# A musical map of New York City **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316 "2014-01-08T21:32:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/21 "2014-01-08T23:58:10Z")
George M. Cohan’s “Give My Regards to Broadway” has the line “Remember me to Herald Square,” a specific location. Loudon Wainwright III’s “Uptown” has a lot of specific mentions: > [@Loudon Wainwright III](#): > > Well, lets go fly a kite in Central Park > Go & see a Shakespeare play > Have a lot of fun at the planetarium > And museum all the blues away > Well, Rockefeller Center and the UN too > Baby don’t make me wait > I want to elevate up & down with you > In the building of the Empire State > > Well, we’ll eat dinner at your favorite Schrafft’s > Somebody gonna shine my shoes > Then we’l pop into Playland for pinball laughs > And read the Allied Chemical News > Le’s go to Radio City Music Hall > To catch the Rockettes of renown > Then we get to The Garden for some basketball > Or a fight for the heavyweight crown. It’s a bit dated, but the “Allied Chemical News” is a reference to Times Square; the Allied Chemical Building was there in the 60s, and had a news ticker outside it. From \*\*On the Town \*\*(many of these were gone when the show was written). > [@](#): > > Let’s go to Cleopatra’s Needle. > Let’s see Wanamaker’s Store. > Let’s go to Lindy’s, go to Luchow’s; > Let’s see Radio City and Herald Square. > Go to Reuben’s! Go to Macy’s! > To the Roxy! Cloisters! Gimbel’s! > Flatiron Building! Hippodrome!! ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/22 "2014-01-09T01:17:13Z")
“Did you ever see a sheep in a porkpie hat? Ever see a lemming dressed all in black? [. . .] Just take a walk down St. Mark’s Place.” _I Went Walking_ by Rank & File (early eighties? Can’t remember for sure). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/23 "2014-01-09T01:18:57Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > That’s Rodgers and Hart, not the Gershwins, but it’s a great example. :smack::smack::smack::smack::smack: Damn, I knew that. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/24 "2014-01-09T01:37:14Z")
I’m sorry I didn’t follow the directions in the OP. My only excuse is that I’m stupid and do not read English very good. And now I can’t think of a single song with cross streets in it. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/25 "2014-01-09T01:37:41Z")
“But before we hit East 7th Street we are going to another disco” She also mentions specific places in the song “AM/PM, Pyramid, Roxy, Mudd Club, Danceteria” Nina Hagen - [“New York New York”](http://youtu.be/ZoahTALEhHY) (not for the faint of heart) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/26 "2014-01-09T01:43:39Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I’m sorry I didn’t follow the directions in the OP. My only excuse is that I’m stupid and do not read English very good. Oh, same here. Sorry **Flying Saucer**. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/27 "2014-01-09T02:04:41Z")
“Small Talk at 125th and Lenox” - Gil Scott-Heron ---
**Author:** ![Brynhildr\_Budladottir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Brynhildr\_Budladottir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynhildr_Budladottir)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/28 "2014-01-09T03:11:30Z")
More Billy Joel: 52nd Street. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/29 "2014-01-09T03:41:33Z")
From Irving Berlin’s “Putin’ on the Ritz”: “Have you seen the well-to-do up on **Lenox Avenue**? On that famous thoroughfare with their noses in the air.” ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/30 "2014-01-09T04:31:28Z")
I guess the Green Acres Theme Song doesn’t qualify. “Dah-ling I love you but give me Park Avenue” ---
**Author:** ![minionkat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@minionkat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minionkat)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/31 "2014-01-09T04:46:33Z")
_ **The Dakota** _ by Christine Lavin “We drove up along Third Avenue, crossed through Central Park. When we came out at Seventy second Street, I felt a cold chill in my heart.” ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/32 "2014-01-09T05:58:07Z")
There’s “Washington Square,” the instrumental by The Village Stompers. Counting Crows has a song of the same name that definitely references this New York City location. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/33 "2014-01-09T08:00:41Z")
> [@minionkat](#): > > _ **The Dakota** _ by Christine Lavin > > “We drove up along Third Avenue, crossed through Central Park. > When we came out at Seventy second Street, > I felt a cold chill in my heart.” Also by Christine Lavin… > [@](#): > > This song is called "Regretting what I said to you when you called me at 11:00 > on Friday morning to tell me that 1:00 Friday afternoon you were gonna leave > your office, go downstairs, hail a cab, to go out to the airport, to catch a > plane, to go skiing in the Alps for two weeks. Not that I wanted to go with you; > I wasn’t able to leave town, I’m not a very good skier, I couldn’t expect you to > pay my way, but after going out with you for three years, I don’t like surprises. > (And it’s subtitled “A Musical Apology”. In this song, I attempt to take back > everything I said while standing in a phone booth at the corner of 49th and 3rd) There’s also _New York City_, originally by Cub > [@](#): > > Statue of Liberty, Staten Island ferry > (… ??\* …), Breakfast at Tiffany’s > Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge > The Empire State where King Kong lives > Coney Island and Times Square > Rockefeller Centre > Wish I was there and the lyrics were slightly changed when covered by They Might Be Giants > [@](#): > > Statue of Liberty, Staten Island Ferry, Co-op City, Katz’s and Tiffany’s\* > Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, The Empire State where Dylan lived\*\* > Coney Island and Times Square, Rockefeller Center > Wish I was there ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/34 "2014-01-09T12:16:32Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > 5 > The Boxer – Simon and Garfunkel (“just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue”) That’s a popular street, musically. In “Shattered,” the Stones sing “I can’t give it away on 7th Avenue.” ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/35 "2014-01-09T14:05:40Z")
“True Dreams of Witchita” by Soul Coughing talks about “the arms of the Williamsburg Bridge.” ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/36 "2014-01-09T14:32:37Z")
You might appreciate this: [Street Art Project Maps Rap Lyric Shout Outs Around NYC](http://gothamist.com/2013/03/25/rap_quotes_project_brings_rap_lyric.php#photo-1) > [@](#): > > The idea is simple, and the result is sort of amazing: [street artist Jay Shells] has taken rap lyrics that mention specific locations around New York City, created signs with those lyrics, and has installed them at their appropriate locations. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/37 "2014-01-09T14:39:14Z")
I’m trying to think of songs that mention a specific building. If you expanded this to include entire housing projects, that opens up a lot of hip hop. “This ain’t the Mudd Club/Or CBGBs” – Talking Heads, Life During Wartime “You think it’s swell playing Max’s Kansas / You’re looking bored and you’re acting flash” – Sex Pistols, New York “I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel / you were talking so brave and so sweet” Leonard Cohen, Chelsea Hotel #2 "Me moving over there and then me moving over here / The name of this routine is called “Live At Union Square” – Boogie Down Productions, “The Bridge Is Over” “They tried again outside in Cedar Park / Power from a street light made the place dark” --BDP, “South Bronx” “Shea Stadium the radium E M D squared / Kicked out of the Palladium you think that I cared?” --Beastie Boys, The Sound of Science “In the corner of my eye / I saw you in Rudy’s / You were very high” – Steely Dan, Black Cow (Rudy’s Bar and Grill at 627 9th Ave) "Next I took the Express to 86th and Lex Flexed my Metrocard back in my wallet and Walked to the Metropolitan, The Great Hall Had hundreds of boys straight out of _Eightball_ …I hope they don’t catch us in the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing when Paulus brings the mattress in–rudely He backlashed my booty like I was Susan Faludi over the Grace Rainey Rogers Room rostrum" –MC Paul Barman, I’m Fricking Awesome There’s a Dave Van Ronk songs called “Gaslight Rag” that’s all about the folk club. There’s also a jazz tune called “Lullaby of Birdland” about the jazz club – probably a lot more of those. I think there’s a Weather Report tune called “Birdland.”) ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/38 "2014-01-09T14:57:42Z")
“Darrio, won’t you take me down to Studio … 54?” --Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Darrio “Long hair at Madison Square” --Paul McCartney, Rockshow Suzanne Vega, “Tom’s Diner” (2880 Broadway) The Roches, “Face Down at Folk City” (11 West 4th Street) Duke Ellington, Cotton Club Stomp Count Basie, Stompin’ at the Savoy ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/39 "2014-01-09T15:29:10Z")
Looks like there’s a couple of songs named after “Grand Central Station.” The Mary Chapin Carpenter one mentions “I made my way out onto forty-second street.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316/40 "2014-01-09T16:00:50Z")
Run-DMC regularly mentioned parts of Hollis, St. Alban’s and Jamaica, three larely black, middle-class neighborhoods in Queens. “My Adidas” mentions 205th Street in Hollis, while “Christmas in Hollis” mentions Hollis Avenue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-musical-map-of-new-york-city/678316.md?page=3)