Song Lyric Sunday – Album Closers

Great songs that closed albums is the theme for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, hosyed by our friend Jim Adams. I have picked New York, New York by Frank Sinatra. It was the final song on his Trilogy: Past, Present and Future album released in 1980. It’s a favorite song for one of my favorite cities. So good they named it twice! Old Blue-eyes never disappointed. To me, the live version is better than the recorded one. What do you think?

The Song

Although many people associate this song with Frank Sinatra, it was Liza Minnelli who debuted it in the 1977 film of the same name, which was directed by Martin Scorsese and starred Minnelli and Robert De Niro as musicians and lovers. It was written for the film by John Kander and Fred Ebb, who wrote many songs for her, including the Cabaret songs “Maybe This Time” and “Yes.”

Released as a single, Minnelli’s version went to #104 in 1977.

Frank Sinatra began performing this in 1978 at concerts in New York’s Radio City Music Hall. His version was released on his 1980 triple album Trilogy: Past, Present and Future, and was the final song. The album was highly acclaimed and brought the singer back in the public eye. “New York, New York” quickly became one of Sinatra’s signature songs.

While many songs have been written about New York City, no song has captured the pride and elegance of the city quite like this one. The lyrics, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere” sum up what many New Yorkers feel about their city: competition is intense, but success there is richly rewarded and very satisfying. The song stresses personal responsibility in the line, “It’s up to you, New York, New York,” as it’s a place where you can’t expect a handout but have an opportunity to succeed no matter who you are. This song also popularized New York as the “City that never sleeps,” which is true in the literal sense that many businesses are open 24 hours but also in the figurative sense that you are expected to always be at your best.

The song is written from the perspective of an entertainer who leaves a small town and tries to make it in the city. Instead of obsessing over the difficulties he will face, he embraces the challenges in anticipation of a new life in a vibrant city.

Sinatra is from Hoboken, New Jersey, which is a suburb of New York City. By 1978 he had established himself as a legend in the entertainment industry, and his performance of this song gave it a credibility that no other singer could have brought (Tony Bennett had already aligned himself with San Francisco). Sinatra was very popular in Las Vegas, but he made it clear with this song that you needed to be even better to perform in New York. He carried himself with a swagger and was known as a leader with lots of connections. If anyone could sing about winning, and doing it in style, it was Sinatra.

New York has two major league baseball teams: The Mets and The Yankees. The Mets are considered more of a working-class team and tend to represent areas like Queens, Long Island and to some extent, New Jersey. The Yankees are more associated with Manhattan, which is the hub of activity in New York City. The Yankees consistently have the biggest payroll in baseball and have won the most championships. They, of course, appropriated “New York, New York,” which they play after every home game, win or lose.

This was the last hit song Sinatra released. He was one of the most popular singers of the 1940s and 1950s, but took a hit when rock and roll music took hold. Still, he retained an enormous audience that preferred his meticulously crafted orchestral songs to the guitar rock and teen pop that was taking hold. In 1980, he was 64 years old – many decades past most artists on the charts. Still, he cracked the Top 40 with “New York, New York,” a song that could have been a hit 30 years earlier. It reached #32 on June 14, 1980.

In 1993, Sinatra recorded this with Tony Bennett for Sinatra’s album Duets. In 2006, Michael Bolton covered this for his tribute album Bolton Swings Sinatra.
Sinatra’s version was nominated for a Grammy Award for Record Of The Year. It lost to “Sailing” by Christopher Cross. “Someone joked that I beat Sinatra, so I’d better watch my back,” Cross told Songfacts.

In February 1985, New York’s Mayor Edward I. Koch proclaimed this song as the city’s official anthem, though it was never actually made official. The song played at Koch’s funeral service in 2013.

The Lyrics

Start spreadin' the news, I'm leavin' today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New York

These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York

I wanna to wake up, in a city that doesn't sleep
And find I'm king of the hill
Top of the heap
These little town blues
Are melting away
I'll make a brand new start of it
In old New York

If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere
It's up to you, New York, New York
New York, New York

I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps
And find I'm a number one, top of the list
King of the hill, a number one

These little town blues, are melting away
I'm gonna make a brand new start of it
In old New York

And
If I can make it there
I'm gonna make it anywhere
It's up to you, New York
New York
New York

Writer/s: Adolph Green, Betty Comden, Leonard Bernstein
Publisher: BMG Rights Management, Kanjian Music, Royalty Network, Songtrust Ave, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind