New York Song State Of Mind ('state' not 'city')

I live in New York. I won't say where, but it's not The City. My wife and I grew up in the same town. By the by, did you know there's a whole big section of New York that's not Manhattan, Queens, The Bronx, Brooklyn or Staten Island? (No, I'm not talking about Long Island or some cow farm). I do notice quite a few songs about New York (City) that I can relate to, though.

In Disney's Oliver & Company, the movie begins with "Once Upon A Time In New York City" by Huey Lewis. When my wife and I lived in California, we used to substitute in the name of our current locale: Temple City.

"If it's always once upon a time in Temple City

Why does nightfall find ya feelin' so alone?

How could anyone stay starry-eyed

when it's rainin' cats & dogs outside

and the rain is sayin' 'Now you're on your own?'

Keep your dream alive.

Dreamin' is still how the strong survive.

Once upon a time in Temple City."

That song always gets me right in the feels. It has since I was little. I tried for years to get my wife to watch Oliver & Company with me. It helped that she loved Billy Joel but she never got much into the flick, except for that song. She would sing it with me. Now I'm the one on my own (random Disney trivia: my wife could sing "Reflection" from Mulan like a seraph, I'm talkin' tear-in-the-eye singing).

"I thank the lord there's people out there like you." That's from Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters by Elton John. That's about New York City, too. We loved that song. We were night owls, we relished in saying "good morning to the night." But now that she's gone, I'm so thankful for all the support I've gotten in the wake of the loss. I've told people that I'm afraid I may be judged, but the truth is that every single person has been the opposite of judgmental toward me (except her dad, he blames me for everything and can go fuck himself).

"I thank the lord for the people I have found." If you're reading this, that's you!

Although, once more, I'd like to reiterate that one item of business: New York is a city and a state, and there's lots of people that don't live in the city, you assumption-makers in the rest of the country. When we lived in California, and mentioned we were from New York, the next question was always "what borough?" No borough, muthafucka! When I say that, though, people seem to short-circuit, like a robot trying to process a logical paradox. Although, granted, by population, New York City makes the percentage of folks living out here in the medium-sized cities all but statistically insignificant. But nobody writes songs about Albany or Corning.

But "let's hear it for New York, New York, New York!" If you don't include the word 'city' in your song, I'm hijacking it for the rest of us! Take that, Jay-Z!