Comments on: Mixtape Filter: Songs about NYC

Question: Mixtape Filter: Songs about NYC

sprocket87 — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 06:55:50 -0800

Indie songs about New York?

I'm looking for songs about or making reference to New York, as in the City. Not looking for classic songs like "New York, New York", but stuff more in the modern & indie realm.

A few I already have in mind:

- LCD Soundsystem - New York I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down
- Interpol - NYC
- NOFX - Olympia, WA
- Beastie Boys - An Open Letter to NYC

What else ya got? Thanks :)

Jesse

By: kdern

kdern — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:05:45 -0800

The best: They Might Be Giants - New York City

Also -
REM - Leaving New York
Simon & Garfunkel - The Only Living Boy in NY
Steely Dan - Daddy Don't Live in that NY City No More
Death Cab - Marching Bands of Manhattan
Dylan - Hard Times in NY Town
Strokes - NYC Cops

By: Captain_Science

Captain_Science — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:05:49 -0800

They Might Be Giants - New York City

And while I wouldn't exactly call them Indie:
The Pogues - Fairytale of New York (also one of the greatest Christmas songs ever)

By: ourobouros

ourobouros — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:06:31 -0800

Le Tigre - My My Metrocard

By: martinrebas

martinrebas — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:08:44 -0800

Ryan Adams - New York, New York

By: unixrat

unixrat — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:09:09 -0800

Brendan Brennan - Jersey Transit Train

By: iconomy

iconomy — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:10:34 -0800

Not sure how indie you consider some of these, but

Yeah New York - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
New York City - They Might Be Giants
Fighting 69th- Dropkick Murphys
New York is a Woman - Suzanne Vega
Hard Times In New York City - Cat Power
Black History Month - Death from Above 1979
Girl From NYC - Of Montreal
Coney Island - Death Cab for Cutie

There's stuff by the NY Dolls and Sex Pistols and Lou Reed etc if you want older...

By: hydrophonic

hydrophonic — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:12:24 -0800

The 6ths - I've Got New York
Magnetic Fields - The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side

By: iconomy

iconomy — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:14:32 -0800

A couple of lists.

By: dog food sugar

dog food sugar — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:15:52 -0800

How about:

I'll Take New York - Tom Waits (Franks Wild Years)
New York City - Bad Livers (Blood and Mood)

Seconding The Pogues Fairytale of New York that Captain Science recommends.

By: salvia

salvia — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:18:51 -0800

Steve Earle: New York City ("...never really been there, just like the way it sounds...")

Beastie Boys: No Sleep Till Brooklyn

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:22:24 -0800

Dictators - New York, New York

By: jjg

jjg — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:23:48 -0800

That They Might Be Giants song is a cover.

By: rabbitsnake

rabbitsnake — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:29:16 -0800

!!! (chk chk chk) - Me and Giuliani down by the Schoolyard

It's about NYC's cabaret laws.

By: creasy boy

creasy boy — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:54:16 -0800

There's a Moldy Peaches Song, New York City's Like a Graveyard.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:58:33 -0800

Kicking Giant, "She's Real"

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 08:00:44 -0800

NOFX - Olympia, WA

It's by Rancid.

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 08:03:51 -0800

PJ Harvey: Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

Pretty much the whole album.

By: suasponte

suasponte — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 08:04:21 -0800

Jill Sobule - Jet Pack

By: sprocket87

sprocket87 — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 08:06:41 -0800

The corpse in the library:
NOFX - Olympia, WA

It's by Rancid.

Yeah, I caught that after I posted it, sorry. I think I got that from the Rancid/NOFX split where NOFX covered it.

Thanks for all the awesome suggestions, and keep 'em coming!

By: ascullion

ascullion — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 08:23:54 -0800

Herman Düne - Take Him Back To New York City

By: jasonspaceman

jasonspaceman — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 08:46:11 -0800

Jesus and Mary Chain had a song called "New York City". Lyrics here.

By: 23skidoo

23skidoo — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 08:53:46 -0800

New York is a cool song by Frankie Big Face.

Disclaimer: that dude is married to my sister.

By: InfidelZombie

InfidelZombie — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 08:53:55 -0800

Lou Reed did a whole CD on New York

By: turaho

turaho — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:03:10 -0800

Jonathan Richman - Springtime in New York

By: dawdle

dawdle — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:06:08 -0800

Chelsea Hotel by Leonard Cohen

By: mattbucher

mattbucher — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:06:23 -0800

Richard Ashcroft - New York

By: Good Brain

Good Brain — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:07:57 -0800

I was a bit suprised to realize that a number of Old 97s songs reference NYC.
Nightclub
Broadway
Doreen - there are multiple recordings including a really twangy one off of one of their earlier albums

By: hydrophonic

hydrophonic — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:15:16 -0800

Johnny Cash - Orange Blossom Special

"Ain't you worried about getting your nourishment in New York?"
"Well, I don't care if I do-die-do-die-do-die-do-die."

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:23:43 -0800

Dean Wareham/Luna has a number of songs that reference New York.

Threw it Away by Dean and Britta. The opening line is "New York City I was born and raised and I threw it away..."

Going Home by Luna has the line "The Chrysler Building was talking to the Empire State, the Twin Towers were talking to each other."

In addition there's a song called Great Jones Street ("see the water towers, look so forlorn"). Also Chinatown.

Finally, Dean Wareham has a lovely instrumental guitar piece on the Guitarrorists compilation entitled West Broadway.

By: slow graffiti

slow graffiti — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:35:37 -0800

Harvey Danger- Pike Street/Park Slope (Seattle/NYC)

By: craichead

craichead — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 10:34:35 -0800

N.Y. by Doves
If you don't want to do Fairytale of New York, Thousands are Sailing is another Pogues song that would work.
Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed

The first thing that came to mind is "New York's Alright if you Like Saxophones" by Fear, but I'm not sure I'd feel good about recommending that one.

By: ageispolis

ageispolis — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 10:38:10 -0800

Lou Reed - New York Telephone Conversation
Amon Tobin - The New York Editor
Belle & Sebastian - Piazza, New York Catcher

By: ursus_comiter

ursus_comiter — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 11:23:37 -0800

Joe Dimaggio Done It Again - performed by Billy Bragg, written by Woody Guthrie.

Guthrie recorded New York Town himself. It's available on This Land is Your Land: The Asch Recordings.

And let me 2nd Cub's original version of New York City.

By: fidelity

fidelity — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 12:04:16 -0800

Reid Paley - Lazarus in Brooklyn (sorta Tom Waits-ish)
Cub - New York City (covered by They Might Be Giants, as mentioned several times above)
Dylan - Talking New York (howdy, East Orange)
and Dylan's 115th Dream is largely set in NYC
about half of Freedy Johnston's career is about moving to New York

By: highrise

highrise — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:11:43 -0800

Fashion Crisis hits New York - The Frank and Walters

By: inoculatedcities

inoculatedcities — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:17:18 -0800

Elliott Smith's "Bled White" is likely about both Portland, Oregon and New York City.

By: sillygwailo

sillygwailo — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:46:05 -0800

Jay-Z's "Where I'm From", about Marcy Houses in Brooklyn. Besides, pretty much every rapper (only the Beasties are listed here...) from NYC has mentioned the city in multiple songs (often multiple times in each song).

By: youarenothere

youarenothere — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:52:22 -0800

Eskimo Joe - New York
A Shoreline Dream - New York
The Pogues - Fairytale of New York
Frontier ruckus - Mohawk, New York
Matson Jones - New York City, Fuck Off
Suzanne Vega - New York is a Woman
Dead Heart Bloom - New York City Heat
Belle and Sebastion - Piazza, New York Catcher

By: Martin E.

Martin E. — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:58:31 -0800

"New York City" by Damon and Naomi

Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan" namechecks but is not so much about NYC. (see also versions by REM and Joe Cocker)

By: youarenothere

youarenothere — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:02:09 -0800

Laura Nyro -- New York Tendaberry (from the album of the same name)
The Frank and Walters - The Fashion Crisis Hits New York
Hem - Great Houses of New York
Toasters - New York Fever
LCD Soundsystem - New York, I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down
Rosie Thomas - All the Way to New York City

By: Phred182

Phred182 — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:09:43 -0800

Blues Traveler, "Dropping Some NYC." Ca 1991, and I first heard it live on Bleecker at Mondo Cane.

By: ludwig_van

ludwig_van — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:33:02 -0800

I was going to say Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side, but Come Back from San Francisco by The Magnetic Fields also references New York (and is a great song):

Come back from San Francisco
It can't be all that pretty
when all of New York City
misses you

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:45:57 -0800

Pretty much everything I've thought of has been mentioned so far except (in descending order of relevance):

The Wombats - Moving to New York
Radiohead - Alligators in New York Sewers
Sufjan Stevens - Chicago

By: krakedhalo

krakedhalo — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:02:08 -0800

moe. - New York City for a jam band nyc song

By: krakedhalo

krakedhalo — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:09:05 -0800

YouTube of moe. doing New York City

By: notswedish

notswedish — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:26:50 -0800

Eleanor Put Your Boots On by Franz Ferdinand

By: apostrophe

apostrophe — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:21:00 -0800

Have to add: Going to Queens by the Mountain Goats

By: melorama

melorama — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 23:26:08 -0800

Is the reason why nobody here has mentioned anything by the Ramones because it's so damn obvious?

53rd and 3rd and Rockaway Beach immediately come to mind...

By: terrortubby

terrortubby — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 06:01:17 -0800

Luka Bloom - An Irishman in Chinatown

Black 47 - 40 Shades of Blue

Second the TMBG cover of NYC and there's also a reference to Old NY in Istanbul (not Constantinople)

By: terrortubby

terrortubby — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 06:43:45 -0800

The Toasters - Go Girl

By: Sara Anne

Sara Anne — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:33:34 -0800

Fountains of Wayne: No Better Place
Versus: Underground