Taylor Swift's new 'Welcome to New York' falls short of Big Apple classics like Jay Z and Alicia Keys' 'Empire State of Mind'

Taylor Swift surveys the city in her new single, 'Welcome to New York.' (Dimitrios Kambouris/LP5/Getty Images)

Taylor Swift tries to take Manhattan on her latest song. But the Nashville-bred star still sounds like she's picking the straw out of her hair.

Her "Welcome to New York," released Monday, offers a featherlight tribute to the city.


"New York, New York" it ain't.

A newcomer to town, Swift provides a wholly girlish take on the place: "Searching for a sound we hadn't heard before/And it said, 'Welcome to New York!!' " Swift chirps.

The star did try to get into the swim of the city by offering a shout-out to the large gay population. "Boys and boys/and gilrs and girls/you can do what you want," she sings.

But the track's main appeal comes in its open outsider status. She's singing from the point of view of a fresh face to the city, which should only further endear her to her targe teen demographic.

"Welcome To New York" will be part of Swift's new "1989" album, which drops Monday.

While the songs is in no danger of ranking with the peak local odes, there's insanely stiff competiton for that list. Wikipedia offers 84 pages - with nearly 2,500 entries - of New York-centric songs. Coming up with a definitive Top 10 is harder than finding a parking spot on the Upper West Side on Sunday night.

The best of them lunge between arch sophistication and bitter wit, between awed devotion and rank contempt. Here's a look at some songs truly worthy of the Empire State:

Frank Sinatra's classic is the city's long-running theme song.
Frank Sinatra's classic is the city's long-running theme song. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

1. "New York, New York" (Kander/Ebb, 1977

With the triumphant horns and bravura vocal on Frank Sinatra's classic version, the song has all the Art Deco grandeur of the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings combined.

Key lyric: "If I can make it there/I'll make it anywhere/It's up to you/New York, New York"

2. "Empire State of Mind" (Jay Z/Alicia Keys, 2009)

The huge arc of Keys' tune captures a city of outsized ambition, while Jay's rap plants a flag for hip hop as the city's great contemporary legacy.

Key lyric: "These streets will make you feel brand new/The lights will inspire you/Let's hear it for New York." (Runnerup: "Sitting courtside, Knicks and Nets give me high fives/Nigga, I be Spiked out, I can trip a referee.")

3. "Rhapsody in Blue" (George Gershwin, 1924)


This quintessential New York song mixes a skyscraper-high classical melody with urban jazz grounding. Its use by Woody Allen in his mash note to the city, "Manhattan," doesn't hurt any.

Key lyric: No lyrics, silly. This song conveys Gotham's power in its famed clarinet (Allen's iconic instrument) and its blues scale.

4. "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" (Beastie Boys, 1986)

So this city does sleep — but not until it's nearly dead.

Key lyric: "We got a safe in the trunk with money in a stack/With dice in the front and Brooklyn's in the back."

5. "New York State of Mind" (Billy Joel, 1976)

Joel's tune channeled the white-jacket and martini elegance of Cole Porter with cinematic flair. And we do appreciate the "Daily News" shout-out.

Key lyric: "It comes down to reality, and it's fine with me cause I've let it slide/I don't care if it's Chinatown or on Riverside."

6. "Across 110th Street" (Bobby Womack, 1972)

The elegiac strings, and Womack's soulful vocal, nailed the inner city of the 1960s and '70s — the economic nadir. The song was featured in the movie of the same name — and later in Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown." (Runnerup: "Spanish Harlem," as recorded by Aretha Franklin).

Key lyric: "You don't know what you'll do until you're put under pressure/Across 110th St. is a hell of a tester."

7. "New York City (You're a Woman)" (Al Kooper, 1971)

No one captured the love-hate we all have with the city better than Kooper, a Brooklyn native who founded Blood, Sweat and Tears and created the "Dylanesque" organ.

Key lyric: "New York City you're a woman/Cold-hearted bitch, ought to be your name/Oh you ain't never loved nobody/Yet I'm drawn to you like a moth to flame."

8. "Bleecker Street" (Paul Simon, 1964)

Rhymin' Simon's great ode to the 1960s folk boom in the Village has one of his most heartbreaking melodies and a lyric that will kill you - especially that line about how "$30 pays your rent on Bleecker Street."

Key lyric: "Voices leaking from a sad cafe/Smiling faces trying to understand/I saw a shadow touch a shadow's hand/On Bleecker Street"

9. "53rd and 3rd" (The Ramones, 1976)

A perfect examples of savored New York perversity can be found here: The Ramones' classic bows to a street corner that, in the 1970s, served as a mecca for gay hustlers plying their trade.

Key lyric: "53rd and 3rd/Trying to turn a trick/53rd and 3rd/You're the one they never pick."

(Runnerup: Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," 1972, a Warholian take on the downtown scene that includes the famous lyric, "A hustle here and a hustle there/New York City's the place/Where ...")

10. "Back in the New York Groove" (Ace Frehley, 1978)

Though earlier recorded by the British group Hello, the Kiss guitarist had a hot solo hit with this crunching rock anthem. It captures the city's undying dirt-bag appeal.

Key lyric: "Stop at Third and Forty-three, exit to the night/It's gonna be ecstasy, this place was meant for me."