New York in the Springtime [Live at the Sydney Opera House]

Song Meaning

The narrator expresses a peculiar affection for New York City, but it's not the postcard version. They like the city in springtime and summer, but the imagery is gritty and unsettling. "Pimps come out to play" and "all the cities going gay" in spring paint a picture of a certain kind of urban vitality, while summer brings "buildings start to drool" and a disturbing juxtaposition of "rapists play the fool / Falling in love with you." This isn't romanticized; it's a raw, almost cynical observation of the city's underbelly. The lyrics reveal a deep-seated nostalgia, a longing for a past that seems more vibrant, even in its seediness. Hearing "old-time show on the radio" triggers tears for "by gone days," and the mention of "42nd Street comes out to play" evokes a specific era of the city's history. The bridge directly confronts the explicit nature of media then, with "Masturbation, copulation, on the TV," suggesting a fascination with a time when such things were a "new sensation" and perhaps more openly discussed, even if shocking. The narrator's taste for "recession" and the political figures mentioned – "Agnew's pitching hay," "Nixon can get laid" – further solidifies this preference for a grittier, less polished reality. It suggests an attraction to the unvarnished, the chaotic, and the morally ambiguous aspects of life and the city. The repetition of "I like New York in the springtime / When the pimps come out to play" at the end, coupled with the desire to "return someday," underscores this complex, almost defiant appreciation for a New York that is far from pristine. Ultimately, the effectiveness of these lyrics lies in their unflinching gaze at the less palatable sides of urban life and memory. The narrator finds a strange beauty or at least a compelling truth in the grit, the crime, and the explicit cultural moments, creating a unique and memorable portrait of a city that is loved not in spite of its darkness, but perhaps because of it.