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Amoving profile of Bad Bunny?
A searing critique ofWest Side Story?
There it is again.
Acontemplation on love and loss by way of an Aretha Franklin and Smokey Robinson duet?
The writer and translators name was being committed to memory.
I heard it for the first time during my early years of living in Manhattan.
I love that kismet.
Were there particular lyrics that resonated with you?I actually wondered what counts as pop forSwitched on Pop.
The chorus is Dont look at the moon tonight / Youll never be, youll never be, Manhattan.
Its almost like a haiku, like an urban anti-haiku.
And thats the thing it’s possible for you to never be, because youre only one person.
The city is the collective.
And that collective is in a very cruel and false system.
Do you hear this song as a love letter to Manhattan, or is it hate mail?
It begins with the first repeated lyric, All the friends we used to know aint coming back.
Its because theyre forced out by capitalism or are rich, so they leave.
It has a little bit of an anthemic quality, even as its kind of sad.
And that she was still grinding.
As she is to this day.
