Picking one song for New York is an impossible task. There are probably a couple dozen that deserve the honor, with all-time classics from the likes of LCD Soundsystem, Nas, Paul Simon, They Might Be Giants (via Cub), Lou Reed, Duke Ellington, and Billie Holiday, just to name a few. Of all the places in all the world, New York City is king when it comes to musical tributes.
Still, there’s one place that you simply have to start, and that’s with Sinatra. Even if you don’t ultimately pick him—as I don’t—you have to pause to acknowledge the significance. In so many ways, Sinatra is New York—at least the New York of a certain timeframe.
Of course, “New York, New York” is actually a much more recent song than we often think. It was written in 1977 for a Scorsese film and recorded by Liza Minnelli. Frank didn’t record his version until a couple years after that. But as someone born in the early 80s, it’s simply always existed, and in many ways has defined my understanding of the city. For those who were around when it was released, it may hold a specific place in time and history. But for me, it’s timeless, eternal.
All of which leads to my actual pick, another song that will feel specific to many of us who lived through its explosion onto the scene, but which has quickly taken on an iconic status, and will probably endure for decades. Maybe centuries. Is it the best song about New York? I don’t think so. But it’s become the most iconic. In part because it’s so clearly a response to the classics that came before. If Jay sees further, it’s because he stands on the shoulders of giants. And yet…he does see further. His New York is glittering bright – the city of the future – but it’s also the grim, dark place that birthed hip-hop. It’s still the fast-paced city of Madison Avenue. It’s still the city of immigrants, of towering hopes and broken dreams. The city against which everything else is measured.
p.s. – Biggie, Patti Smith, Ryan Adams, The Beastie Boys, Billy Joel, Run DMC, Leonard Cohen, Interpol, Joni Mitchell, Gil-Scott Heron, Ben E. King, Grandmaster Flash, The Pogues.