[assorted]

I my favorite nyc songs with specific references inside nyc, probably since it's where i live...

People Who Died
By Jim Carroll

Teddy sniffing glue he was 12 years old
Fell from the roof on East Two-nine
Cathy was 11 when she pulled the plug
On 26 reds and a bottle of wine
Bobby got leukemia, 14 years old
He looked like 65 when he died
He was a friend of mine

Refrain:
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends, and they died

G-berg and Georgie let their gimmicks go rotten
So they died of hepatitis in upper Manhattan
Sly in Vietnam took a bullet in the head
Bobby OD'd on Drano on the night that he was wed
They were two more friends of mine
Two more friends that died / I miss 'em--they died

Repeat Refrain

Mary took a dry dive from a hotel room
Bobby hung himself from a cell in the tombs
Judy jumped in front of a subway train
Eddie got slit in the jugular vein
And Eddie, I miss you more than all the others,
And I salute you brother/ This song is for you my brother

Repeat Refrain

Herbie pushed Tony from the Boys' Club roof
Tony thought that his rage was just some goof
But Herbie sure gave Tony some bitchen proof
"Hey," Herbie said, "Tony, can you fly?"
But Tony couldn't fly . . . Tony died

Repeat Refrain:

Brian got busted on a narco rap
He beat the rap by rattin' on some bikers
He said, hey, I know it's dangerous,
but it sure beats Riker's
But the next day he got offed
by the very same bikers

Repeat Refrain; repeat song to Eddie

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famous blue raincoat
by Leonard Cohen

It's four in the morning, the end of December
I'm writing you now just to see if you're better
New York is cold, but I like where I'm living
There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening.

I hear that you're building your little house deep in the desert
You're living for nothing now, I hope you're keeping some kind of record.

Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You'd been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without Lili Marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody's wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane's awake --

She sends her regards.

And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you,
I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear --

Sincerely, L Cohen

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53rd & 3rd
Dee Dee Ramone

If you think you can, well come on man
I was a Green Beret in Vietnam
No more of your fairy stories
'Cause I got my other worries

53rd and 3rd Standing on the street
53rd and 3rd I'm tryin' to turn a trick
53rd and 3rd You're the one they never pick
53rd and 3rd Don't it make you feel sick?

Then I took out my razor blade
Then I did what God forbade
Now the cops are after me
But I proved that I'm no sissy

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"People Who Died" is just a great Jim Carroll song and a fun "gritty nyc song." The kind of song that scares people about NY which is why it's so much fun.

"Famous Blue Raincoat" is just a fucking great poem by itself; forget about the song or New York. Even though NY isn't so much a principle character, the idea of place is. Him being in NYC in the winter and his friend now being in the desert creates a nice stark contrast in landscape from the beginning of how seperate and far away they are now; both physically and emotionally by his actions.

"53rd and 3rd" is no longer a street for male prostitutes at all. That seedy element of NYC is pretty much gone now. However it was when Dee Dee Ramone was a teenager and allegedly he did try standing out there turning tricks for $$. Whether he was ever picked up or not is up for debate; but it's pretty certain even though he was known for always carrying a knife; he never actually stabbed anyone. Then again, I guess one never knows. Still, reading the lyrics to "53rd and 3rd" still gives me a chill.