I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City

"I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City"
side-A label
Side A of the US single
Single by Nilsson
from the album Harry
B-side
  • "Maybe" (U.S.)
  • "Rainmaker" (Intl.)
ReleasedOctober 1969
GenreSoft rock
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Harry Nilsson[1]
Producer(s)Rick Jarrard
Nilsson singles chronology
"Everybody's Talkin'"
(1969)
"I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City"
(1969)
"Waiting"
(1970)

"I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City" is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter Nilsson in 1969. A track from his fourth studio album, Harry, it became his second charting single.

Background

The song was written for, but not included in, the movie Midnight Cowboy. The same recording was reissued in 1972 crediting Buck Earl (Jon Voight's character in the movie was Joe Buck) as the performing artist.

Chart performance

It became Nilsson's second hit record in the U.S., reaching No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[2] and No. 7 on the Easy Listening chart.

The song was a bigger hit in Canada, where it reached No. 25 on the Pop chart[3] and No. 3 on the Adult Contemporary chart.[4]

Chart (1969–70) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart 66
Canada RPM Top Singles[5] 25
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[6] 3
New Zealand (Listener)[7] 23
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[8] 34
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening[9] 7
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[10] 35

Notable cover versions

References

  1. ^ "secondhandsongs.com". secondhandsongs.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  2. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  3. ^ RPM Top Singles, December 6, 1969
  4. ^ RPM Adult Contemporary, December 6, 1969
  5. ^ RPM Top Singles, December 6, 1969
  6. ^ RPM Adult Contemporary, December 6, 1969
  7. ^ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  8. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  9. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 177.
  10. ^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 6, 1969
  11. ^ [Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004]
  12. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 175.