New York Songbook

Ladies and gentlemen, I present a Magical Mystery Tour of the Big Apple...

Actually, the inspiration for this sprang from travelling on the subway to and from Manhattan, using the express - the A Train (see my previous post); credit, too, to Bruce who has been conducting his own personal musical pilgrimage around the city in recent days. Thank you, o muse!

The journey begins in Central Park. Beatles aficionados - and readers of a certain vintage -  will recognize the reference in the blog's intro. And, of course, John Lennon was murdered in 1985 outside his apartment right across the road from this gigantic patch of green in Manhattan. This area of the park is now a Lennon memorial - Strawberry Fields - and attracts huge numbers of fans.(Hear the song: Strawberry Fields). Mark Chapman was in the news just the other day: his request for parole was declined again...

Central Park was also the venue for Simon and Garfunkel's short-lived reunion, in front of 500,000 fans. This was a benefit concert in 1981, to raise funds to restore Central Park to its former splendour. The pair weren't ready to repair their relationship, though, so they continued their separate careers for many more years.

A rare photo of the author!

We hired bikes to circumnavigate Central Park, joining thousands of others on a warm Sunday afternoon. It is a fabulous green space, about twice the size of Hagley Park, and filled with all sorts of different ways to interact with nature and other humans.

After returning the bikes, we sat on bleachers to watch a scratch game of softball, played by blokes of a certain vintage.

The next song has a more tenuous link with New York. Van Morrison's 'Coney Island' is actually in County Down, Northern.Ireland. It's a shame to let truth stand in the way of a good story, though, so - thanks, Van. (Hear the song: Coney Island).

One of Coney Island's many 'attractions' ...

We took a rattling subway train out to the peninsula of Coney Island, to the south of Brooklyn. It's an area that has been in decline after the glory years of amusement parks. But New York City has been sympathetic to its history. Some of the classic rides, such as The Cyclone, have been preserved as non-working exhibits. And there's a long stretch of white sand beach, accessed by an equally long boardwalk.

Guess who wants this t-shirt?

The pier is where serious fishing takes place. Whole families were camped there as we whiled away time there..and some were even catching fish.

The signs warning pregnant women and young children NOT to eat fish caught from the wharf were somewhat off-putting though.

Simon and Garfunkel are indelibly linked with another New York landmark, the 59th Street Bridge, which crosses the East River to link Manhattan with Queens. Though it would win no prizes for 'succinct song title of the year', the '59th St Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)'  must surely be the world's happiest song. (Here it is: Feeling Groovy)

It wasn't easy to make the pilgrimage over the 59th St Bridge. We made two attempts but both times the subway lines travelled UNDER the river. Hmmm. But we did think of the bridge and its song as we rumbled along underwater.

Our final destination was more of a stumble than a planned pilgrimage.The Hotel Chelsea, now a faded has-been that's no longer open for business, was once THE hotel of choice for your bohemian-type writers, actors and musicians.

Dylan Thomas died there, Leonard Cohen wrote a song about doing unmentionable things there with Janis Joplin, Arthur C Clarke wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey while staying there ... Wikipedia has all the details but the hotel was certainly a place of significant influence in its time. Even Madonna has called the hotel home.

Speaking of Cohen, I'm a bit of a fan, something I've come to later in life. (I used to think him way too depressing.) And I'm married to a mega-fan who has always appreciated Lennie's limited vocal range and clever-clever lyrics. We've seen him perform live in NZ, twice. He's mesmerizing on stage, and I'd rate his performance as the best live concert I've seen. Especially given that he is now in his late 70s.

But what on earth is he going on about? In keeping with the musical motif in this NYC blog, here's an extract from Cohen's 'First We Take Manhattan':

And I thank you for those items that you sent me
The monkey and the plywood violin
I practiced every night, now I'm ready
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

CODA
The highlight of our stay in New York, and the reason for including the city on our travels, has been the opportunity to see three Broadway shows.

Porgy and Bess was an unforgettable experience. So many of the the show's songs are well-known and have been covered by a multitude of artists. But to hear them in the context of the show's storyline, and sung by talented artists with an enviable vocal range, was a truly special experience.

I didn't know what to expect from Jersey Boys. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons have never graced our CD collection. It was a high-energy performance that told the story of the band effectively from different narrative points of view. And they certainly churned out catchy hit tunes. It was great fun.

Our final show, a matinee this afternoon, was different again. Newsies tells the story (loosely based on an actual event) of the boys who sold papers in New York City at the turn of last century. It has a young cast, mostly just graduated from performing arts schools and mostly male. No big names, no recognisable hit songs...yet. But a fabulous show.

That's it, folks. Showtime is over. The curtain has come down on NYC. We leave the city tomorrow morning in a rental car for a couple of days exploring upstate. Time for some big skies and wide open spaces.