15 Songs That Will Make You Want To Move To New York

The title “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” along with the mid tempo melody sounds a bit sad but really James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem is singing about how hard it is to separate yourself from New York once you’ve already fallen in love with it. Everyday New Yorkers experience things that frustrate us so much that we swear we’re going to get out of this crazy place as soon as possible, but we just can’t seem to do it.

It’s filthy, expensive, and people in this city can be rude but the extreme positives still manage to outweigh all of the negatives. If you don't have a love/hate relationship with New York City, you're probably doing it wrong.

Rappers are always trying to put their city on their back in whatever they do. You should be proud of your hometown so what better way to show it than to dedicate a song to it? On his debut studio album Long. Live. A$AP, A$AP Rocky named a song after the main form of transportation to his side of Harlem: the 1 train. Although Rocky managed to round up six other rappers to be on “1 Train” only three of all seven artists on the track are actually from New York. Rocky himself, Joey Bada$$, and Action Bronson all hail from different parts of New York while Kendrick Lamar, Danny Brown, Big K.R.I.T. and Yelawolf are all the out of towners on the track.

A$AP Rocky said that he wanted to make something that sounded like a ‘90s posse cut and this was the successful result. And it wouldn’t be a proper salute to New York without a title that references the city. There is little more New York than the subway (slow, inconsistent, and smelly as it it). But maybe whenever you finally do make it to New York to live out your hip-hop dreams, you should consider hopping on the 2 or 3 train instead because apparently, “anything is better than that 1 train.”

Overall, New York is a very fast paced city, but every once in a while taking the time to just slow down becomes necessary. This need to relax happens to many of us as soon as the leaves begin to fall and the weather cools. After an eventful summer that seems like it went by too quickly, we’re all more tired than we’d really like to admit. As the temperatures begin to cool down and the parks become less crowded, the streets get a little quieter (at least for New York’s standards) and we can think a little clearer.

Billie Holiday’s 1952 single “Autumn in New York” is the perfect soundtrack to this time of year. The track features a down tempo melody played on a piano and Billie’s raspy but sultry voice which completes the calming feeling of it all.

When you’re in New York you do a lot of walking, so finding the perfect music for every pace seems a bit ridiculous but it’s quite necessary to help you get through the day. “Autumn in New York” can either be played during a lonesome stroll through Central Park or it can be used to calm your nerves during rush hour. Either way, this is one of the many New York songs that needs to be added to your playlist.

The acronym "C.R.E.A.M." (that's “Cash Rules Everything Around Me”) has become a universal motto for many people but it feels especially true in New York. There’s two sides its meaning, either you can’t afford to do anything because you’re literally living paycheck to paycheck in this expensive city or you’re running things because of how much money you have.

Regardless of which side of the fence you’re on, it’s still the money that holds all the power. When Wu-Tang Clan came out with “C.R.E.A.M.” back in 1994 they probably had no idea how relevant the term would still be twenty years later. As the cost of living only continues to increase, it’s safe to say that this song will forever be relevant.

Even if we're on the struggling side of this motto, we're not leaving this city until we finally know what what it's like to be on the other side, having completed a come-up to rival Wu-Tang's.

New Yorkers tend to have a love/hate relationship with the NYPD. And by love/hate relationship I mean, we all love to watch Law & Order: SVU marathons but aren’t too fond of the real life officers.

The Strokes managed to sum up those feelings in just two lines, “New York City cops, they ain’t too smart.” Sure, it’s not the truth about every single officer but hey, majority rules. Most people probably wouldn’t want to live in an area where these are the kind of lyrics being sung about their police force, but it’s this spirit of rebellion and angst that makes the song, as well as the city, such a mecca for young people.

If you’re dying to leave your small hometown and come to a place where you can break free, New York is the place. Rebelling against stupid rules is one of the first unofficial steps, this song just gives you some encouragement. Hey, maybe you can even buy a leather jacket like Julian Casablancas' when you get here.

New York City is filled with an endless amount of young people trying to get their lives together. It’s a process that can take longer than many of us would like, but as we try to find ourselves, we end up meeting other people just as lost as us that we can bond with. Childish Gambino’s “L.E.S.” is directed to that exact crowd. It’s the soundtrack to another random night in the city: hanging with your friends at the bar again, having weird drunken interactions, meeting more phony people than you can count on one hand, and so on.

For the 20-somethings of NYC, the things Gambino refers to in “L.E.S.” is all too familiar. The visuals in the music video coincide perfectly with the song and shows how spontaneous a night in New York City can truly be. Maybe one day we’ll all finally get our shit together but in the meantime we’re just going to try and enjoy our youth.

There are two kinds of people: ones that think of Nas and ones that think of Billy Joel when they hear the words, “New York State of Mind.” Though the two songs are completely different, they both represent the broad variety of experiences a New Yorker goes through.

Billy Joel’s version described a simpler way of life while Nas' version didn't shy away from telling of the daily hardships that go on in the city. For people who only get to see New York City in movies, everything can seem perfect. It’s the city where dreams are achieved and stars are made. But in reality, it’s also the city where thousands of people struggle every day just to get by—sometimes by any means necessary.

Billy Joel may have been singing about the lovely big apple but Nas’ story depicted New York’s other nickname—the rotten apple. Nas abruptly brings everyone back down to reality when he ends his first verse with, “I think of crime when I’m in a New York state of mind.” Still, for all its imperfections, there's nowhere like NYC.

When Lana Del Rey was only 18 years old, she moved to the Bronx to attend Fordham University. Although she’s a native New Yorker, being by yourself in any big city can feel very lonely. The experience inspired her to write “Fordham Road”—a track that was never officially released but surfaced a couple years ago. The song is a very simplistic folk song, reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, that is perfect for a calm but lonesome walk home. Even though Lana says it’s a bad neighborhood, she still manages to find the bright side of it all.

She sings about finding a dollar which is just enough for her to afford a cup of coffee and at the end of the day she says, “And I like it when it’s me at night ‘cause that’s when all the stars come out.” Lana proves that even the bad sides of town have something special about them. For someone new to the city, “Fordham Road” might be the reassurance you need to let you know you can make it on your own.

Anyone who has to depend on public transportation on a daily basis knows that there is nothing charming about it. And yet, Vampire Weekend found a way to make it seem like it is. “M79” is about and named after one of the many bus routes that travels through parts of New York City. Regardless if you personally commute by bus or train, the struggle is universal. But when lead singer Ezra Koenig opens up the song with a painful truth like, “It’s gonna take a little time, while you’re waiting like a factory line,” the cheerful melody makes it difficult to feel anything but upbeat. And perhaps that’s the point of this song after all. Commuting on a daily basis can put a lot of strain on a person, “M79” is the sort of song that makes you feel like maybe everything will be alright.

There are endless amounts of songs about Brooklyn and New York City but how many times does Staten Island get a shout out? Not often, unless it’s from Wu-Tang Clan. Well now, thanks to SBTRKT and Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, Staten Island recently got another shout out—New Dorp, Staten Island to be exact. Why this specific neighborhood? We’re not sure but then again, why not? New York is a big place, there a plenty of lesser known locations just waiting to get their shine. It was only a matter of time before someone decided to make a song about one of them.

If there’s theres anything about “New Dorp, New York” specifically that would make you want to move to NYC it would probably be the production of the song itself. It’s strange but uniquely inviting, just like the city. The combination of the beat and Ezra’s voice is hypnotic enough to put you in a trance that will have you packing your bags and on your way to the "peak of the Empire, top of the rock" in no time.

There are a lot of tales about how great of a city New York is and although many of them are true, every once in a while it’s time to take your head out of the clouds. In 1978, George Benson recorded a version of “On Broadway” that was equally truthful and uplifting. For someone with dreams of finally moving to NYC in order to follow their dreams it may be hard to hear lyrics like, “They say there’s always magic in the air / But when you’re walking down that street / And you ain’t had enough to eat / The glitter rubs right off and you’re nowhere,” but it’s important you know what you’re in for.

However, Benson wasn’t giving up on his dreams and neither should you. “On Broadway” is merely him truthfully depicting the sacrifices one has to make in order to finally achieve their goals. Benson ends the song with a sentiment that many young hopefuls who live here can relate to: “I won’t quit till I’m a star!” And with such a groovy bassline, it’s hard to not feel better about yourself once the song has come to an end.

“No Sleep Till Brooklyn” can actually be taken very literally if you live in New York already. Picture this: it’s another really late night out and the trains are extremely scarce, so you could be waiting for quite a while to get back home to Brooklyn and finally get some rest. And God forbid you have to depend on the seemingly nonexistent G train—you may never see home again.

The Beastie Boys were a reflection of the city they called home—brash, loud, and in your face—and although this song is actually about tour life, it's raucous energy is what you need to blow away the tiredness and get you ready to party again.

Perfect, because this is the city that never sleeps after all.

There may not be any lyrics in Kings of Leon’s song “Manhattan” that are specific to the NYC but something about still makes it feel like it was appropriately titled. There are various sounds, sights and feelings within this big city and this is an aural representation of some of them. The opening line about trying to summon the day by dancing all night feels very familiar.

There are many times when you may plan to get home before the sun rises, but you soon learn that the sun always wins. “Manhattan” sounds like the soundtrack to the ride home from a night out as you watch the sun begin to rise and brighten up the big city once again.

Being from Long Island, I can personally tell you that we don’t really get much recognition during conversations about New York. Whenever you go to a concert in the city they’ll ask if anyone in the crowd is from the Bronx, Queens, Harlem, Staten Island, Brooklyn (of course), and even New Jersey. But if you’re waiting for a Long Island shout out, don’t hold your breath.

The most love LI has probably ever seen musically is from De La Soul who are Long Island natives themselves. When it comes to TV and movies, mentions of the island are also scarce unless it’s about the beloved Hamptons. So hearing De La Soul rap about the little towns that may be completely unknown to anyone who only knows about the five boroughs is enough to make us locals feel proud. And for the out of towners, this is a good reminder or lesson that there’s more to New York than Brooklyn and Manhattan.

So, if the prices of city apartments are getting you down, cheer up because you’ve got a lot more options.

You expected this song, of course you did. It’s a given really but how could we list songs about New York without mentioning the most famous one of all? Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” is pretty much the city’s unofficial anthem. It’s been in every movie and video montage about NYC for as long as you can remember because it’s the ultimate soundtrack to the city.

It doesn’t matter if you were born here or just moved yesterday, when this song comes on you’re going to feel inspired all over again. “If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere,” is a mentality that has been burned into many of our brains. Because, to be honest, it’s really the truth. Every day, more creative minds come to New York to try to meet the right people on their path to success. If this song doesn’t make you want to immediately pack a bag and get to New York as soon as possible, I’m not sure any other song will.