Englishman in New York
| Englishman in New York | |
|---|---|
| Sting | |
| publication | February 1, 1988 |
| length | 4:25 |
| Genre (s) | Reggae , rock , pop |
| Author (s) | Sting |
| album | … Nothing like the sun |
Englishman in New York is a song by British singer Sting that appeared on the album … Nothing Like the Sun in 1987 and a single in 1988.
history
In the song, Sting describes the eccentric Quentin Crisp as "Englishman" , who inspired him to write the piece. He wrote the song shortly after Crisp moved from London to a Manhattan apartment . Sting had visited him in his apartment on the Bowery . Crisp had told Sting about the difficulties of publicly acknowledging one's own homosexuality in England in the 1950s and of having to live as an outsider for a lifetime. Sting co-produced the song with Neil Dorfsman.
Branford Marsalis played the soprano saxophone and Manu Katché percussion on the recording , the pianist was Kenny Kirkland . The song reached number 51 in the UK charts after its release in February 1988. In the United States, it reached number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 . Shortly before the release of his third album The Soul Cages (1991), Sting's record company hired Dutch DJ and producer Ben Liebrand to record a remixed version of Englishman in New York , which was released as a single in July 1990. This remix version of the song became more successful, reaching number 15 in the British charts and number 20 in the German charts. The title Ghost in the Strand appeared on the B-side of the single .
The song was also featured in a UK advertisement for the Rover 200 . A biography of Crisp's life in New York City was named after the song's title. A recording of the piece is also included on the Symphonicities CD released in 2010 (together with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra ).
Music video
The music video for the song was shot in black and white by David Fincher . Sting tells of the contrasts between Americans and British and that he feels like a foreigner, even though he is walking down Fifth Avenue and is dressed like an American. Crisp and Stings Band can also be seen in the music video. While the video ends in fadeout , an older male voice says: “If I have an ambition other than a desire to be a chronic invalid, it would be to meet everybody in the world before I die ... and I'm not doing badly. "
Chart placements
| year | title | AT | CH | DE | UK | US |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Englishman in New York | - | - | - | 51 | 84 |
| 1990 | Englishman in New York (Ben Liebrand Mix) | - | - | 20th | 15th | - |
Cover version
There are several cover versions of the title , including the following:
- In 1993 Shinehead released a version entitled Jamaican in New York .
- In 1994 the band Wise Guys released a cover version on Kölsch under the title Kölsche Jung in New York on the album Dut-Dut-Duah! .
- In 2008, an electro tango version of Tanghetto with the title A Bandoneonist was released in New York on the album El miedo a la libertad .
- In 2012 the group Singer Pur released an a cappella version of the piece.
- In 2015, Cris Cab covered the song.
- Otto Waalkes published a version under the title Friesenjung .
Web links
- Song Lexicon: Englishman in New York (Sting) , accessed May 21, 2012
- Lyrics
Individual evidence
- ↑ Record details of the title on 45cat.com
- ↑ Englishman in New York in the Official UK Charts (English)
- ↑ Nothing Like the Sun: Singles Charts , allmusic , accessed September 4, 2012.
- ↑ Record details of the remix on 45cat.com
- ↑ a b “Englishman in New York” on Austriancharts.at