Confessions of a Fanboy

I have created a playlist in honor of the 124th birthday of the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge. Why? Because it’s easy. It’s easy because there are so many New York-themed songs and bridges are the literary crutch of thousands of songwriters. The connection is easy, everyone has heard of it, and the songs are good. Can you think of better criteria for creating a playlist? Didn’t think so.

Before we get to the songs, here is a little Brooklyn Bridge trivia. Toss this around with your friends and impress them with the bulk of your vast knowledge of useless information.

It took 14 years to build the bridge and 27 people died during its construction. It was the largest suspension bridge in the world at the time it was built, crossing the East River to join Brooklyn and New York. The bridge was dedicated in a ceremony presided over by President Chester Arthur and New York Governor Grover Cleveland (himself a future President of the United States). So there you have it. Happy birthday, Brooklyn Bridge. Rather than singing “Happy Birthday,” sing a few of these songs:

• ”New York, New York” | Ryan Adams | Gold
  A song about a girll became famous and something of a rallying cry in the dark days after September 11th. Ryan Adams can be a real idiot, but he’s one hell of an artist. Gold is not my favorite album – can’t wait for the new one later this month – and this is not my favorite RA song, but it is a good one and it fits the motif.

• New York” | U2 | All That You Can’t Leave Behind
  Another album with a special connection to the post-9/11 period of American history. Many songs from this album took on such a resonance in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks that some people forget the album was nearly a year old on that terrible day. Much of the song celebrates our unique city, but as the song comes to a close it takes on a more personal tone. It has nothing to do with New York City that I prefer some of the ideas Bono’s lyrics begin exploring toward the end of the song. I think they’re more interesting. Still, this is a great song.

• ”N.Y.”| Doves | The Last Broadcast
  The Last Broadcast is one of the best albums of this decade, and most of you haven’t heard it.

• ”New York State of Mind” | Billy Joel | Greatest Hits
  All right, we segue from songs named “New York” to songs that use New York as metaphor of sorts. This is a classic melody from one of New York’s own. Great, great song. It’s easy to forget that Billy Joel is actually pretty good. Yeah, he wrote some schmaltz and he’s had a bit of a stupid, tabloid life but he did pen some truly great songs. This would be one of them,

• ”New York Minute” | The Eagles | Hell Freezes Over
  Just as it has become popular sport to kick Billy Joel, it is not cool to like The Eagles or Don Henley. For my money, he’s kind of brought some of that shit on himself. On the other hand, there are some great songs from The Eagles. This is not one of them. This song first appeared on Henley’s The End of the Innoncence album. It was performed on the first Eagles reunion tour and made part of the Hell Freezes Over album. I prefer this live performance.

• ”Englishman in New York” | Sting | Nothing Like the Sun
  This one is for Dawn from Glosslip. She is a fellow Sting fan – actually, she is not a fellow and I know this because I’ve talked to her on the phone a dozen times or more. She is a Sting fan. So am I. We are Sting fans. She likes this song more than I do, but I like it and it does fit.

• ”New York City Cops” | The Strokes | Hard to Explain
  If my information is correct, this song was pulled from Is This It due to being released on or about September 11th. The record label was afraid it wouldn’t go over well (“New York City Cops/They ain’t too smart”). They were right. NYPD became heroes in this country in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. This song is actually on the UK version of the record and was later released as a B-side.

• ”Leaving New York” | R.E.M. | Around the Sun
  Now, after all of that, we’re leaving New York. We’re leaving New York because the next two songs don’t have New York in the title. Sequencing, baby. About this song… perhaps the best song of the post-Bill Berry era. That isn’t high enough praise for this song as the competition is pretty shallow in that category. This is a great song and may well be Michael Stipe’s best vocal ever. Amazing.

• ”Bridge Over Troubled Water” | Simon & Garfunkel | Best of Simon & Garfunkel
  Who didn’t see this one coming? This is a classic from a pair of famous New York citizens.

• ”America” | David Bowie | Concert for New York
  I’ve mentioned September 11th a number of times in talking about the songs on this playlist and I’ll invoke it one last time on the final song of our playlist. There’s nothing wrong with Simon & Garfunkel’s original, but I’ll always love Bowie’s cover from the Concert for New York. Bowie’s vocal is fabulous and I love the “circus from hell” arrangement. This one affects me every time I listen to it. Every time.

I know, I know… Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.” It’s a great song and everybody knows it. Feel free to append it to the playlist or sequence it wherever you see fit.

Filed under: Tags: Doves, Ryan Adams, Sting, The Concept Album Mix Tape, U2