of songs referencing NY. Torturing my still not so awake mind I find:

Simon & Garfunkel - Bleecker Street (don't miss the Jonatha Brooke version)
Pogues - Fairytale of New York
Richard Shindell - Nora
Teddy Goldstein - Divided by tracks (highly recommended: it will improve your orientation in NYC)
Dar Williams - Spring Street
Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
Simon & Garfunkel - The Boxer (I prefer Emmylou's version though)
Ina May Wool - Moon over 97th Street
Rebecca Pidgeon - New York Girls' club
Norah Jones - New York
Edie Carey - Under a Sky
Antje Duvekot - Streets of Soho & Into The City

And lots of Sam Shaber's songs reference NY (no surprise at all) such as Rooftop, Eldorado, Bombthreat in New Rochelle, ...

New York State of Mind - Billy Joel
Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway - Billy Joel (Billy writes a lot of NYC related songs)
Brooklyn Train - Lucy Kaplansky
Love Song/New York - Lucy Kaplansky
Transit - Richard Shindell (okay, it's NJ, but it's close enough to NYC to make it worth mentioning)

oops...New York State of Mind was already mentioned..
A couple of more:
Take The "A" Train as perfomed by Duke Ellington
Angel of Harlem - U2
Starving On Wall Street - Michael Merenda

Cub/TMBG - New York City
XTC - Statue of Liberty

And there are others that haven't been mentioned but I can't remember I'm sure... ;-)

While on the subject of TMBG, there's also "Istanbul" (originally performed by the Four Lads), "On The Drag," and Mono Puff's "Extra Krispy."

Ryan Adams - New York, New York (this might be the same as the first one... but I thought she meant Sinatra)
Ellis Paul - Angel In Manhattan
Ramones - 53rd and 3rd (that might not be the message you're looking for)
M - Pop Muzik

And maybe more to follow. It's still early, and I'm out of coffee.

Cub - New York City

covered by They Might be Giants, either version will work, but Cub is better ;D

I suggested New York as a theme to WFUV so I should have lots of songs at my fingertips. I don't have a brain though so I don't. Lets see what I can come up with.

• Rockin' the Bronx - Black 47


• Me and Julio - Paul Simon (Corona is in NYC)


• NYC - The musical Annie


• New York, New York - The musical of the same name


• Waiting for the 'B' Train - Christine Lavin


• Another New York Afternoon - Christine Lavin


• Almost any song form Lou Reed's album, New York. Halloween Parade is my favorite


• Rockaway Beach - The Ramones


• 53rd and 3rd - The Ramones


• Talkin' New York - Bob Dylan

Songs I came up with on my own:
Sting - Englishman in New York
Bruce Springsteen - Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?
David Bowie - New York's in Love & New York City Serenade

Songs I needed to double check:
Bob Dylan - talkin' new york
BeeGees - Another Lonely Night in New York & Nights on Broadway & (debatable) Subway
Nina Hagen - New York New York
Kim Carnes - Betty Davis Eyes
A Chorus Line - Dance Ten Looks Three(Tits and Ass) references an intersection

also bruce's 'tenth avenue freezeout' and 'meeting across the river' from the 'born to run album'....well...also 'jungleland' from that album, too.

let's face it; the boss is -all- about NYC and jersey� :)

Take Me Back to Manhattan - from Anything Goes
I like to live in America - from West Side Story
On The Town, 42nd Street... musicals in general.
A Heart in New York - Art Garfunkle
20,000 Hearts - EFO

oooh!!� don't forget 'on broadway' from fosse's 'all that jazz'!!!

i'm sure i could think of more, but lunchtime is over and hafta go back to oficina..will try to think of and add tonight� :)

dream theater "Trial of Tears"

"raining on the streets of new york city" is about as close as it gets in my world. (:

-= george =-

My thoughts exactly!

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - classic Genesis

How about "Chelsea," the hidden track off Counting Crows' VH1 Storytellers CD?

.oO I never go to New York City theeeeese daaaays . . . Oo.

Well, kind of contrary, huh?

Of the songs I don't believe were mentioned:

Everybody Loves You Know (Mentions Cold Spring Harbor of Long Island) - Billy Joel
Token Back To Brooklyn - TMBG
No Sleep Til Brooklyn - Beastie Boys
Heart Of Rock 'N' Roll - Huey Lewis & The News
In A New York Minute - Don Henley
New York, New York (A Helluva Town)
Lullabye Of Broadway
Oldest Established - Guys & Dolls
Albany - We're About 9
52nd St. - Billy Joel
New York City - U2
Arthur's Theme - Christopher Cross (If you get caught between the moon and New York City)
Mr. Moran - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Where Were You When The Lights Went Out In NYC? (Don't know who sings this)
Spanish Harlem, Harlem Nocturne, Harlem Shuffle
718 - 2 Skinny Js
New York City - John Lennon

any more people want to add?

I wouldn't count Billy Joe's Long Island references personally, but Everybody Loves You Now also mentions the Staten Island Ferry which is certainly an NYC reference.� But then he has a LOT of them and they're not my rules...

Uptown Girl
Big Man On Mulberry Street
Los Angelenos

Some less obvious ones...
You May Be Right [references "Bedford Stuy"�- aka Bedford Stuyvesant]
Rosalinda's Eyes [references Herald Square]
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song) [references Sullivan Street]
I Don�t Want To Be Alone [references the Plaza Hotel]
That�s Not Her Style ["every lease in Manhattan"]

And the global reference:
We Didn't Start the Fire

i don't know the title of the song, but it starts out "I've seen the lights go out on Broadway"...Billy Joel and Simon and Garfunkle songs are jam packed with NY references

That's Billy Joel's Miami 2017.

How could I forget Chelsea Hotel by Dan Bern

Of course there is also the classic Leonard Cohen Chelsea Hotel.

Ooh!� The Dakota, by Christine Lavin!

Thank you. I knew there was a Dan Bern song, but I couldn't get the name out :-)

Keeping on the Chelsea theme, Joni Mitchell's Chelsea Morning.

Bon Jovi's "Walking in Chelsea"!

/only half joking

Led Zeppelin: Achilles' Last Stand
Joni Mitchell: My Secret Place; The Midnight Cowboy Song
Ani DiFranco: Cradle and All; Self Evident; Serpentine; Two Little Girls; Every State Line; etc, etc...

Lots of Jazz tunes and standards about New York as well

Just a few off the top of my head:

Birdland
Lullaby of Birdland
New York, New York
Autumn in New York
New York Afternoon
Broadway (different from "On Broadway")
Harlem Nocturne
Sidewalks of New York
The Lady is a Tramp (references Harlem)
Take the A Train

Luke Doucet - New York
There's a small pseudo NY reference in Danny Michel's song Beautiful too - and Danny's pretty necessary for any mix anyway. ;)

Dearest Wormy,

when you have eventually made up your mind what to put on your NY mix cd/tape could you please post the track list here?

Thanks so much.

Love,

neurokid

from the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiago soundtrack (1st one): Beautiful Place, Capital (well, it mentions Albany),...and others that i could think of if i wasn't so tired