Today’s classic song of the day is “I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City,” by singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson, AKA just Nilsson. Harry wrote this one for the movie Midnight Cowboy, but director John Schlesinger chose Fred Neil’s sound-alike tune, “Everybody’s Talkin'” (performed by Nillson) instead. (Schlesinger also considered Randy Newman’s “Cowboy,” and Bob Dylan wrote “Lay Lady Lay” for the film—but didn’t finish it in time.)
It’s not a coincidence that “I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City” has the same feel as “Everybody’s Talkin’.” Schlesinger had been using Harry’s cover of the Fred Neil tune as an example of the kind of song he wanted for the movie’s soundtrack, so Harry wrote “I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City” as a similar-sounding option. The director ended up liking “Everybody’s Talkin'” so much, however, that he ended up keeping it for the final film.
So Harry Nilsson got to keep “I Guess the Lord Must Be” as his own. Released as a single in October of 1969. It wasn’t as big a hit as “Everybody’s Talkin’,” reaching only #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #35 on the Cash Box Top 100.
“I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City” is a deceptively optimistic song. Knowing its genesis in the movie Midnight Cowboy, you can hear that the song is all about the perhaps misplaced hope and dreams a newcomer to the big city might have. As we learned in the movie, however, those hopes and dreams would ultimately be dashed; the grass is seldom greener on the other side. Still, the song is all about thinking that New York City would have all the answers for someone seeking to escape his previous life:
I’ll say goodbye to all my sorrow
And by tomorrow I’ll be on my way
I guess the Lord must be in New York City
I’m so tired of gettin’ nowhere
Seein’ my prayers goin’ unanswered
I guess the Lord must be in New York City
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, Harry Nilsson and Tommy Smothers singing “I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City” on the July 8, 1970, episode of The Smothers Brothers Summer Show. It’s kind of special.
