Harlem

Album: A Bad Girl in Harlem (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • New Politics were formed in Denmark by David and Soren Hansen, who then moved to the US in 2009, after getting a record deal on the back of a talent show performance. The Hansen brothers enlisted American drummer Lewis Vecchio to join the band the following year. Their second album, A Bad Girl in Harlem, is largely about the fish-out-of- water experience.
  • This was the first single released from the album. David Hansen explained to The Sun: "That song is about a real romantic adventure up in Harlem. Soren lived above some people and they had a party and that's where I met a girl from Harlem. The girl doesn't know this is about her, it was a bittersweet ending."
  • Harlem is a district of New York City, which was named by the original Dutch settlers after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. It is now chiefly identified with its African American and Hispanic American population and is a world renowned center of black culture. The "Harlem Renaissance", an outpouring of artistic work in the 1920s was without precedent in the African American community. Here are four more songs inspired by Harlem:

    "Spanish Harlem" by Ben E. King.
    "Harlem Shuffle" by The Rolling Stones.
    "Angel Of Harlem" by U2.
    "Harlem Shake" by Baauer.
  • The song featured in the 2013 video game NHL 14 as well as in a trailer for the Disney movie Frozen.

Comments: 1

  • Jim from TxWho is the girl in the video, Harlem?
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Taylor Dayne

Taylor DayneSongwriter Interviews

Taylor talks about "The Machine" - the hits, the videos and Clive Davis.

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New York

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New YorkSong Writing

Our chat with Barney Hoskyns, who covers the wild years of Woodstock - the town, not the festival - in his book Small Town Talk.

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he Inspired

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he InspiredSong Writing

Before he was the champ, Ali released an album called I Am The Greatest!, but his musical influence is best heard in the songs he inspired.

Amy Grant

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.

Michael Bolton

Michael BoltonSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.

Tony Joe White

Tony Joe WhiteSongwriter Interviews

The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.