Credit: Far Out / Alamy / Justin Higuchi
Wed 22 July 2026 21:00, UK
“When I retire, I’m going to retire to Brooklyn,” Marilyn Monroe had famously declared in a 1955 radio interview.
“That’s my favourite place in the world, so far, that I’ve seen,” she continued, “I haven’t travelled much, but I don’t think I’ll find anything to replace Brooklyn”. In another interview, she explained her love for the borough further, noting, “I just like walking around. I think the view is better from Brooklyn, you can look back over and see Manhattan. That’s the best view, but it isn’t only the view. It’s the people, and the streets…and the atmosphere, I just like it.”
Whether you hear Brooklyn and think of certain foods or films, or the infiltration of so-called hipsters who have taken over much of the borough in more recent years, there’s certainly a charm that may be hard to put into words, but it persists.
This shows in song, too; from Brooklyn-born musicians to ones who made their way into the borough and found it hard to leave, these songs capture Brooklyn across time, from childhood visions to modern-day, tongue-in-cheek dissections of what it inspires.
Five songs that capture Brooklyn’s spirit ADD AS A PREFERRED SOURCE ON GOOGLE 