“We’ve Been Had” – The Walkmen
When I first moved to New York, I listened to this endlessly, on repeat, imagining myself walking down the street in a certain scarf, a certain jacket, the city all around, Lou Reed somewhere out there with David Bowie (for some reason) and some dingy bar where I could smoke until 5 AM until stumbling home in a cab. There actually were a lot of nights like that. But it was never quite what I imagined. More like we were all participating in some grand idea of who we wanted to be. That seems to be the soul of New York City: an enormous orchestrated performance in which we are both performers and audience. Hell, maybe that’s life.