Video Premiere: Wesley Stace, “We Will Always Have New York”

Wesley Stace revives his infatuation with New York via this nostalgic folk-rock tune, “We Will Always Have New York” from his 19th album, Self-Titled (out today). His lyrics lead listeners through New York City – starting at 5th Avenue in ’88, venturing to Madison Square Garden and on to West Fourth Street where he recalls falling in love and the comforting spark of a kiss. The melody is reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s “Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands,” fitting for someone who used to bill himself as John Wesley Harding.

The video, a sepia-filtered picture of an emotionally connected in-house recording session, fades back and forth to shots of Stace walking through the beloved city, passing Central Park and speeding taxi cabs. It’s the kind of song-video combo that sends your mind and heart racing back to long-lost memories of love.

“These are all the memories fit to sing of being in love in, and in love with, New York City: an emotional travelogue,” Stace says. “If you did these things with me, you’ll remember them very clearly. If not, you can take the same walk yourself and you may bump into my ghost or any number of the ghosts of other people who’ve experienced more or less exactly the same things. All of us will always have New York.”