New York City
Marc Bolan & T. Rex Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Did you ever see a woman
Coming out of New York City
With a frog in her hand

Did you ever see a woman
Coming out of New York City
With a frog in her hand

I did don't you know (x3)

And don't it show

Overall Meaning

The song "New York City" by Marc Bolan & T-Rex talks about a woman coming out of New York City with a frog in her hand. The lyrics are metaphorical and can be interpreted in different ways. Some people believe that the song is about the eccentricity and uniqueness of people living in New York City. The frog in the woman's hand symbolizes the strange and unusual things that happen in the city. The repetition of the lyrics "Did you ever see a woman coming out of New York City with a frog in her hand?" emphasizes the surreal nature of the situation and the concept that anything can happen in New York City.

The song was released in 1972 as a single and was included in the album "The Slider." It was one of T-Rex's most successful songs, reaching number 15 in the UK charts. The song's success was partly due to the popularity of the glam rock movement at the time. Bolan's androgynous look and catchy pop hooks made the song and the band hugely popular.

Line by Line Meaning

Did you ever see a woman
Have you had the pleasure of witnessing a lady in the flesh

Coming out of New York City
Exiting the bustling metropolis of NYC

With a frog in her hand
Grasping a slimy amphibian in her palm

I did don't you know (x3)
I indeed encountered such a sight, as I would like to inform you

And don't it show
Clearly evident by my previous statement

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, SPIRIT MUSIC GROUP
Written by: WINFRED LOVETT

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Comments from YouTube:

Al Niderstros

1y↑27

I just sing this everyday…can’t help it ..everyone says what the?? .. is that .. Well I just love it! ….

Lekarz Kto

50w↑3

There is nothing better than waking up in the morning and saying "did you ever see woman coming out of New York city with a frog in her hand"

francisco madrid

3y↑12

Extraordinario Marc, uno de los grandes y que buen legado nos dejo

Paco Aguilar

46w↑5

En sus tiempos fue uno de los mejores. Creó mucha influencia en el rock

Federico Schmid

37w↑1

Lo sigue siendo

Лилия Райхерт

2y↑8

Но как легко и непринужденно Болан исполняет свои треки легендарные.
Его исполнении, это полет души.... 👍🌹❤️🌹👍

Phil Morgan

51w↑5

Love this song great tune almost a return to Marc bolans best works

Phil Murray

1y↑10

played this to my kids when they where babies they love it today and they are in there thirties

Michael Francis Peter Ridley

42w↑1

Those years for me were wonderful. 17/18 years of age loving the era of music

Tony Mcvann

25w

Absolutely love this song it brings back so many memories ❤

gary morgan

2y↑6

One the best songs ever .

William Fisher

2y↑10

15 words in this..still got to 15 in UK charts

Michael Cameron

Romany Soup had less words

Stix MacLennan

1y↑1

15 words and doesn't get remotely tedious in nigh on 4 minutes, I could listen to a 20 minute mix and not get bored.

Aly Class

27 words actually :P

blackmore4

44w

@Stix MacLennan Haha, I love it too but have to say that when the 2 minute mark comes up, I'm just about done ;)

Phil

3y↑31

Marc; stunning and so innovative...

Dalex53

2y↑9

Excellent voice for the background!

michael mccarthy

2y↑3

love it

Al Niderstros

2y↑7

I just love this…. Marc Bolen the - original Rock Star - never before …not since

Ieuan Davies

1y↑7

Just perfect glam rock!

Rob Haunui

2y↑11

Love this song,even though I'm glad it's uploaded again, honestly with todays modern technology,couldn't the film be cleaned up better,and the audio quality upgraded ?

Jacqueline Martell

3y↑16

Beautiful!😆💖🐸

Daniel P.C

2y↑2

Divo!!! <3

Kevin Turner

29w

Love Marc Bolan ❤️

Alex Fletcher

3y↑8

Fuck, these tunes still come out of the traps.

Daniel Lazarte

2y↑2

I love Marc, viva el ura!

gary mc grath

49w↑1

Brilliant ... Still think the lyrics r strange .. surely Paul Stanley was influenced by his look and mannerisms

Michael Francis Peter Ridley

42w

That was the uniqueness of Marc his strangeness The Americans never understood him.

Philip Withey

29w↑2

Is that gloria what a voice angelic like

Todd Pence

3y↑13

This song was inspired when Bolan actually saw a woman skating out of the Holland tunnel carrying a live frog in her hand.

GS R

3y↑4

No it wasn't. Marc bought Gloria a Kermit The Frog toy in NYC and created the song in the hotel bedroom.

Logan Roselli

3y↑1

@GS R false

Kurt Van Der Bogarde

2y↑1

@Logan Roselli GS R is correct. Although Marc did spin a yarn to the UK press about it being an elderly lady magic practitioner and local celeb in NY.

Sharyn Edom

43w

She overrides the song too much!

2 More Replies...

Inês Isabel

2y↑2

❤🧡

Lekarz Kto

2y↑6

I love this song but I don't know why? And there is a bit of unfortunate situation in that the keyboardist was actually his girlfriend at the time and she was the driver of the car when Marc Boland died. I don't think it was her fault.

M15Guys

2y↑2

Yeah that’s Gloria Jones a famous singer in her own right, and it wasn’t her fault x

MarkVL

1y↑1

@M15Guys It wasn't? I thought she was drunk?

Phil Ward

3y↑6

This copy is on 16mm colour film..Ive seen the same performance from the original 2in videotape master..Its very clear and pin sharp..

Kurt Van Der Bogarde

2y↑2

it's a kinescope print (or telerecording in BBC-ese), like what most 60s black and white TV survives on.

lars kirk

2y↑2

this rules

池田明彦

51w

邦題「ニューヨークブギ」この頃は、人気が下降線をたどりつつありましたけど、自分のスタイルを貫く姿勢は評価できます。

Vice Squad

3y↑6

🔥❤️🔥 x

Finbarr McGrath

1y↑1

I forgot this one.

Duncan.Terrace

29w

With a frog in her hand ? Can someone please explain ?🥰.

Tony Ralph

32w

One and only .. M B

Dave Fitzgerald

47w↑4

I wonder was Marc a bit trans, except in those days there was no information about it? He certainly loved his glam.

claus stimpfig

Here Bolan after he lost his boyfriend MICKEY FINN. You know that Feld called Mickey "MY ANGEL"..........

blackmore4

44w

Really? How d'you know they were 'together'?

Mikey Ramone

2y↑7

Posted in 2020 - worst quality. Why? Couldn't you just find any master video available with good quality from the Archive?

Kurt Van Der Bogarde

They could. A copy fo the master tape was used as an extra on the Marc Shows DVD. This crappy film copy belonged to the Bramleys in the past - you can see it in the same grotty glory on the Ultimate Video Collection.

Kurt Van Der Bogarde

Granada TV owns the master of this clip, along with the rest of that episode of Shang A Lang.

1 More Replies...

C.A.T.

28w

I loved T Rex, but Marc Bolan was really awful at miming to recordings. Mouth not moving while vocals are happening (or nowhere near the mic), obviously not playing the guitar parts we're hearing... I sometimes wonder if he was doing all that on purpose as some sort of ironic statement.

claus stimpfig

Bolan had lost his best friend Mickey Finn. And here he looks like a brothel girl. I do not have anything against these women. Wonderful pretty birds. But Bolan looks so .........

bw

3y↑6

He's not looking great and the song isn't particularly inspired or inspiring. Not gonna say anything about the GF tho. I feel bad for Marc at this point. Seems he'd lost his way.

Violette Barnes

3y↑7

After the drugs and booze. He is looking used up. And girlfriend ended up killing him and running to the US.

warren milford

3y↑25

The girlfriend comment is a bit unfair. I don't think she crashed the car on purpose. She was hurt in it as well . Then she had to raise their child by herself, virtually penniless, because she got nothing from the estate. In fact even his family got nothing from his estate because he'd been well and truly fucked over by management etc. All the T-REX stuff that got sold after his death goes to other people, not his son or his brother.

Violette Barnes

3y↑4

@warren milford He was still married to his wife at the time of his death. If the girlfriend had nothing to hide she should have showed up for her court appearance.

warren milford

3y↑9

@Violette Barnes I know he was still married to June, I don't know what that has to do with anything. I don't think she got much from the will, if anything at all, and apparently he was organising a divorce. I didn't know about Gloria's no show at court, thanks for the info. It doesn't mean it was premeditated, followed by some escape to the US, which is what you kind of implied. It was a car accident, and yea, she may have been wasted, who knows? By you saying, if she had nothing to hide etc, that implies some dark plot to kill him. Well it didn't do her any good financially, so I see no reason for it.

Violette Barnes

3y↑2

@warren milford I never implied it was a plot to kill him but she ran. She knew she caused his death.

Renata Polacsek

3y↑3

@warren milford as far as I know from interview with his wife, neither filed to finalize anything, that's all I know

20 More Replies...

Paul jones

2y↑1

Very Marc, awful but still Marc

Richard Emery

1y↑3

Yep, but still Marc, I'm sure he knew it was awful but just did it for laughs, people actually bought the single at the time, I didn't, after Children of the Revolution I kept my purse shut.