Living in New York City requires a certain level of confidence and grit, and this was especially true during the 1980s, when drug use and crime were at an all-time high. This was a decade full of pain and struggle—certainly not the city’s most shining era. But there was still joy and opportunity waiting in the Big Apple, and we used music to celebrate these silver linings.
If you didn’t already consider yourself a New Yorker in the 1980s, then these four songs about New York City would make you wish you did.
“Empire State” by Fleetwood Mac
“Empire State” is a Lindsey Buckingham and Richard Dashut co-write that opens the B-side to the 1982 Fleetwood Mac album Mirage. The song is almost like a prayer to New York City, asking it to treat the narrator well and afford them the opportunity and success they crave. “New York, open your eyes to me / let me be what I want to be / Tell me, tell me it’s not too late.”
“The Zoo” by Scorpions
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