"I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City" is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter Nilsson in 1969. A track from his fourth studio album, Harry, it became his second charting single.
| "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side A of the US single | ||||
| Single by Nilsson | ||||
| from the album Harry | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | October 1969 | |||
| Genre | Soft rock | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Harry Nilsson[1] | |||
| Producer(s) | Rick Jarrard | |||
| Nilsson singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
editThe song was written for, but not included in, the movie Midnight Cowboy. The same recording was reissued in 1972 crediting Buck Earl (Jon Voight's character in the movie was Joe Buck) as the performing artist.
Chart performance
editIt became Nilsson's second hit record in the U.S., reaching No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[2] and No. 7 on the Easy Listening chart.
The song was a bigger hit in Canada, where it reached No. 25 on the Pop chart[3] and No. 3 on the Adult Contemporary chart.[4]
| Chart (1969–70) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 66 |
| Canada RPM Top Singles[5] | 25 |
| Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[6] | 3 |
| New Zealand (Listener)[7] | 23 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[8] | 34 |
| U.S. Billboard Easy Listening[9] | 7 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100[10] | 35 |
Notable cover versions
edit- "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City" was covered by Sagittarius in 1969. Their version reached number 135 on the U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart.[11]
- A version by Wayne Newton reached number 28 on the US Easy Listening chart in the fall of 1969.[12]
Popular culture
edit- The track was used in a film – 1971's La Mortadella (US title: Lady Liberty), starring Sophia Loren.
- Both the original track and a cover by Sinéad O'Connor were featured in the 1998 movie You've Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
- The song was featured in the 2009 Off-Broadway and 2010 Broadway musical "Everyday Rapture", a semi-autobiographical musical about (and starring) Sherie Rene Scott.
References
edit- ^ "secondhandsongs.com". secondhandsongs.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
- ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ RPM Top Singles, December 6, 1969
- ^ RPM Adult Contemporary, December 6, 1969
- ^ RPM Top Singles, December 6, 1969
- ^ RPM Adult Contemporary, December 6, 1969
- ^ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
- ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 177.
- ^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 6, 1969
- ^ [Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004]
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 175.
