No city has more songs written about it, and most of them argue the same thing: if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. These cover the dream, the grind and the love letters in between.
Updated 2026
Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys 2009
The modern city anthem, with a hook you hear in every cab.
Theme from New York, New York by Frank Sinatra 1980
The big, brassy promise to wake up in a city that never sleeps.
New York State of Mind by Billy Joel 1976
A piano ballad for anyone homesick for the five boroughs.
Englishman in New York by Sting 1987
An outsider's stroll through a city that lets him be himself.
Autumn in New York by Billie Holiday 1952
The bittersweet glamour of the city as the leaves turn.
Native New Yorker by Odyssey 1977
Disco-era advice for a girl who belongs to the streets she walks.
On Broadway by The Drifters 1963
Arriving with nothing but the belief that the lights are yours.
Spanish Harlem by Ben E. King 1961
A rose growing up through the concrete uptown.
Welcome to New York by Taylor Swift 2014
A bright, wide-eyed arrival in the big city.
New York Groove by Ace Frehley 1978
Back in town and ready for the night, glam-rock style.
No Sleep Till Brooklyn by Beastie Boys 1986
A loud, hometown shout from across the bridge.
Across 110th Street by Bobby Womack 1972
A hard, soulful look at uptown trying to break free.