Monday September 7, 2020 “New York, New York” Ryan Adams
Irony at its very worst.
Ryan Adams was born and raised in North Carolina where he was the founding member of the almost super famous band Whiskeytown but he left the group and moved to New York to be closer to his then girlfriend who he refers to in this song as “New York”, not really the city. Although Adams became a long time NYC resident his girlfriend left for points unknown, without him.
Ryan Adams, perhaps not the nicest person, is occasionally confused with Canadian singer/songwriter Bryan Adams. At a concert at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, someone in the audience yelled out a request for "Summer of '69", a hit by the similarly-named Bryan Adams. Ryan reacted with a stream of expletives, and ordered the house lights turned on. He eventually found the fan who made the request, paid him $30 cash as a refund for the show, ordered him to leave, and said he would not play another note until he had left.
There are other controversies that surround Ryan Adams and sometimes it is a confusing decision for us to make, separating the artist's personal behavior from their music. The judgement is yours. In the meantime, this is a neat song IMHO.
Adams was an admitted fan of the TV show Friends so much of a fan that the video that accompanies this is supposed to be an near exact replica of the opening shots of that show. It was filmed on this date, September 7 in 2001 and the World Trade towers are prominently featured in background shots. Four days later they would be destroyed by terrorists. Irony at its very worst.
Stay safe and well...I still love you New York (the city).
