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An Open Letter to NYC
Beastie Boys. The chorus names all five boroughs and runs the length of Manhattan from the Battery. The beat samples the Dead Boys’ “Sonic Reducer,” bringing a piece of CBGB-era punk into this 2004 rap tribute.
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Across 110th Street
Bobby Womack. At Central Park’s northern edge, 110th Street is a threshold into Harlem in this 1972 film theme. Womack sings about making it through another day, with strings and a steady rhythm supporting a voice that has plenty of urgency on its own.
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Rockaway Beach
Ramones. The destination is the Queens surf beach and the whole ride takes about two minutes. Dee Dee Ramone put the anticipation of getting to the water into a clipped punk arrangement with a bright, beach-pop chorus.
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South Bronx
Boogie Down Productions. KRS-One makes the South Bronx a point of pride and the center of his argument about where hip-hop began. Play it alongside MC Shan’s “The Bridge” to hear how neighborhood history became the subject of a rap battle.
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Empire State of Mind
Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys. The verses travel from Brooklyn to Manhattan and use recognizable places to tell a very particular story about getting somewhere. The chorus opens the song to anyone who recognizes the feeling, even if they’ve never had that commute.
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Theme From New York, New York
Frank Sinatra. This citywide anthem is all about arriving and being heard. Put it next to “The Brooklyn Bridge,” where the same singer makes a much smaller piece of the city carry a completely different mood.
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The Boy From New York City
The Ad Libs. New York gives this crush its air of sophistication, though the singer is interested in the boy himself. The lead vocal and answering harmonies make the whole thing sound like news being passed between friends.
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New York, New York (On the Town)
Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Munshin. Three sailors with a day of shore leave sing their way from landmarks to the subway. Listen for how much direction the song gives them in so little time, then compare it with Sinatra’s later, unrelated movie anthem.
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Welcome to New York (Taylor's version)
Taylor Swift. The scene opens in a crowd in the Village before the chorus widens out into a welcome to the entire city. The gleaming synths capture the anticipation of an arrival, especially next to songs by narrators who already know the neighborhood well.
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New York State of Mind
Billy Joel. Chinatown and Riverside are enough to put the singer back in the city, even while he’s taking a Greyhound along the Hudson. Let the piano set a slower pace after the louder anthems. This is music for returning somewhere you know well enough to be content just passing through.
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New York, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down
LCD Soundsystem. City life becomes a conversation between affection and irritation, with local politics among the things bothering the narrator. The piano-led start makes the climbing, noisy ending feel like an argument he’s been trying to keep quiet.
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The Only Living Boy in New York
Simon & Garfunkel. The city in the title is where the narrator is left when the person he addresses goes away. Layered voices lend a sense of open space to a song about feeling alone at home.
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Englishman in New York
Sting. Fifth Avenue is where the song’s outsider carries himself with composure. The saxophone gives the walk a swing, and the song makes the difference between standing out and feeling at home a matter of attitude.
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NYC
Interpol. The subway and its worn surroundings flicker through a track that moves much slower than its setting. Choose it for the city as somewhere you can feel alone in public, with the guitars taking time to rise around the voice.
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Respiration
Black Star featuring Common. The nighttime street details arrive over a slow guitar loop, and the verses give the city time to breathe. Listen to the city as something the narrators have learned to read from the sidewalk.
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Streets of New York
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo. The song moves through apartment buildings and sidewalks in a series of stories about people struggling to get by. The recurring piano figure ties the scenes together as the focus keeps shifting from one person to the next.
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New York Groove
Ace Frehley. A ride in a Cadillac and a stop at Third and 43rd give this record’s return to New York a Midtown destination. The foot-stomping beat is the part to put on before heading out for the evening.
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New York City Cops
The Strokes. The police in the chorus are the city’s most conspicuous presence in this noisy late-night vignette. Pick it for the early Strokes sound, when a loose vocal and a tightly repeating guitar line could make an argument sound like a night out.
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On Broadway
The Drifters. The lights lure a singer to Broadway, but the cost of staying puts the dream to a test. Listen to the spare, steady rhythm leave space for a narrator who still believes he can make it there.
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New York City Boy (radio edit)
Pet Shop Boys. Seventh Avenue meeting Broadway gives the chorus a Times Square address. The disco beat takes the song’s promise of a way out of a dull day and makes it sound like a dance-floor invitation.
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Forty-Second Street
The Boswell Sisters. The title gives the show its address in the theater district, and the sisters’ quick changes from solo lines to close harmony make the street sound crowded. A handy companion to the more reflective Broadway songs here.
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