No other city in the world has been the host of – or the inspiration for – so much popular music worldwide over the years than New York City and its famous boroughs. However, I was a surprised, after extensive searching, that a comprehensive and accessible playlist mix of great and diverse songs about New York City was nowhere to be found.
Therefore, it wasn’t difficult to figure out what needed to be done. The deeper I dug looking for songs about New York – other than the more obvious songs – the more it became apparent that a number of playlist mixes would be required to produce a good representation of New York songs.
Hopefully, New Yorkers and others will find this playlist mix series does the city justice; if you missed the first playlist NYC song mix in this series, it features songs from Lou Reed, Conor Oberst, Belle and Sebastian, LCD Soundsystem, Jay Z and others.
“Positively 4th Street” – Bob Dylan from Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits (1967)
“The Long Island Sound” – Beirut from Lon Gisland EP (2007)
“Walk On The Wild Side” (Lou Reed Live Cover) – The Strokes from unreleased (2006)
“Coney Island Cyclone” (Alternative Version) – Mercury Rev from Lego My Ego (2007)
“Downtown Train” – Tom Waits from Smoke (1985)
“Lovecraft In Brooklyn” – The Mountain Goats from Heretic Pride (2008)
“Marching Bands Of Manhattan” – Death Cab for Cutie from Plans (2005)
“Empire State” – Guster from Ganging Up On The Sun (2006)
“Bulls In Brooklyn” – The Academy Is from Santi (2007)
“Living For The City” – Stevie Wonder from Legends: Do It Again (1973)
The following video cover by YouTuber Chunnyman of “The Only Living Boy in New York” (Simon & Garfunkel) is very nicely done.
// following song links might not work// we’ll be creating new NYC Songs playlists soon. //
“Superman” – The Kinks from Low Budget (1979)
“Brooklyn” – Mos Def from Black On Both Sides (2002)
“53rd & 3rd” – The Ramones from We’re Outta Here (1976)
“One Day You’ll Dance For Me, New York City” – Thomas Dybdahl from One Day You’ll Dance For Me, New York City (2006)
“The Only Living Boy In New York” – Simon and Garfunkel from Bridge Over Troubled Water (1967)
“New York City” – John Lennon from Lennon (1990)
“Boy From New York City” – The Ad-Libs from The Boy From New York City (1965)