New York City Cops (song)

"New York City Cops"
Single by the Strokes
from the album Is This It (international editions)
A-side	"Hard to Explain" (double A-side)
Released	June 25, 2001 (double A-side)
Recorded	March and April 2001
Studio	Transporterraum, New York City
Genre	Street punk[1]
Length	3:30
Label	RCA
Songwriter(s)	Julian Casablancas
Producer(s)	Gordon Raphael
The Strokes singles chronology
"Hard to Explain" / "New York City Cops" (2001) "Last Nite" (2001)

"New York City Cops" is a song by American rock band the Strokes. It was released along with "Hard to Explain" as a double A-side single on June 25, 2001, in Australia and Europe. It appears on international editions of their debut studio album, Is This It (2001); it was replaced with the track "When It Started" on the then-unreleased American CD edition following the September 11 attacks due to its lyrics regarding the New York City Police Department. As a double A-side single, it reached number 16 in the UK and number 66 in Australia.

Background and release

"New York City Cops", written in response to the 1999 killing of Amadou Diallo by four plainclothes police officers, was released along with "Hard to Explain" as a double A-side single on June 25, 2001, through RCA Records in Australia and Europe.[2][3][4] Both tracks would later be included on their debut studio album, Is This It (2001).[5] The song features the refrain "New York City cops, but they ain’t too smart."[6] Since the American CD had not been released yet, the song was removed after the September 11 attacks. The band did so after they witnessed the "valiant response" of the city's police department during the tragedy, feeling that it would be "wrong to release it during these highly sensitive times". They replaced the song with the newly recorded "When It Started".[7] The vinyl release retained the original track list, due to its release falling on September 11, 2001.[8]

Live performances

The Strokes continued to perform the song live despite the September 11 attacks. During their performance in Toronto on October 2, 2001, Casablancas stated, "I liked this fucking song and it's ruined. We live in New York. It's fucked up. The cops have killed a lot more people than they're saying and that's the fuckin' truth."[9]

The song was performed at a rally for Senator Bernie Sanders at the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, New Hampshire on February 10, 2020.[10] According to some accounts, "New York City Cops" was not on the band's setlist, but the Strokes performed the song after taking issue with lights being turned up and attempts to stop crowd-surfing fans.[6]

Track listing

7-inch vinyl

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Hard to Explain"	3:43
2.	"New York City Cops"	3:30

CD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Hard to Explain"	3:43
2.	"New York City Cops"	3:30
3.	"Take It or Leave It" (in LA)	3:15
4.	"Trying Your Luck" (in LA)	3:25

Personnel

The Strokes Julian Casablancas – vocals Nick Valensi – rhythm guitar (1), lead guitar (2) Albert Hammond Jr. – lead guitar (1), rhythm guitar (2) Nikolai Fraiture – bass guitar Fabrizio Moretti – drums

Additional personnel Gordon Raphael – production Greg Calbi – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "Hard to Explain" / "New York City Cops" by The Strokes

Chart (2001–2002)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[11]	66
UK Singles (OCC)[12]	16

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "Hard to Explain" / "New York City Cops" by The Strokes

Chart (2002)	Position
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[13]	96

Footnotes

1. Beaumont, Mark (April 9, 2020). "The 20 greatest Strokes songs". The Independent. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
2. "The Strokes – Why New York's finest will change your life – forever!". NME. June 9, 2001.
3. "The Strokes – Hard To Explain / New York City Cops (Australia)". Discogs. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
4. "The Strokes – Hard To Explain / New York City Cops (Europe)". Discogs. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
5. Is This It (international editions) (CD booklet and case back cover). The Strokes. RCA Records; Rough Trade Records. 2001.
6. "Strokes Sing 'New York City Cops' Face-to-Face With Cops as Sanders Rally Gets Rowdy". Variety. February 11, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
7. Schumacher-Rasmussen, Eric (September 21, 2001). "Dave Matthews Band, Strokes, Sheryl Crow Rethink Their Music". MTV. Archived from the original on February 2, 2002. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
8. Roach, p. 96
9. "Taste of the masses". The Cord. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
10. Bloom, Madison (February 10, 2020). "The Strokes Debut New Song "Bad Decision" at Bernie Sanders Rally: Watch". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
11. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
12. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
13. "Canada's Top 200 Singles of 2002". Jam!. January 14, 2003. Archived from the original on September 6, 2004. Retrieved March 22, 2022.

References

• Roach, Martin (2003). This Is It ... The First Biography of The Strokes. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9601-6.