New York City Cops (song)

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"New York City Cops"
Single by the Strokes
from the album Is This It (international editions)
A-side"Hard to Explain" (double A-side)
ReleasedJune 25, 2001 (double A-side)
RecordedMarch and April 2001
StudioTransporterraum, New York City
GenreStreet punk[1]
Length3:30
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)Julian Casablancas
Producer(s)Gordon Raphael
The Strokes singles chronology
"Hard to Explain" / "New York City Cops"
(2001) 		"Last Nite"
(2001)

"New York City Cops" is a song by American rock band the Strokes. It was released along with "Hard to Explain" as a double A-side single on June 25, 2001, in Australia and Europe. It appears on international editions of their debut studio album, Is This It (2001); it was replaced with the track "When It Started" on the then-unreleased American CD edition following the September 11 attacks due to its lyrics regarding the New York City Police Department. As a double A-side single, it reached number 16 in the UK and number 66 in Australia.

Background and release

"New York City Cops", written in response to the

city's police department during the tragedy, feeling that it would be "wrong to release it during these highly sensitive times". They replaced the song with the newly recorded "When It Started".[7] The vinyl release retained the original track list, due to its release falling on September 11, 2001.[8]

Live performances

The Strokes continued to perform the song live despite the September 11 attacks. During their performance in Toronto on October 2, 2001, Casablancas stated, "I liked this fucking song and it's ruined. We live in New York. It's fucked up. The cops have killed a lot more people that they're saying and that's the fuckin' truth."[9]

The song was performed at a rally for Senator

crowd-surfing fans.[6]

Track listing

7-inch vinyl
No.TitleLength
1."Hard to Explain"3:43
2."New York City Cops"3:30


CD
No.TitleLength
1."Hard to Explain"3:43
2."New York City Cops"3:30
3."Take It or Leave It" (in LA)3:15
4."Trying Your Luck" (in LA)3:25

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "Hard to Explain" / "New York City Cops" by The Strokes
Chart (2001–2002) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 66
UK Singles (OCC)[12]
 16

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "Hard to Explain" / "New York City Cops" by The Strokes
Chart (2002) Position
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[13] 96

Footnotes

  1. ^ Beaumont, Mark (April 9, 2020). "The 20 greatest Strokes songs". The Independent. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  2. ^ "The Strokes – Why New York's finest will change your life – forever!". NME. June 9, 2001.
  3. ^ "The Strokes – Hard To Explain / New York City Cops (Australia)". Discogs. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  4. ^ "The Strokes – Hard To Explain / New York City Cops (Europe)". Discogs. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  5. ^ Is This It (international editions) (CD booklet and case back cover). The Strokes. RCA Records; Rough Trade Records. 2001.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ a b "Strokes Sing 'New York City Cops' Face-to-Face With Cops as Sanders Rally Gets Rowdy". Variety. February 11, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  7. ^ Schumacher-Rasmussen, Eric (September 21, 2001). "Dave Matthews Band, Strokes, Sheryl Crow Rethink Their Music". MTV. Archived from the original on February 2, 2002. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
  8. ^ Roach, p. 96
  9. ^ "Taste of the masses". The Cord. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  10. Pitchfork
    . Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  11. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  12. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  13. ^ "Canada's Top 200 Singles of 2002". Jam!. January 14, 2003. Archived from the original on September 6, 2004. Retrieved March 22, 2022.

References

  • Roach, Martin (2003). This Is It ... The First Biography of The Strokes.
    ISBN 0-7119-9601-6
    .
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