What is the world’s most sung about city?
Growing up in the countryside, the closest thing I had to the bustling streets of New York were the tacky canvas prints The Range was selling at my local retail park. Usually in black and white and with the Empire State Building as its focal point, I would be lying if I said I didn’t stare through the cityscape as a means of escapism.
My yearning for a life in a city as exciting as New York wasn’t unique. In fact, I am of a generation enticed by the bright lights of metropolitan living despite its growing state of unrealism. While I know the reality of my existence, there would probably be a studio flat with nothing but a mattress and a budget only getting me as far $1 pizza slices; yet, the romance of ‘The Big Apple’ still chips away at me.
But in coming back to the commonness of my aspirations, I have to ask, why? What is it about New York City that charms people from every corner of the globe? Simply put, it’s the marketing. Yes, I partly mean the glossy images of Times Square and the striking sight of the Empire State towering over ant-like figures walking the beaten paths. But what I really mean is advertising through its art.
‘The Big Apple’ has been made even bigger by the wide screens of cinema’s most iconic moments, while the airwaves are filled with songs that glide through the skyscrapers, telling stories of the people who sit beneath them. Something about the sprawling excess of capitalism’s beating heart draws out the best and worst stories of humanity.
Onscreen, the warped and gory excess of American Psycho is mixed with the endearment of When Harry Met Sally. While on record, Nas tells the story of New York’s gritty suburbs, ones that live in the shadows of the exciting and experimental movements of Lou Reed’s art rock. The art it platforms seems to throw a blanket over every facet of the modern experience, warning and alluring us at the same time.
So, it comes as no surprise that New York is the city most referenced in music, with 161 songs being dedicated to it. A whopping 59 more than its closest runner-up, London, boasting 102, while Los Angeles comes in at third—most likely thanks to the Red Hot Chili Peppers—with 87 songs to its name.
What are some of the most famous New York-inspired songs?
Alicia Keys’ vocal hook in ‘Empire State of Mind’ rings in the ears of anyone discussing the magic of America’s most treasured city. For it is indeed a concrete jungle where, for many, dreams are made of. And to her credit, her stripped-back version of the song in ‘Empire State of Mind (Part II)’ is a twinkling melody that truthfully represents its stirring magic.
But spend more than a week there, and you’ll know that its magic isn’t in its promise of stardom but in the people. The everyday encounters range from the tough-loving deli chef to the confusingly friendly taxi driver with an anecdote for every street corner.
LCD Soundsystem’s ‘New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down’ is one of the finest musings on the true paradox of the city. A city brimming with vibrancy and hopefulness, but at what cost? Is gentrification and rapid-fire commercialism the price we pay for stimulation?
It’s a song whose sentiment seems to build on the legacy left by Gil Scott Heron’s ‘New York Is Killing Me’ and ‘Life During Wartime’ by Talking Heads, which both delve their hands into the city’s polluted soil to conjure a true understanding of it. But it’s within this conflict that it remains alluring, because what all three of these songs continue to do is feed this idea that in small nuggets, it’s a city where you see modern life at its rawest.
