New York, New York
The Big Apple, as jazz musicians of the 1950s called it, inspired the great director Martin Scorsese to make it into a “New York, New York” movie. It is 1977, and Liza Minnelli is the first performer, when she was chosen to play a cabaret singer. It is the Voice, the immense Frank Sinatra, who is the first to cover “New York, New York”, surely one of his greatest versions. The song addresses the theme of young people arriving in New York, their eyes full of stars, dreams of glory full of hearts. The city inspires glory, the names of the artists displayed in large neon letters. We can easily imagine all the musicals, dancers, singers, actors who try their luck in the city that never sleeps.
Empire State Of Mind
This collaboration between Jay-Z and Alicia Keys is more recent, dating from 2009, but is also a beautiful declaration of love in New York. Jay-Z is from Brooklyn, and Alicia Keys is from Harlem. Both are familiar with the atmosphere of their hometown. Alicia Keys plays the piano, and the vocals follow one another, paying homage to NBA stars from the New York Knicks and Mets. The song still claims that everything is possible in New York, that dreams can be made there, but also be undone. The clip goes through the city’s most famous streets. New York State is also called The Empire State, which inspires the song’s title, along with two other singles, one from Billy Joel, “New York State of Mind,” and the other from NAS: “NY State of Mind”.
Walk on The Wild Side
The great Lou Reed is one of the emblematic figures of New York. He couldn’t miss his hometown. “Walk on The Wild Side” appears on his album “Transformer” released in 1972. The song addresses themes less joyful, and, at the time, transgressive. Lou Reed immerses himself in ill-famed New York, the crooked apple, with his forgotten people on the street. Lou Reed tells us about transsexuals, drug addicts, and against all odds, escapes censorship. This title, captivating with its jazzy notes, evokes Lou Reed’s friends, the same ones who frequent Andy Warhol and the Chelsea Hotel, colorful, free artists who do not comply with established rules. It is a melancholy song that will be covered in many films.
New York with you
The French have also explored the magic of New York, notably Téléphone in 1985 on the album “Un autre monde”. Jean-Louis Aubert is at the lyrics, and the other members of the group, Louis Bertignac, Corine Marienneau and Richard Kolinka, at the composition. This song was created after their 1983 American tour “Telephone Blitz in New York City”. The band was not far from going their separate ways, but they were preparing a new and final album. Yes everyone knows “New York with you”, the song was not a great success at the time, much less than “Another world”, the first single from this album. It nevertheless remains one of the great standards of French rock. “New York With You” is one of the featured songs from the movie “Walk in the Shadows”.
My City of Ruins
Bruce Springsteen is The Boss, a deep and intense singer, a true witness to what is happening in the United States. In “My City of Ruins”, originally Bruce Springsteen does not talk about New York. The song dates from 2000, and refers to a heavily indebted New Jersey town, one of Bruce Springsteen’s favorite themes. But, on September 11, 2001, the New York attacks gave new meaning to “My City of Ruins”. He sings it 10 days after the terrible events, in order to raise funds for the reconstruction of New York. It is a song that speaks of the end of a city, of the sadness of its deserted streets, of the churches which are tolling ever more death knells. It’s like a resonance of the shock and despair that reigns in New York City just after September 11th.
Welcome to New York
Young artists are also present when it comes to paying homage to New York. This is how Taylor Swift, originally from New York, released “Welcome to New York” in 2014 which was taken from her album “1989”. “Welcome to New York” is the first single from the album, and opens its promotion. It’s a pop song, which corresponds to the singer’s universe. It is met with mixed reviews by critics who criticize it for being too light compared to other classics referring to the city. However, Taylor Swift also addresses in this song a more serious theme close to her heart: the LGBT community. She supports a great cause, while being positive and joyful, in the greatest legacy of pop songs of all time.
Manhattan-Kaboul
In 2020, a few months after the New York attacks, Renaud and Axelle Red are releasing this moving duo. They interpret together a dialogue between an American trader and a young Afghan girl, each in his own world, and yet affected by the war that is raging between the two countries. “Manhattan-Kaboul” released on Renaud’s album “Boucan d’enfer”. This song is very well received, putting in parallel two very distant worlds, that of a trader with an immigrant background who seems to succeed, but who will not escape the attacks of the World Trade Center, and that of this child who lives in the midst of the bombs, and will eventually succumb to American fire.
Nougayork
A French song with American sauce? Claude Nougaro made it in 1987. The song comes from the album of the same name. It is a huge success for Nougaro, who then had a declining career, and with her won back her audience. This album was inspired by his installation in New York, after being thanked by his record company. Claude Nougaro goes back to the basics of music, jazz, and begins to compose again. He finds new life in New York. When it was released in 1987, the album was wonderfully received, and landed a platinum record very quickly. He will remain 18 consecutive weeks in the Top 50. Claude Nougaro begins a new phase of his career on this good note from New York, which has become a staple of French music.
Englishman in New York
It is to Sting that we owe this great classic. Il sort “Englishman in New York” en 1987 sur l’album “…Nothing Like The Sun”. If everyone knows this song, it has not yet broken sales records, even in France where the reception has been warmer than in the rest of the world. Contrary to what a first reading of the lyrics suggests, “Englishman in New York” is not about Sting himself, but about the writer Quentin Crisp who went into exile in New York. The clip is in black and white, showing Sting wandering the streets of New York City, armed with his umbrella. We see passers-by, the musicians of Sting, and Quentin Crisp himself. It’s a clip made by the great David Fincher to whom we owe “Fight Club”.
Angel of Harlem
More Britons looking at New York. This time it is the mythical Irish of U2 who released “Angel of Harlem” in 1988 on their album “Rattle and Hum”. It is in the United States, in Memphis, that U2 recorded the album. This song is a tribute to singer Billie Holiday. U2 innovates with this title, introducing more jazzy instruments like the brass, which they don’t normally use. It is a title more mainstream than most of their compositions, which will be rather well received, including in the United States, and intended to pass on the radios. In “Angel of Harlem”, U2 talks about many places in New York, and in particular the Harlem district, a high place in the history of American jazz where Billie Holiday, John Coltrane and Miles Davis were born.
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