Ryan Adams Songs - New York, New York Lyrics

Ryan Adams - New York, New York

Ryan Adams - New York, New York Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Gold
Released: 2001

New York, New York Lyrics

Well, I shuffled through the city on the 4th of July
I had a firecracker waiting to blow
Breakin' like a rocket who was makin' its way
To the cities of Mexico
Lived in an apartment out on Avenue A
I had a tar-hut on the corner of 10th
Had myself a lover who was finer than gold
But I've been broken up and busted up since

And love don't play any games with me, anymore
Like she did before
The world won't wait, so I better shake
That thing right out there through the door
Hell, I still love you, New York

Found myself a picture that would fit in the folds
Of my wallet and it stayed pretty good
Still amazed I didn't lose it on the roof of the place
When I was drunk and I was thinking of you
Every day the children they were singing their tunes
Out on the streets and you could hear from inside
Used to take the subway up to Houston and 3rd
I would wait for you and I'd try to hide

And love won't play any games with ypu, anymore
If you don't wanna 'em to
The world won't wait and I watched you shake
But honey, I don't blame you
Hell, I still love you, New York
Hell, I still love you, New York, New York

I remember Christmas in the blistering cold
In a church on the Upper West Side
Babe, I stood there singing, I was holding your arm
You were holding my trust like a child
Found a lot of trouble out on Avenue B
But I tried to keep the overhead low
Farewell to the city and the love of my life
At least we left before we had to go

And love won't play any games with you, anymore
If you don't want 'em to
So we better shake this old thing out the door
I'll always be thinkin' of you
I always love you, love New York
I always love you, love New York
I always love you, love New York
I always love you, love New York
New York, New YorkWriter/s: ADAMS, WILLIAM / ZIMMER, HANS FLORIAN
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind
New York, New York Song Chart

Adams was born and raised in North Carolina, where he was a member of the group Whiskeytown. He first moved to New York in 1999 to be closer to his girlfriend, who he wrote this about. In the song, she is "New York," hence the line, "I still love you, New York." (thanks, Andrew Nelson - Columbus, GA)

Adams and his girlfriend eventually broke up, and he ended up in Nashville. He played his first shows as a solo artist in New York.

The video features Adams lip-synching across the river from the World Trade Center. It was filmed on September 7, 2001. He dedicated the video to all those who lost their lives on September 11.

Speaking to Billboard magazine about the song in 2011, Adams said: "The song was about a lady. It's a poorly written song, I think, about my supposed time in New York in my early twenties. I always felt like it was going to be misappropriated anyway. I'm not from here, but it was like the 'silly, new New Yorker' thing to do. I just only recently started playing it again, which is pretty cool. But I play it the way I originally played it, which was on piano."

The video was inspired by a popular sitcom. Adams recalled to Billboard magazine: "The original video, we shot was in a taxi cab and it came out badly. I was a fanatic for the show Friends. Like, I've seen every episode in order. So I said, 'Can we just shoot it so it has all the angles from the Friends opening sequence, when they show the city?' If you actually look at Friends and the angles that sweep by in the opening sequence, it's pretty much exactly where I am in several of those parts of the video, in the performance part. So that was the original intention of the video, me poking fun at my Friends obsession."