Before I begin this playlist, I would like to apologize for not really blogging the past two weeks. School and life kept me busy and I haven’t had enough time to write anything. And now on with the tribute.
Recently on this 9/11 10th anniversary, I’ve seen several posts on blogs, web sites, and social networking profiles where friends of mine discussed their thoughts on where they were and what they thought of this tragic day. While my own thoughts were a bit confusing on the day of 9/11/2001 itself, I do remember tributes to New York afterwards, and the overarching belief that the US should help New York heal and that the citizens should reach outto each other; for the record, I agree. While much has changed because of 9/11, New York and the US have shown that they are survivors. To this end, I would like to make a tribute to New York in playlist form. Before I begin I would like to thank musician/actor/dj Steven VanZandt for indirectly inspiring this; he does a tribute to New York every year around 9/11 on his radio show.
Frank Sinatra- “New York New York”: Obvious choice this one, I’m sure, but a great tribute to the city; I thought I start the playlist with this.
Simon & Garfunkel: “The Only Living Boy in New York”: A more lonely song, but pretty nonetheless. Disclosure: I hadn’t heard this song before looking for songs for this post.
Dion-“King of the New York Streets”: Steven VanZandt played this singer and songwriter’s music during his New York tribute; I’m not sure if he played this song though. Unlike the first two singers, Dion is a New York native.
John Lennon-“New York City”: This man is definitely not from New York City, but anyone who knows of his life and death would know that he is very much connected to it.
The Ramones “Sheena is a Punk Rocker”: I waffled between including this or there song “Rockaway Beach,” or I could’ve included “53rd and 3rd” which admittedly is a darker, if no less catchier, song, but something about the line “New York City really has it all” really caught me. The Ramones are also a NYC band as is…
The Velvet Underground “I’m Waiting for the Man”: The Velvet Underground and it’s frontman Lu Reed are known for New York City; I saw Lu Reed in concert—which was awesome—and he did songs which definitely had a NYC character about them; a friend of mine called his music New York gospel music.
And now I think I’ll end this playlist. I could’ve included many more songs, but I’d like to save some for future posts on NYC tributes; I hope to make this playlist posting a regular feature. I put together this playlist to show how New York has managed to survive in the hearts, minds, and popular imaginations of people the world over. Luckily, the tragedy of 9/11 did not dampen either NYC’s or the US’s spirit, and for that I’m glad. I think it is sad to note how people have become more fearful and prejudiced since then, but I’ll save that for another post. Stay strong everyone.
Update: No unlike what my roomate thinks, I don’t only listen to older music. *laugh* 😉 Of course you might not be able to guesss from this list.
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