Empire State of Mind

[Editor's note: Steve Bramucci, our #NYCGO Writing Contest Grand Prize winner is guest blogging.]

Even before the dates are set, I have to admit that I'm ridiculously excited for my two-week writing residency in New York City. It'll be my first trip back since teaching high school in Queens and living in Brooklyn in 2001-2002.

My I-pod now features a playlist titled "Empire State of Mind" that I've been running on repeat for the past week. In its own way, each song leaves me eager to explore the nooks and crannies of the five boroughs during my trip.

Here's the list as it stands-- post a few of your favorites in the comments so I can give them a spin:

1. Empire State of Mind (Jay-Z w/Alicia Keys): If you even remotely like rap music and have at least the slightest affection for New York, you'll love this track. East Coast rappers supply us with a steady stream of songs about New York but in my mind this one towers over them all. Every time I hear it, I think back on when I taught in Queens and had my students write a persuasive essay on a topic of their choice. On the day the papers were due I found that not one, not two but five different students had decided to write their essay on "Why Jay-Z is the King of New York" Obviously, they convinced me.
2. New York, New York (Frank Sinatra): This pick might seem a little too easy but you can't make a New York playlist without Frank. Part of my love for this song comes for the fact that it's so popular in karaoke bars around the world. By my count, I've heard it belted out in Mexico, Kenya, Thailand, Australia and Fiji. It's not the amateur karaoke singers who take on Old Blue Eyes either, it's always the regulars.
3. Chelsea Hotel #2 (Leonard Cohen): This song is delicate and honest and beautiful. Out here in California we love our sensitive songwriters, full of hope and longing-- but the edges of their songs sometimes end up softened by sunshine and excellent avocados. With a song like this everything is sharp and direct and cuts to the bone. I've never been to the Chelsea Hotel but having a drink in the lobby is definitely on my list.
4. Rhapsody in Blue (George Gershwin): On the theme of this piece Gershwin said, "I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness." From my experience in New York during the aftermath of September 11th, I would offer that the those phrases could be used to describe the city itself.
5. Autumn in New York (Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong): Every time I hear Louis's voice come rumbling in after the Ella's first verse (which is pure honey), I start clicking away on the computer to look for flight deals to New York between September and November. The song makes me want to get lost in Central Park watching the leaves turn burnt orange.
6. Me & Julio Down by the Schoolyard (Paul Simon): Paul Simon once did a music video for this song featuring Biz Markee and Spud Webb (seriously)-- but for me the images associated with the music always come from the movie The Royal Tennebaums. New York always feels exciting-- but this song (and Wes Anderson's movie) make it seem exciting in a whimsical, fresh way that I can't get enough of.
7. People Who Died (Jim Carroll): My introduction to New York City came from a book by Jim Carroll called The Basketball Diaries. It's still one of my favorite books and I'm a big fan of the movie too. The movie featured a scene with this song written and performed by the author himself. I could elaborate on what the song is about, but better to just say that it rocks and leave it at that.
8. Lua (Bright Eyes).
9. Rockaway Beach (The Ramones).
10. Coney Island Baby (Lou Reed).
11. Hello Brooklyn (The Beastie Boys).
12. New York- Ya Out There? (Rakim).

I look forward to hearing your favorite New York tracks and adding them to my list.

--Steve

[Editor's note: I'd add five: Take the A Train (Ellington/Strayhorn), I'll Take New York (Tom Waits), The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side (Magnetic Fields), My My Metrocard (Le Tigre), and Un Verano en Nueva York (El Gran Combo)]