Frank Sinatra - New York, New York

First performance: 16/05/1988


Coverinfo

Bruce played the song 3 times:
 
 
Frank Sinatra eightieth birthday tribute concert. Bruce has a great spoken introduction about Frank Sinatra and his influence on Bruce and everybody else from New Jersey before playing an acoustic "Angel Eyes" . New York, New York was played with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Little Richard, Bono, et al.
  
 
The tour's second and final "New York, New York" is again performed instrumentally to close the show.
 
1988-05-16 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY 
The first of two "New York, New York" performances of the tour ends the show in an instrumental arrangement.
  

Songinfo

"Theme from New York, New York" (or "New York, New York") is the theme song from the Martin Scorsese film New York, New York (1977), composed by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb. It was written for and performed in the film by Liza Minnelli. It remains one of the best-known songs about New York City. In 1979, "Theme from New York, New York" was re-recorded by Frank Sinatra for his album Trilogy: Past Present Future (1980), and has since become closely associated with him. He occasionally performed it live with Minnelli as a duet. Sinatra recorded it a second time for his 1993 album Duets, with Tony Bennett.
 
 
 

Bruce on the artist

 
Bruce has a great spoken introduction about Frank Sinatra and his influence on Bruce and everybody else from New Jersey before playing an acoustic 'Angel Eyes' :
 
19.11.95 Los Angeles, CA
 
intro to 'Angel Eyes':
 
"Well, I´m here tonight,uh....not just to salute Frank´s artistry because, well....he is the patron saint of New Jersey ....and uh....since his rise from the streets of Hoboken, Frank has basically owned the place but, uh, he has been gracious enough to loan me a small of piece of it by the beach....we first met, uh, at a party about six months ago and we talked about the Jersey Shore....and I was glad to find that his conversation was still peppered with the kinds of words that´ve made our state great....so....my, uh....my first recollection of Frank´s voice was, uh.....coming out of a jukebox, it was in a dark bar on a Sunday afternoon when my mother and I went in searching for my father and uh....she said, I always remember she said, she said ´Listen to that.... that´s Frank Sinatra, he´s from New Jersey´....it, it was a voice filled, uh....it was a voice filled with bad attitude, life, beauty, excitement, nasty sense of freedom, sex and a sad knowledge of....of the ways of the world....every song seemed to have as its postscript....´And if you don´t like it, here´s a punch in the kisser´, you know....but, uh....it was the deep, the deep blueness of Frank´s voice that affected me the most....and while his music became synonymous with black tie, good life, the best booze, women, sophistication, his blues voice was always a sound of hard luck....and men late at night with the last ten dollars in their pockets trying to figure a way out....so tonight I wanna sing something from my favorite Sinatra album, ´Only the Lonely´and.....on behalf, yeah, that´s one of the greatest ones, you know, on behalf of all New Jersey, Frank, I wanna say...Hail, brother, you sang out our soul, happy birthday so....so from one Italian singer to another, from, uh.....for Ol´Blue Eyes, this is ´Angel Eyes´..."
  

Lyrics

Start spreading the news
I'm leaving today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New York

These vagabond shoes
Are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York

I wanna wake up in a city
That doesn't sleep
And find I'm king of the hill
Top of the heap

These little town blues
Are melting away
I'll make a brand new start of it
In old New York

If I can make it there
I'll make it anywhere
It's up to you
New York, New York

New York, New York

I want to wake up in a city
That never sleeps
And find I'm a number one
Top of the list
King of the hill
A number one

These little town blues
All melting away
I'm gonna make a brand new start of it
In old New York

And if I can make it there
I'm gonna make it anywhere
It's up to you
New York, New York, New York