Jennifer Nettles - "King of the City"

[avalyn]

Title: King of the City
Artist: Jennifer Nettles
Label: Big Machine Records
Songwriters: Jennifer Nettles
Release Date: September 8th
Source: Jennifer's Instagram

Audio:

Story behind the song:

As a tribute to her home, she has a timely new song “King of the City”– a composition inspired by the story of an immigrant window washer who perished in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

It has been so long since I started writing this song, but I was only able to finish it in the last year,” says Nettles. “I was inspired by the political tensions in our country right now. I want to humanize the immigrant story as an American story, and allow people a different narrative from what they might be seeing on the news or in their communities.”

“King of the City” tells the story of Jose, who went from delivering pizzas to a job where his “throne sits downtown in the air.” While describing his terror and shock during the initial attack, it also declares: “It’s true I wasn’t born here/But my heart is sworn here/To hold up your dreams with my own.”

Nettles, who lived in Mexico and studied Spanish and anthropology in college, now resides in an apartment that overlooks the Freedom Tower site. “September 11 was such a tragedy that everyone rallied around,” she says. “We all hurt on that day, we were all Americans and all patriots, and the immigrant story is the real American dream—to come and build your life in this place.”

“What I like to do as an artist is not wave a flag and scream in your face,” she says. “I like to sit in the corner and say, ‘Look over here, here’s a different story, another way to look at this.’ The places I want to address are places of pain, to say, ‘Where does it hurt? Let’s talk about that’—and we are hurting as a country. So I hope that within the Latino community, people feel validated and seen with this song, and I hope that within the country at large it sends a message of unity.”

[.indulgecountry]

Oh man, super excited to hear this! Her last album was phenomenal and country radio totally slept on it which was a total shame. Really looking forward to new music from her.

[BackwoodsBarbie]

Great news. Finally new music from female singer that I like. I've been waiting for this to happen ever since TWOTW was released. Friday will be filled with new music - Katy, Blake and now Jennifer - can't wait.

[StillTheSame]

I both hate & love her for this 😛. Thank u Google Alerts for the heads up. Can't wait to hear this tomorrow!

[trustypepper]

I loved her solo album so I'm excited for this.

Are her and Kristian officially done? Sorry I'm a bit out of the loop but last I heard they were on hiatus, which I know is never a great sign.

[The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷]

Sept 7, 2017 7:00:03 GMT -5 trustypepper said:

I loved her solo album so I'm excited for this.

Are her and Kristian officially done? Sorry I'm a bit out of the loop but last I heard they were on hiatus, which I know is never a great sign.

I was about to ask the same thing. For some reason I had in my mind that they planned go on hiatus for her to have a baby (or maybe I just dreamed that LOL), but they never got back... I wonder what a Sugarland album would sound like in 2017

[avalyn]

Sept 7, 2017 8:21:17 GMT -5 The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 said:

Sept 7, 2017 7:00:03 GMT -5 trustypepper said:

I loved her solo album so I'm excited for this.

Are her and Kristian officially done? Sorry I'm a bit out of the loop but last I heard they were on hiatus, which I know is never a great sign.

I was about to ask the same thing. For some reason I had in my mind that they planned go on hiatus for her to have a baby (or maybe I just dreamed that LOL), but they never got back... I wonder what a Sugarland album would sound like in 2017

They did go on hiatus claiming for her to have her son. That was five years ago now and the little guy will be five in December. A few months after she had him, she took the steps to actually go through with the solo artist thing after wanting to for since IM came out. I honestly am not holding my breath on it all due to things that have been said in VIP Q & A's by Jennifer where she's said becoming a solo artist was the biggest thing she's done in her career and how she has so much more to say as a solo artist. Whenever people have asked in interviews she simply says "someday it'll be back" but for right now she's focusing on her and her solo music, she doesn't want to half ass things by doing both the band and solo career at the same time and believes in giving every project she does 110% of her focus, etc. If it happens, I'd be happy, if it doesn't I wouldn't be too upset. It is what it is.

[StillTheSame]

Sept 7, 2017 8:54:44 GMT -5 avalyn said:

Sept 7, 2017 8:21:17 GMT -5 The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷 said:

I was about to ask the same thing. For some reason I had in my mind that they planned go on hiatus for her to have a baby (or maybe I just dreamed that LOL), but they never got back... I wonder what a Sugarland album would sound like in 2017

They did go on hiatus claiming for her to have her son. That was five years ago now and the little guy will be five in December. A few months after she had him, she took the steps to actually go through with the solo artist thing after wanting to for since IM came out. I honestly am not holding my breath on it all due to things that have been said in VIP Q & A's by Jennifer where she's said becoming a solo artist was the biggest thing she's done in her career and how she has so much more to say as a solo artist. Whenever people have asked in interviews she simply says "someday it'll be back" but for right now she's focusing on her and her solo music, she doesn't want to half ass things by doing both the band and solo career at the same time and believes in giving every project she does 110% of her focus, etc. If it happens, I'd be happy, if it doesn't I wouldn't be too upset. It is what it is.

MTE. I'd be lying if I didn't say I miss the magic of SL, but their happiness is what I care about most.

[avalyn]

Yahoo music just posted the full song. The song was inspire

Grammy-winning artist Jennifer Nettles is one of the few country stars who live in New York City. As a tribute to her home, she has a timely new song “King of the City”– a composition inspired by the story of an immigrant window washer who perished in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Nettles is set to release the song officially on Friday in advance of the 16th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, but Yahoo Music has the first listen for fans to enjoy.

“It has been so long since I started writing this song, but I was only able to finish it in the last year,” says Nettles. “I was inspired by the political tensions in our country right now. I want to humanize the immigrant story as an American story, and allow people a different narrative from what they might be seeing on the news or in their communities.”

“King of the City” tells the story of Jose, who went from delivering pizzas to a job where his “throne sits downtown in the air.” While describing his terror and shock during the initial attack, it also declares: “It’s true I wasn’t born here/But my heart is sworn here/To hold up your dreams with my own.”

Nettles, who lived in Mexico and studied Spanish and anthropology in college, now resides in an apartment that overlooks the Freedom Tower site. “September 11 was such a tragedy that everyone rallied around,” she says. “We all hurt on that day, we were all Americans and all patriots, and the immigrant story is the real American dream—to come and build your life in this place.”

“What I like to do as an artist is not wave a flag and scream in your face,” she says. “I like to sit in the corner and say, ‘Look over here, here’s a different story, another way to look at this.’ The places I want to address are places of pain, to say, ‘Where does it hurt? Let’s talk about that’—and we are hurting as a country. So I hope that within the Latino community, people feel validated and seen with this song, and I hope that within the country at large it sends a message of unity.”

This summer, she returned to the stage in a production of Mamma Mia! at the Hollywood Bowl; it was her co-star in the show, Latin superstar Jaime Camil, who first proposed the idea of Nettles performing “King of the City” on Univision.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I have a feeling that Sugarland broke up to try and save face after the Indiana State Fair incident. That pretty much killed their momentum, along with their last album being mostly WTF.

[avalyn]

After listening to the song several times I love it. It's a powerful song. It's a shame radio probably won't touch it due to the topic and it being done by a female who is 42/almost 43.

[musicbuff78]

I love me my Jenn but definitely not this! :(

[BackwoodsBarbie]

I like her voice and the strip down production based on guitar. Lyrics are beautiful but also very heavy and sad. It's a good song with absolutely no radio potential.

[austin]

I can't make it through the whole thing. It is probably a good song hidden in there but it sounds like a lullaby and bored me to death. I miss Sugarland.

[Kanenrá:ke]

I like this for what it is but I really hope they don't send this to radio. I can't see them touching this at all.

[Troublemaker]

Ok, Jen what's going on?

[lyrichord]

Sept 7, 2017 15:58:35 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

I have a feeling that Sugarland broke up to try and save face after the Indiana State Fair incident. That pretty much killed their momentum, along with their last album being mostly WTF.

Agree that the Indiana state fair tragedy probably destroyed their partnership, although the quality of their music was going downhill. Their first two albums still hold up well, and I wish there was more music like that these days. Jennifer is so unquestionably talented it's a shame her solo work gets little acknowledgement.

[zaclord 🌈]

Okay, she and Kristian really need to just get back together. This continues the streak that none of their solo material is any good. This song is so sleepy and has zero percent chance of doing anything on radio.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

I remember seeing Sugarland in concert not long before the Indiana State Fair incident, and they just had no chemistry onstage at all. Kristian did almost nothing the whole show. I don't know if that's truly representative of how they were at the time, but it gave the impression to me that Jennifer wanted to go solo anyway.

[14887fan]

Casual reminder for all that music isn't solely made for commercial appeal or radio success. Sometimes artists just release music...because. And this is likely one of those situations.

This is stunning. It's poignant, vivid, picturesque, gripping, conversational, and told by one of this genre's greatest vocal emoters. What a narrative. I'm not surprised by the lukewarm response to it since it is very lullaby-ish production-wise, but it's appropriate given the song's content.

Jennifer Nettles is a damn good artist and a really damn great writer. I'm glad she shared this song with us. No promo, no music video, no radio push, no nothing; just a song for people to listen to, and hopefully understand. Hell, it isn't even on YouTube. Her point in releasing this, as per her interview, was to make people see another form of the American Dream that they are neglectful/ignorant towards/have prejudices against; not to make a quick buck.

[The Brazilian Guy 🇧🇷]

I actually really like this... it feels like a folk song with a (very tastefully done) Mexican flair. Beautifully written and performed btw.

It's not single material - as was already mentioned - but it's a gorgeous song that would definitely deserve a place on a future album.

[someguy]

I love this. Definitely not something that should go to radio, but that isn't the point at all. It reminds me of something that would have fit very nicely on Mary Chapin Carpenter's Stones In The Road album. Jennifer is so talented - I hope that her 'mainstream' country career isn't over yet.

[keelhauled]

Sept 9, 2017 1:32:49 GMT -5 someguy said:

I love this. Definitely not something that should go to radio, but that isn't the point at all.

Yeah it'd be a real shame to hear something unique on the radio. Wouldn't want to take valuable playlist space from the latest songs about girls and beer.

[Kanenrá:ke]

Sept 8, 2017 21:17:05 GMT -5 14887fan said:

Casual reminder for all that music isn't solely made for commercial appeal or radio success. Sometimes artists just release music...because. And this is likely one of those situations.

This is stunning. It's poignant, vivid, picturesque, gripping, conversational, and told by one of this genre's greatest vocal emoters. What a narrative. I'm not surprised by the lukewarm response to it since it is very lullaby-ish production-wise, but it's appropriate given the song's content.

Jennifer Nettles is a damn good artist and a really damn great writer. I'm glad she shared this song with us. No promo, no music video, no radio push, no nothing; just a song for people to listen to, and hopefully understand. Hell, it isn't even on YouTube. Her point in releasing this, as per her interview, was to make people see another form of the American Dream that they are neglectful/ignorant towards/have prejudices against; not to make a quick buck.

I feel I should expand on my thoughts, I really do like the song a lot. It's telling a unique story and has a nice Mary Chapin Carpenter feel as someguy already pointed out.

My original post about hoping it's not a single is because I thought that she was going to push this to radio. I didn't get to read the article till now so it doesn't appear that this will be an actual radio single.

I'd love to see a music video made for this however as It should lend itself to one nicely.

[avalyn]

I totally jumped the gun with posting about it assuming it was a radio single. Sorry guys! I should have probably held off but based off her tweets and things it felt like it was going to a radio single. Heck, she even used the word "single" a few times on social media. But still, it's a beautiful song that needs to be heard. It was written and released more than anything to spark conversations and what not.

Kanenrá:ke is it possible to move this to the non-single and country news part of the board rather than the full on non-single part since I seemed to jump the gun? I don't really venture out of the country board and would love to be able to keep the conversation going and keep an eye on it.

[.indulgecountry]

Sept 8, 2017 21:17:05 GMT -5 14887fan said:

Casual reminder for all that music isn't solely made for commercial appeal or radio success. Sometimes artists just release music...because. And this is likely one of those situations.

This is stunning. It's poignant, vivid, picturesque, gripping, conversational, and told by one of this genre's greatest vocal emoters. What a narrative. I'm not surprised by the lukewarm response to it since it is very lullaby-ish production-wise, but it's appropriate given the song's content.

Jennifer Nettles is a damn good artist and a really damn great writer. I'm glad she shared this song with us. No promo, no music video, no radio push, no nothing; just a song for people to listen to, and hopefully understand. Hell, it isn't even on YouTube. Her point in releasing this, as per her interview, was to make people see another form of the American Dream that they are neglectful/ignorant towards/have prejudices against; not to make a quick buck.

This. Say it louder for the people in the back!

Seriously, this song is gorgeous. Her vocal on this is just stunning and I love it for what it is, which is a great ballad that probably shouldn't be even entertained as a radio single, but it is still a lovely piece. I can't wait for more... hopefully another album is in the pipeline shortly.

Also, I find the idea of them breaking up because of the Indiana State Fair tragedy ridiculous. They had absolutely nothing to do with that and I really struggle to even wrap my mind around that line of thinking, to be totally honest.

[bboat11]

Sept 10, 2017 23:23:49 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Sept 8, 2017 21:17:05 GMT -5 14887fan said:

Casual reminder for all that music isn't solely made for commercial appeal or radio success. Sometimes artists just release music...because. And this is likely one of those situations.

This is stunning. It's poignant, vivid, picturesque, gripping, conversational, and told by one of this genre's greatest vocal emoters. What a narrative. I'm not surprised by the lukewarm response to it since it is very lullaby-ish production-wise, but it's appropriate given the song's content.

Jennifer Nettles is a damn good artist and a really damn great writer. I'm glad she shared this song with us. No promo, no music video, no radio push, no nothing; just a song for people to listen to, and hopefully understand. Hell, it isn't even on YouTube. Her point in releasing this, as per her interview, was to make people see another form of the American Dream that they are neglectful/ignorant towards/have prejudices against; not to make a quick buck.

This. Say it louder for the people in the back!

Seriously, this song is gorgeous. Her vocal on this is just stunning and I love it for what it is, which is a great ballad that probably shouldn't be even entertained as a radio single, but it is still a lovely piece. I can't wait for more... hopefully another album is in the pipeline shortly.

Also, I find the idea of them breaking up because of the Indiana State Fair tragedy ridiculous. They had absolutely nothing to do with that and I really struggle to even wrap my mind around that line of thinking, to be totally honest.

I agree. While we're at it, we may as well predict that Florida Georgia Line are going to break up because of Hurricane Irma hitting the Florida/Georgia line right now...

[.indulgecountry]

Sept 10, 2017 23:51:51 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

Sept 10, 2017 23:23:49 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

This. Say it louder for the people in the back!

Seriously, this song is gorgeous. Her vocal on this is just stunning and I love it for what it is, which is a great ballad that probably shouldn't be even entertained as a radio single, but it is still a lovely piece. I can't wait for more... hopefully another album is in the pipeline shortly.

Also, I find the idea of them breaking up because of the Indiana State Fair tragedy ridiculous. They had absolutely nothing to do with that and I really struggle to even wrap my mind around that line of thinking, to be totally honest.

I agree. While we're at it, we may as well predict that Florida Georgia Line are going to break up because of Hurricane Irma hitting the Florida/Georgia line right now...

Personally I blame Luke Combs because he had the nerve to release "Hurricane" and then "When It Rains It Pours" back-to-back so he obviously had it out for the Gulf Coast this year.