Song: “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down” by LCD Soundsystem
The title of the song says it all. While New York City garners its well-deserved reputation of grandeur and splendidness, that’s often all that seems to be focused on. That is why “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down” is so quintessentially New York – because it complements the rest of what New Yorkers all feel. The song completes the sentiment felt about New York City, and that is why the song is so interesting and attracts me to it. It is written and performed by LCD Soundsystem, a rock band from Brooklyn, formed in 2002, and led by singer/songwriter James Murphy. The band is widely known and critically acclaimed, having received numerous Grammy nominations, including Best Electronic/Dance Album and Best Dance recording. The song New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down” was part of their second studio album released in March of 2007. In 2011, LCD Soundsystem decided to disband on a high note. They held their farewell concert at Madison Square Garden, exemplifying Murphy’s tie to New York City. Their last song of their final set was none other than “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down.”
The song speaks of the love/hate relationship Murphy has with New York City. On the one hand, Murphy loves New York City and can’t live without it. On the other hand, the city is eating away at him and “bringing him down.” Murphy sees New York metamorphose into its current self, and for him, the city has lost its a appeal. Times have changed and its not the city he knew and once unquestionably loved… or is it? That is the question he debates.
New York, I love you but you’re bringing me down
New York, I love you but you’re bringing me down
Like a rat in a cage
Pulling minimum wage
New York, I love you but you’re bringing me down
Murphy uses a simile to describe New York as a cage and its constituents as rats. His message here is that New York traps people and forces them to work hard just to sustain themselves within the city’s confines. He essentially says the New York is one of a kind, but struggle is necessary in order to be part of it.
New York, you’re safer and you’re wasting my time
Our records all show you were filthy but fine
But they shuttered your stores
When you opened the doors
To the cops who were bored once they’d run out of crime
Murphy alludes to the historical time period where New York City was not safe. While the city is now safer, arguably a great improvement, Murphy misses the appeal and excitement of the good ol’ days back when the city was “filthy but fine” and thus didn’t need to be changed. Murphy also alludes to the police turning on its law-abiding citizens out of boredom once they had dealt with all of the crime.
In the following verses, Murphy continues to cite problems with the city, including its “mild billionaire mayor’s [who is] now convinced he’s a king” and the “boring [wealthy people who] collect” in the city. He continues to lament the changes (“In the neighborhood bars I’d once dreamt I would drink”), however, despite all of this, “New York, you’re perfect, oh, please don’t change a thing” and “you’re still the one pool where I’d happily drown.” New York means so much to Murphy, and while its wearing him down to the bone, he’s not sure if he can leave. In the ending of the song, Murphy questions whether he is right or wrong about his feeling about the city and about whether its right for him, a question we’ve all asked ourselves at one point.
Most love New York City, but there is still a lingering feeling in all of us that it wears us down, even if we don’t necessarily relativize it with the past. The hustle and bustle can be energizing, but certainly not forever. Given time, we become just a small part of a big city that bears down on us.