New York (U2 Song)
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"New York" is the tenth track from U2's 2000 album, ''
All That You Can't Leave Behind ''All That You Can't Leave Behind'' is the tenth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, and was released on 30October 2000 through Island Records and Interscope Records. Following the band's experiment ...
''. It is notable as the subject matter is a picturesque description of
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and of the people who live there, and was later altered following the events of
September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
. The song's lyrics were written by lead singer
Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...
, who has a residence in New York City.


Writing and recording

"New York" originated from a drum pattern developed by drummer
Larry Mullen Jr. Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. (; born 31 October 1961) is an Irish musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band U2. Mullen was born in Dublin, where he attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School. In 1976, he co-founded U2 ...
during downtime between writing and recording.McCormick (2006), p. 300 The members of U2 liked it but had difficulty finding a song into which they could incorporate it.Stokes (2005), pp. 159–160 At the request of Mullen, their recording engineer created a
loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, an ...
of the pattern. While the band were stuck in a long meeting upstairs in the studio, producers
Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
and
Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie ...
continued to work on music downstairs. Eno cued up Mullen's drum loop and added "fog horn" sounds over it, while Lanois developed guitar chords. When the band's meeting concluded, they returned to the studio and were inspired by what they heard. They added their own instrumentals in a
jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without exte ...
, while lead singer
Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...
developed vocals at the microphone. Lanois said that the song came together very quickly and was a good example of the producers' creative process with U2: "I think we work best like that: Eno and I provide the sonics for the band, they come in and respond to the invitation." Bassist
Adam Clayton Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. Cla ...
said that like many of the group's songs, the jam recording was subsequently edited into a song arrangement that they learned to play. During the guitar-heavy sections of the song, guitarist
the Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is an English-born Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing voca ...
used a Japanese
effects unit An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in el ...
by Sobatt; he described it as: "so extreme. You step on it and all hell breaks loose." Bono has stated that the song is a tribute of sorts to both
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
and
Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...
. "There was a verse about Lou Reed, that didn't make it, and a verse about Frank Sinatra (that also didn't make it). And Lou has an album called ''
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
'', and he mentions my name on one of the tracks, "Beginning of a Great Adventure". And I just think he is to New York what
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
was to
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
." In another interview, Bono elaborated further on the song's theme of "
mid-life crisis A midlife crisis is a transition of identity and self-confidence that can occur in middle-aged individuals, typically 40 to 60 years old. The phenomenon is described as a psychological crisis brought about by events that highlight a person's grow ...
": "There used to be a verse at the end about Frank Sinatra, because if I was going to be singing about
New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...
, I felt like I should. It went "When I'm down on my luck / I sometimes think of Frank Sinatra / I met him once / He was more than generous / At dinner one evening he found a blue paper napkin ... and he stared at it and said to no one in particular, I remember when my eyes were this blue." Which is how the song ended. ... But I took out that scene because I didn't want people to think the song was autobiographical—you know, I did that song with him and everything (on ''
Duets A duet is a musical composition or piece for two performers. Duets or The Duets may also refer to: Films and television * ''Duets'' (film), a 2000 film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti and Huey Lewis * "Duets" (''Glee''), a 2010 episod ...
'')."


Live performances

U2 has played the song "New York" live 120 times. The song debuted on 19 October 2000 at the ManRay club in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, as part of a promotional concert for the October 30 release of ''All That You Can't Leave Behind''. Following the events of 11 September 2001, several lyrics were altered in subsequent live performances. The song has not been played since the end of the Elevation Tour, with the last performance taking place on 2 December 2001.U2 Vertigo Tour
- set list from Dec. 2, 2001
A live version is included on the DVD '' Elevation 2001: U2 Live from Boston''.


References

Footnotes Bibliography * * {{authority control U2 songs Songs about New York City Song recordings produced by Brian Eno 2000 songs Songs written by Bono Songs written by the Edge Songs written by Adam Clayton Songs written by Larry Mullen Jr. Song recordings produced by Daniel Lanois