The musical Rent (1996) by Jonathan Larson (1960-1996) contains the song “Out Tonight,” with the lyrics:
“In the evening, I’ve got to roam
Can’t sleep in the city of neon and chrome.”
“City of neon and chrome” never became a popular nickname of New York City, but has been infrequently used.
Wikipedia: Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson, loosely based on Giacomo Puccini’s 1896 opera La Bohème. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan’s East Village in the thriving days of bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.
The musical was first seen in a workshop production at New York Theatre Workshop in 1993. This same off-Broadway theatre was also the musical’s initial home following its official 1996 opening.
YouTube
Rosario Dawson - Out Tonight (From Rent musical) [HD]
Jun 12, 2013
taigan7
Genius.com (lyrics)
Out Tonight
Cast of the Motion Picture ‘Rent’
Track 9 on Rent (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
(...)
[Bridge]
In the evening, I’ve got to roam
Can’t sleep in the city of neon and chrome
Feels too damn much like home
When the Spanish babies cry
So let’s find a bar
So dark we forget who we are
Where all the scars
From the never’s and maybe’s die
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik.