Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)
Encyclopedia
"Miami 2017" is a song written by Billy Joel
which appeared as the final song on the album Turnstiles
in 1976. A live version recorded at Madison Square Garden would also be released as the first track on his 1981 collection of live performances of lesser-known songs, called Songs in the Attic
.
in the year 2017. However, the song is itself a fictional retrospective on the closure, or falling, of New York City
some years earlier. The narrator recalls attending an unauthorized concert in Brooklyn
(so as "to watch the island bridges blow") on the city's final night in existence, which proceeded in spite of official objection ("They turned our power down / And drove us underground / But we went right on with the show"). The spectators witnessed the various measures being taken to close down the city including the burning of churches in Harlem
, the sinking of Manhattan
, and the tumbling of the "mighty skyline." According to the song's final verse, New York residents were evacuated, or moved to Florida, and in the meantime, the city's Mafia
families had relocated to Mexico
, making it their new base of operations.
which resulted in the albums Piano Man
and Streetlife Serenade
. Several of the songs are linked to this transition, including "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" and "New York State of Mind."
Joel has described it as a "science fiction song" about an apocalypse occurring in New York as a result of discussions that the city was failing in the 1970s. New York was bordering on bankruptcy, and after asking the Federal Government for help, they were denied assistance. This resulted in the famous headline on the New York Daily News
, stating "Ford to City: Drop Dead".
. (See History of New York City (1946-1977)#1970s) The song describes an alternate future history
where the city did not recover and as a result was dismantled while the rest of the country remained intact. The narrative makes several allusions to New York City icons, their state at the time of the events in question, and the fate which befalls them. A summary of the description of the night's events follows:
towers (which had only been completed three years before the song was penned), the United States Navy dispatched warships from Norfolk, and docked USNS Comfort
at Pier 92.
Shortly after the attacks, Billy Joel participated in a benefit concert on October 20, 2001 in which the song was performed (as well as "New York State of Mind"). Noting the obvious connection, Joel pronounced at the end of the song, "I wrote that song 25 years ago. I thought it was going to be a science fiction song; I never thought it would really happen. But unlike the end of that song, we ain't going anywhere!" His proclamation was met with a raucous standing ovation.
in 1993, and released as a bonus track on international versions of his album Paid Vacation, and an acoustic guitar oriented version was recorded by Stuart Markus on his CD View From The Side Of The Road.
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
which appeared as the final song on the album Turnstiles
Turnstiles
Turnstiles was the fourth album by Billy Joel, released in 1976. In part, the album was made to celebrate Joel's return to New York City after his sojourn in California. Three of the album's tracks reference New York: "Summer, Highland Falls", "New York State of Mind" and "Miami 2017 "...
in 1976. A live version recorded at Madison Square Garden would also be released as the first track on his 1981 collection of live performances of lesser-known songs, called Songs in the Attic
Songs in the Attic
Songs in the Attic is the first live album by Billy Joel, released in 1981 .At the time of its release, it was unique as being the first widely available appearance of music from his first album, Cold Spring Harbor from 1971....
.
Story
As the title indicates, the song is written from the point of view of a narrator situated in Miami, FloridaMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
in the year 2017. However, the song is itself a fictional retrospective on the closure, or falling, of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
some years earlier. The narrator recalls attending an unauthorized concert in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
(so as "to watch the island bridges blow") on the city's final night in existence, which proceeded in spite of official objection ("They turned our power down / And drove us underground / But we went right on with the show"). The spectators witnessed the various measures being taken to close down the city including the burning of churches in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, the sinking of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, and the tumbling of the "mighty skyline." According to the song's final verse, New York residents were evacuated, or moved to Florida, and in the meantime, the city's Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
families had relocated to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, making it their new base of operations.
Background
The release of Turnstiles followed Billy Joel's return to his hometown of New York from a brief foray in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
which resulted in the albums Piano Man
Piano Man (album)
Piano Man is a rock album by Billy Joel, released in 1973. Piano Man, Joel's second album and his first with Columbia Records, emerged out of legal difficulties with his former label, Family Productions, and became his breakthrough album...
and Streetlife Serenade
Streetlife Serenade
Streetlife Serenade is Billy Joel's third album, and his second with Columbia Records.Streetlife Serenade was released in 1974 , after the hit songs "Piano Man" and "Captain Jack" from the album Piano Man...
. Several of the songs are linked to this transition, including "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" and "New York State of Mind."
Joel has described it as a "science fiction song" about an apocalypse occurring in New York as a result of discussions that the city was failing in the 1970s. New York was bordering on bankruptcy, and after asking the Federal Government for help, they were denied assistance. This resulted in the famous headline on the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, stating "Ford to City: Drop Dead".
Lyrics and imagery
The reasoning behind the decision to destroy New York in the song's narrative is never made explicit, but New York City suffered financial hardships throughout the 1970s, almost experiencing bankruptcyBankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. (See History of New York City (1946-1977)#1970s) The song describes an alternate future history
Future history
A future history is a postulated history of the future and is used by authors in the subgenre of speculative fiction to construct a common background for fiction...
where the city did not recover and as a result was dismantled while the rest of the country remained intact. The narrative makes several allusions to New York City icons, their state at the time of the events in question, and the fate which befalls them. A summary of the description of the night's events follows:
- Joel states he saw the "Empire State laid low," a reference to New York State, the Empire State falling after its largest city is destroyed, and perhaps also to an actual demolition of the Empire State BuildingEmpire State BuildingThe Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
.
- The bridges to Manhattan are "blown", serving as the backdrop for the concert described in the song.
- Power is cut off from the city, as demonstrated by the titular extinguishing of the lights in the BroadwayBroadway (New York City)Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
entertainment district and the loss of power for the concert described in the song.
- The narrator notes that the residents "almost didn't notice" the ruins at their feet, as they "see it all the time on 42nd Street42nd Street (Manhattan)42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square. It is also the name of the region of the theater district near that intersection...
."
- Churches are burned in HarlemHarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, which the narrator likens to the Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil WarThe Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. Again he notes the mild impact this had on the residents, as it "always burned up there before."
- Boats are sent to Battery ParkBattery ParkBattery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...
to help evacuate the city, but due to a unionTrade unionA trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
strikeStrike actionStrike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
, none of them sail.
- After the evacuation boats fail to sail from Battery Park, the song states that Naval Station NorfolkNaval Station NorfolkNaval Station Norfolk, in Norfolk, Virginia, is a base of the United States Navy, supporting naval forces in the United States Fleet Forces Command, those operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean...
sends a aircraft carrierAircraft carrierAn aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
, which "picked the Yankees up for free."
- Decisions are made with regard to each of the BoroughsBorough (New York City)New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
-- "they said that QueensQueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
could stay, they blew the Bronx away, and sank Manhattan out at sea."
- Former New York City residents move to Florida, and an allusion is made to Mafia control of Mexico.
- Despite the carnage, life goes on "beyond the PalisadesNew Jersey PalisadesThe Palisades, also called the New Jersey Palisades or the Hudson Palisades are a line of steep cliffs along the west side of the lower Hudson River in northeastern New Jersey and southern New York in the United States. The cliffs stretch north from Jersey City approximately 20 mi to near...
".
Significance after September 11, 2001
The imagery of the falling New York City skyline took on particular significance when the fictional story partly came to fruition in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which saw the collapse of the World Trade CenterWorld Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
towers (which had only been completed three years before the song was penned), the United States Navy dispatched warships from Norfolk, and docked USNS Comfort
USNS Comfort (T-AH-20)
USNS Comfort is the third United States Navy ship to bear the name Comfort, and the second to join the navy fleet. The USNS prefix identifies the Comfort as a non-commissioned ship owned by the U.S. Navy and crewed by civilians. In accordance with the Geneva Conventions, USNS Comfort and her...
at Pier 92.
Shortly after the attacks, Billy Joel participated in a benefit concert on October 20, 2001 in which the song was performed (as well as "New York State of Mind"). Noting the obvious connection, Joel pronounced at the end of the song, "I wrote that song 25 years ago. I thought it was going to be a science fiction song; I never thought it would really happen. But unlike the end of that song, we ain't going anywhere!" His proclamation was met with a raucous standing ovation.
Cover versions
"Miami 2017" was recorded by Richard MarxRichard Marx
Richard Noel Marx is an American adult contemporary and pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He had a string of hit singles in the late 1980s and 1990s, including "Endless Summer Nights", "Right Here Waiting", "Now and Forever", and "Hazard"...
in 1993, and released as a bonus track on international versions of his album Paid Vacation, and an acoustic guitar oriented version was recorded by Stuart Markus on his CD View From The Side Of The Road.