Vincent’s “ New York.” You have pissed-off documents of the times, like the Strokes’ “ New York City Cops,” and yearning daydreams that transcend time, like Simon & Garfunkel’s “ The Only Living Boy In New York.” You have embraced theme songs like Beastie Boys’ “ No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” and you have glorified MTA sloganeering like Taylor Swift’s “ Welcome To New York.” 2” to Lou Reed’s “ Walk On The Wild Side” or Bobby Womack’s “ Across 110th Street” and Bill Withers’ “ Harlem.” You have melancholic tributes, reflecting on loss and defeat and rejuvenation within an unyielding yet transformative city, all the way from Billie Holiday’s rendition of “ Autumn In New York” to St. You have songs born from and capturing particular eras and milieus, Leonard Cohen’s “ Chelsea Hotel No. The lineage of New York City songs is, of course, as varied and complex and rich as the town that inspired it. And 10 years ago, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys released another bid for the canon in the form of “Empire State Of Mind.”
JAY Z EMPIRE STATE OF MIND YOUTUBE TV
You can walk its streets and try to exhume the remains of any number of scenes, any number of iconic artists, because we’ve grown up consuming a countless amount of TV shows, films, and songs either set here or extolling this city’s magnificence. History is inscribed on every corner and in every facade - crucial moments throughout American history, and crucial moments throughout musical history.
Regardless of your own personal feelings on the place, or however a person might perceive its rises and falls from one decade to the next, New York has been a fixation and a global destination for longer than all of us have been alive. Start spreading the news: New York is the greatest city on the planet.