This is a song about the limits of human perception and the stories that people make up to explain the unknown. I hope to record this song within the next couple of months.
I only know New York from the movies,
A fraction of what's there is seen by me,
What the camera doesn't show, I doubt I'll ever know,
And to step outside the frame can never be.
I only know New York from the movies,
As I only see the world through human eyes,
I understand there will be things I'll never understand,
But I understand your story's laced with lies.
Beyond what you can see,
Beyond what you can feel,
Beyond what you can know,
Why pretend?
Why pretend?
I only know New York from the movies,
I can only sing of Queens in scales I've heard,
So this G major key gives an alphabet to me,
That limits and constrains my final words.
Beyond what you can see,
Beyond what you can feel,
Beyond what you can know,
Why pretend?
Why pretend? The Atlantic Ocean was created on day one,
Perhaps the Upper East Side on day two.
Why pretend? Day three saw the streets of Brooklyn rise out of the bay
Then the stars you rarely see were made for you.
Why pretend? Day five saw the pigeons and the gulls that fill the air,
And things that in the murky Hudson swim.
Why pretend? On day six the first man and first woman from his rib,
Went forth and filled the city to the brim.
Went forth and filled the city to the brim.
I only know New York from the movies,
But I might describe a street, a house, a tree.
It seems my mind is free, but all my thoughts are born from,
What I can sense and words bequeathed to me.
Beyond what you can see,
Beyond what you can feel,
Beyond what you can know,
Why pretend?
Why pretend?
The stars you rarely see were made for you. Why pretend?
The stars you rarely see were made for you. Why pretend?
The stars you rarely see were made for you. Why pretend?
The stars you rarely see were made for you. Why pretend?