“I grew up in New York City in the '80s, and it was the epicenter of hip-hop. There was no Internet. Cable television wasn't as broad. I would listen to the radio, hear cars pass by playing a song, or tape songs off of the radio. At that time, there was such an excitement around hip-hop music.” SongCitiesCarNew YorkTelevisionGrewInternetGrew UpHip HopRadioHipsExcitementHopsBroadsNew York CityTape80sCablesHip Hop Music Author:Michael Rapaport
“I took guitar lessons and recorded the song in New York. It was kind of a dream. I got to pretend I was a recording artist for a couple days.” KindDreamArtistSongNew YorkCoupleLessonsGuitar Author:Kristen Wiig
“My writing is really intuitive. As a kid, I went to school in New Jersey and hung out in New York, so the way kids used to talk got into our earlier songs.” WayWritingKidsSchoolUsedSongNew YorkHungIntuitiveJerseyNew Jersey Author:Donald Fagen
“Gershwin's melodic gift was phenomenal. His songs contain the essence of New York in the 1920s and have deservedly become classics of their kind, part of the 20th-century folk-song tradition in the sense that they are popular music which has been spread by oral tradition (for many must have sung a Gershwin song without having any idea who wrote it).” KindHas BeensIdeasSongCenturyNew YorkTraditionEssenceFolksSpread20th CenturyPhenomenalPopular MusicGershwinFolk SongsOral Tradition Author:George Gershwin
“In a pure anonymous encounter you find a world alive and full of character. In New York, the street adventures are incredible. There are a thousand stories in a single block. You see the stories in people's faces. You hear the songs immediately. Here, in Los Angeles, there are fewer characters because they are all inside automobiles.” PeopleWorldCharacterStoriesFacesSongAliveStreetsNew YorkAdventureThousandPureIncrediblesBlockEncountersLos AngelesFewerAutomobile Author:Joni Mitchell
“Being in L.A. has definitely given me the opportunity to experience how my music sounds in real life because I can drive around and listen to the mixes, which I couldnt do in New York. I get to feel how a song works in combination with a sunset and a drive through the mountains.” FeelsI CanRealSongOpportunityGivenSoundNew YorkMountainReal LifeCombinationSunsetBecause I Can Author:Dave Sitek
“I remember my first standup act when I was seventeen; I did a really lame song about being flat chested. I was doing it in New York, and I remember Kevin Brennan, the guy I lost my virginity to, was like "That song doesn't make sense, you have tits."” FirstsRememberGuySongLostNew YorkMake SenseFlatsVirginityLameSeventeenKevin Author:Sarah Silverman
“New York Times v. Sullivan was about the suppression of speech in the South [during the 1960s]. Today's version of suppression is just another verse of the same song.” TodaySongNew YorkSpeechSouthVersionsVersesFreedom Of Speech1960sNew York TimesSuppression Author:Gilbert S. Merritt, Jr.
“I went to New York and Miami and hung out by the beach, and I love the American boys, so I wrote a song about it.” SongBoysNew YorkBeachHungMiami Author:Estelle
“I think it was the perfect gestation time for this particular piece [ Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song]. One of the songs that I considered talking about was "Manhattan," because it was chronicling the end of a long relationship that was part of the reason why I moved from Los Angeles to New York, which was such a life-changing decision. I don't regret that it's not in there, but that's one that I considered diving into, and I have little piecemeal snippets of writing about that floating around” ThinkingWritingLittlesLongEndsReasonSongSoundDecisionPerfectTalkingPiecesNew YorkParticularRegretMovedLike MeReason WhyLife ChangingLos AngelesFloatingManhattanDivingDon't RegretLong RelationshipGestation Author:Sara Bareilles
“You can take a picture of New York and one person looking at it will think it looks really depressing, frightening; and someone else will look at it and think of all the fun things you can do in New York. I think songs are kinda like that.” ThinkingLooksPersonsSongFunCan DoNew YorkFrighteningDepressingFun ThingsReally Depressing Author:Elliott Smith
“New York became the first state to ban talking on hand-held cell phones while driving. First-time violators could receive a fine of $100, with an additional mandatory six-month jail sentence if your ringer plays a Latin-themed novelty song.” IfsFirstsStatesPlayHandsSongTalkingNew YorkFineMonthsSixFirst TimePhonesSentencesDrivingCellsLatinJailSix MonthsNoveltyCell PhoneBans Author:Jon Stewart
“I like the fact that I can rep New York, but my style does not - I'm not trapped in a New York thing. I can do art songs with other artists and it's seamless.” DoeArtI CanFactsArtistSongCan DoStyleNew YorkTrappedSeamless Author:Talib Kweli
“A cupcake is like a great pop song. The whole world in less than three minutes. And it's impossible to have a bad cupcake. In New York you walk everywhere. So I'm always looking, always on the eternal search for the perfect cupcake. I take them very seriously. It's like hunting and gathering for me.” WorldWholeSongThreeWalksPerfectImpossibleMinutesNew YorkEternalPopsWhole WorldHuntingGatheringPop SongCupcakes Author:Laurel Nakadate
“I think all the songs [at Moth] are about different things, but if we were to speak about it as a whole, it's really about, it's about joy, and about sensuality and vulnerability and also fun, energy, living in New York in 2015, being out of control, wanting to be in control, failing! It's a sort of story of our lives.” IfsThinkingDifferentWholeStoriesJoySongEnergySpeakFunOur LivesFailingNew YorkSensualityVulnerabilityDifferent ThingsMoths Author:Caroline Polachek
“Writing songs about it is a really useful way for me to love New York more, and stay observing it, and not just zone it out.” WayWritingSongNew YorkZoneObservingWriting Songs Author:Frankie Cosmos
“I'm writing songs about New York. A lot of them carry the names of neighborhoods in Long Island. Maspeth, Montauk. I'm getting into the idea of a F. Scott Fitzgerald-esque Long Island back when New York was...New York.” WritingLongIdeasSongNamesNew YorkIslandsNeighborhoodWriting SongsBack WhenLong IslandScott FitzgeraldMontauk Author:Zach Condon
“I was in a Broadway musical called Big Time Buck Wright.The play didn't make it but I was a success. It lasted six days but I sung four songs and there were critics, seriously, in New York who said that my part was perfect. So I can beat Joe Frazier singing.” SaidI CanPlayBigsSongPerfectFourNew YorkSixBeatsSingingCriticsMusicalBroadwayBucksBroadway Musical Author:Muhammad Ali