"New York, New York" is a song from the 1944 musical '' On the Town'' and the 1949

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

musical film of the same name. The music was written by Leonard Bernstein and the lyrics by

Betty Comden Betty Comden (May 3, 1917 - November 23, 2006) was an American lyricist, playwright, and screenwriter who contributed to numerous Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century. Her writing partnership with Adolph Green spanned ...

and

Adolph Green Adolph Green (December 2, 1914 – October 23, 2002) was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved film musicals, particularly as part of Ar ...

. A well known line of this song is: For the film version, the word "helluva" was changed to "wonderful" to appease the

Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

offices. In the film, the song was performed by Gene Kelly,

Jules Munshin Jules Munshin (February 22, 1915 – February 19, 1970) was an American actor, comedian and singer who had made his name on Broadway when he starred in '' Call Me Mister''. His additional Broadway credits include '' The Gay Life'' and ''Barefo ...

, and Frank Sinatra. In 2004, the film version finished at No. 41 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. It is not to be confused with the "Theme from ''New York, New York''", originally performed by Liza Minnelli and later popularized by Sinatra ("Start spreadin' the news, I'm leaving today"). However, in his Concert for the Americas performance, Sinatra sang this song as the verse for his more famous "Theme from New York, New York."

In popular culture

"New York, New York" was referenced by John Williams for his celebratory '' For New York'', composed in 1988 for Bernstein's 70th birthday gala. The song was parodied as "Springfield, Springfield" in the 1993 episode " Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood" of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

''. A sailor even appears as another homage to the song, until he realizes he isn’t in New York (which Bart points out). A pastiche of the song entitled "Twenty-four Hours In Tunbridge Wells" was written and performed by Eric Idle and

Neil Innes Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the pioneering comedy rock group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the M ...

, with Gillian Gregory, for an episode of the same name in the second season of the UK comedy series ''

Rutland Weekend Television ''Rutland Weekend Television'' (''RWT'') was a television sketch show on BBC2, written by Eric Idle with music by Neil Innes. Two series were broadcast, the first consisting of six episodes in 1975, and the second series of seven episodes i ...

'' in 1976. It was covered in a mash-up with "I Love New York" on the ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'' episode "New York". In the

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), '' Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), '' The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993 ...

film '' Sleepy Hollow'', Johnny Depp's Ichabod Crane utters "The Bronx is up and the Battery's down" to his traveling party in the final scene. Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman sing the chorus of the song in '' Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted''. The song was parodied in an episode of ''

The Critic ''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...

'' ("New York, New York, a terrible town/The sky is brown and the water is brown"). Leonard Bernstein himself conducts the song in a ''New York Medley'' during the Night of 100 Stars in 198

During '' Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show), Wheel of Fortunes first road trip to New York in 1988, the song was played over an image montage of the city, and the lyrics were altered from "It's a helluva town" to "It's a wonderful town". The 1977 feature film '' New York, New York'', directed by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...

took its title from the song. The first issue of Sam and Max: Freelance Police opens with Sam singing a parody of the song's chorus. ("The mimes are food for the bums underground.")

References

Film theme songs 1944 songs Songs about New York City Songs with music by Leonard Bernstein Songs with lyrics by Betty Comden Songs with lyrics by Adolph Green {{show-tune-stub