Englishman in New York
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- This is an article about the Sting song. For the Godley and Creme song, see "An Englishman in New York"
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| “Englishman in New York” | |||||
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| Single by Sting from the album ...Nothing Like the Sun |
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| B-side | "Ghost in the Strand" | ||||
| Released | 1988 | ||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||
| Length | 4:25 | ||||
| Label | A&M | ||||
| Writer(s) | Sting | ||||
| Producer | Sting, Neil Dorfsman | ||||
| Sting singles chronology | |||||
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"Englishman in New York" is a song by Sting, from his 1987 album ...Nothing Like the Sun. The "Englishman" in question is the famous eccentric Quentin Crisp. Sting wrote the song not long after Crisp moved from London to an apartment in New York's Bowery. Crisp had remarked jokingly to the musician "...that he looked forward to receiving his naturalization papers so that he could commit a crime and not be deported."
The song was released as a single in 1988, but only reached #51 in the UK charts. However, it was very popular in the U.S. peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Branford Marsalis played saxophone on the track. In 1990, just prior to the release of his third studio album The Soul Cages, Sting's record label licensed Dutch producer Ben Liebrand to remix "Englishman in New York" and subsequently release it as a single. The remix played around with the introduction and some of the instrumentation, but the essence of the song remained the same. The new version was commercially successful, reaching number 15 in the UK charts in mid-1990.
The video was directed by David L. Fincher, and featured scenes of Sting and his band in New York, as well as the elusive Crisp. The song was used in the mid-1990s by Rover Cars in the UK, in a television advert for the Rover 200.
[edit] Cover versions
- The band Loose Ties performed Englishman in New York at the 1992 Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado. It's available on the album: 1992 Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Vol 1.
- Shinehead made a cover version of the song called Jamaican in New York in 1992, its video parodying the original.
- The Black Eyed Peas sampled the song in their recording Union, featured on their 2005 album Monkey Business, which included a guest appearance by Sting singing new lyrics.
- Filipino rock band Bamboo also made a cover of this song in their new album We Stand Alone Together as a hidden track.
- Razorlight have contributed a cover of this song for BBC Radio One's Radio 1. Established 1967 CD
- Tiken Jah Fakoly covered the song in his 2007 album L'Africain, in the song called Africain à Paris (African in Paris), with French lyrics.
- Omid Djalili used the song to promote his 2007 BBC1 show, The Omid Djalili Show, the title becoming An Iranian in UK and the lyrics reflecting British Iranian culture.
- Masao Taneura made a cover of the song called 関西人 in Tokyo (Kansaian in Tokyo) in 2007, with Kansai Japanese lyrics.
- Tanghetto, the neo tango band from Argentina released in March 2008 an instrumental version of the song in their album El Miedo a la Libertad, being the voice replaced by the bandoneon, and keeping the reggae and jazz elements of the original in the arrangements.
