The Genius of Water / Fountain Square

Meet me in the morning

At the bus stop

We'll ride into the town

Down to the square

To see the angel

See the angel in the fountain

Meet me in the morning

Meet me after daybreak

Tie your hair back

We'll drift into the crowd

Get lost among the loud

And they'll be singing

They'll be singing in our daydream

When we're tired we'll leave them all behind

And walk away

I love you

I love you

I love you a lot

Meet me in the courtyard

Where the saints pray

Musing in our stare

Still painfully aware

That there are others

Shoulds and woulds with names and faces

Close your eyes

And open up your mind

And hear me say

I love you

I love you

I love you a lot

See the angel

She's dancing in the water

Hear the angel

She's laughing in the water

Something in the way that you

Said you really felt that we could be

Good friends forever

Together for a long time

-"The Genius Of Water," Over The Rhine 

Over the Rhine is a rock band named after a historic Cincinnati neighborhood, which itself was named after Cincinnati's sister-city Munich, paying tribute to the German immigrants who built Ohio's greatest city. What a lineage.

"The Genius of Water" is not only one of the most arresting statements of love in song, but it is also another namesake--calling to mind the beautiful bronze-laden fountain, statue, and centerpiece in the city square.

The female statue in the middle of the fountain is not your ordinary angel. According to Wikipedia, "the artistic fountain's motif is water, in homage the river city's continuing debt to the Ohio River. The central figure, the Genius of Water—a female in heroic size—pours down the symbolic longed-for rain from hundreds of jets pierced in her outstretched fingers."

Since the fountain's dedication in 1871, this glorious figure of abundance has moved across the city in different locations, has undergone repairs, and has been seen and danced in by thousands. Still she stands tall,  and when I listen to this song, I imagine you can still hear her laugh. After all, she's looking after her friends, and these friends are forever, which is a very long time indeed.

Forsyth and Bowery / Lower East Side

"We were standing 

At Forsythe and Bowery,

Flowers and painted forehead

Trying to forget

You can't tell if the ceiling's rising

Or if the floor's falling out.

At the time I wasn't with you

By that time I didn't care"

-"Bowery," Local Natives

This week's visit took me to Sarah Roosevelt Park which falls between Chrystie and Forsyth, skirting the north and south of the Lower East Side. It's a beautiful stretch down Forsyth Street, but my heart tells me it was no walk in the park that inspired the lyrics of "Bowery" by Local Natives.

 The song is achingly personal, much like the rest of the album, which is a window into darker times for the band. Kelcey Ayer, vocalist, keyboardist, and lyricist, shared that together they were wracked with the loss of Ayer's mother, the departure of their bassist Andy Hamm, and relationship troubles, following their debut album Gorilla Manor. The beautiful byproduct of these troubled times came to be called Hummingbird.

It was a day of pink blossoms and blue skies with white clouds, strikingly reminiscent of the background and color palette of the Hummingbird album cover (which you can see on the playlist I've created to supplement blog posts.)

Interestingly enough, there is no corner of Forsyth and Bowery. Perhaps the lyrics refer to two separate corners, or, most likely, they refer to the Bowery area, rather than Bowery Street. Above is the corner of Forsyth looking down Rivington Street and below is the corner of Forsyth and Delancey Street. While I do not know this to be fact, I imagine that the lyrics refer to the corner pictured below, because Delancey Street runs along the Bowery, and the Bowery Ballroom, where the band has performed, sits at the corner of Delancey Street and Bowery Street. This corner is very central in the LES, and is brushed closely with the bustling nightlife. I'm sure many memories are made here.

I stopped to take a photo of the sky on my way to the Essex subway station. From where I stood, it looked like this white dagger seemed to end somewhere on Forsyth. I don't know, it just seemed symbolic, and a little bit sad.

There is not much for me to say, as the broken relationship in "Bowery" is not mine to explain. 
But because pieces of this experience have been shared and immortalized into art, there's a sense of beckoning by them to be heard. Likewise the sights described in the song seem so ready to be beheld. I feel honored at the invitation to ache alongside this band. 
It's amazing how intimate music can be, how committed artists are to their craft in sickness, in health, joy, and sorrow. And I vouch that their loving listeners feel exactly the same way.

For The Record: Top 5 NYC Album Covers

In honor of Record Store Day , and in a bout of intense R&R following a day well spent at my favorite vinyl shop, I'd like to celebrate with a bit of a tangent. Instead of photographing places we've all heard of but never seen, I want to discuss those sights we have beheld, thanks again to the artists we love. Here are five of what I consider to be the coolest album covers photographed in New York City: 

1. The Brecker Brothers

Straphangin', 1980

The coolness factor of this photograph goes well beyond the double exposure (note a ghoulish but casual pair of Brecker Brothers descending the subway stairs, jazz instruments in hand, you know.) The background photo was taken in the old City Hall station, which has since become sealed and defunct. But do not be scared by those ghoulish words--you can still catch a glimpse of the old vaulted platform by remaining on the downtown 6 train after its last stop, as it loops around the track to return uptown.

2. Augustus Pablo

Born to Dub You, year unknown

It's safe to assume that before there was Photoshop, artists relied very heavily on double exposure to enhance their image (and it totally worked.) This unreleased album by roots reggae legend Augustus Pablo was unveiled to the public in 2014--more than a decade after the Twin Towers, captured in the background of the album cover, had vanished in the tragic events of 9/11.

3. The Brooklyn Bridge

The Second Brooklyn Bridge, 1969

At first glance, this shot looks like it was taken on a pirate ship, so the moment of realization is automatically a bit of a letdown. But the Brooklyn Bridge is almost as picturesque, is every bit as iconic, and is probably more suitable for a band called "The Brooklyn Bridge." Best of all, the bridge looks virtually the same today as it did in the summer of '69, in case readers want to grab the gang and head out to re-enact this epic photograph.

4. Melanie

Garden in the City, 1972

Another more DIY technique of spicing up an unedited photograph is the classic collaging method. Singer-songwriter Melanie, from Astoria, Queens, graces her own album cover in what appears to be a Central Park pasture overlooking the cityscape (and is actually just pasted quite cunningly atop another photograph.) Melanie shows the spirit of a hippie-fied Maria von Trapp--minus the bevy of children at her feet--which brings a bit of folk charm to an otherwise urban atmosphere.

5. Jimmy Smith

Home Cookin', 1959

While luncheonettes are largely a thing of the past, and "Kate's Home Cooking" is no exception, Jimmy Smith's album cover offers us a glimpse of the good old days--or at least it impresses us with the appearance of a brave man smiling in spite of the racial unrest that he and other African-Americans faced in Harlem and in the U.S. during this time. The "Incredible" Jimmy Smith was a jazz organist who most likely frequented Kate's luncheonette during his stays in New York even when the camera wasn't rolling. The restaurant, situated nearby the legendary Apollo Theater, is said to have been the "soul station" for many of its talented performers, such as Count Basie and Art Blakey. I like to imagine artists like these winding down from a top-of-the-world performance to a refreshing bottle of Coca-Cola and some conversation.

Thanks for reading! What do you think are some of Gotham's greatest album covers?

Bleecker & Macdougal / Greenwich Village

I was standing on the corner

Of the Bleecker and MacDougal

Wondering which way to go

I’ve got a woman down in Coconut Grove

And you know she loves me so
-"Bleecker & Macdougal," Fred Neil

My favorite part about putting sight to sound is discovering more to the story than what I’ve set out to find. The more pop cultural hodge-podge within a single edifice, the better. This is often the case in Greenwich Village, as this neighborhood represents so much of the art and culture we associate with New York, and has served as a musical mecca throughout the decades. Despite the fact that most of the city has been renewed and gentrified, it is not difficult to take a stroll down Bleecker Street and memory lane all at once--I would venture to say it’s impossible.

Also impossible is the task of choosing just one song about Bleecker Street, when the very theme deserves its own Wikipedia subcategory. As a result I have hand-selected a few tunes that I find to be strikingly personal and picturesque in their treatment of New York.

First, it thrills me to recognize “Bleecker & Macdougal,” because the name of its composer, Fred Neil, has gone criminally unnoticed, even at the height of his career in the 1960’s. While his folk-rock originals have slipped under the radar, Neil's work has been covered by popular artists like Harry Nilsson, who brought fame to the song “Everybody’s Talking” (and vice versa.) The blues-infused “Bleecker & Macdougal” refers to the corner where the San Remo Café used to stand, now replaced by an Italian restaurant, pictured below. The café, I learnt upon further research, once served as the stomping grounds of renowned Beat authors such as William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Keruoac.

Many legendary Greenwich clubs along the strip have become history, in order to make way for bigger and better things, you know, like chain drugstores. However, several bars such as the Bitter End have miraculously escaped the musical massacre. Signage for retired venues like the Village Gate, while unlit, still exist to remind passersby of a brighter past.

The song “Bleecker Street” by Simon & Garfunkel is an unforgettable ode to the entire stretch of the street. Somehow, the route is far more breathtaking when these historic spots are put into focus. The lyrics they inspired are nothing short of poetry and stand as a guide to the time-travelling imagination.

Voices leaking from a sad cafe

Smiling faces try to understand

I saw a shadow touch a shadow's hand

On Bleecker Street

A poet reads his crooked rhyme

Holy, holy is his sacrament

Thirty dollars pays your rent

On Bleecker Street

-"Bleecker Street," Simon & Garfunkel

I can't help but wonder if both songs were inspired by the same cafe, the same corner, the same faces--what do you think?