Lonely Town (On the Town)

It is performed in Scene 7 of Act 1 of the musical by the character Gabey, a sailor on shore leave, in the musical as he laments his loneliness despite being in the crowds of New York City. It is the first solo number performed by one of the principal characters in the musical. The song is formed of an AABAB structure. The song segues into the "Lonely Town Pas de Deux" ballet in the musical in which Gabey watches other sailors dance with girls while he is alone.{{cite book|author=Helen Smith|title=There's a Place For Us: The Musical Theatre Works of Leonard Bernstein|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BTkrDwAAQBAJ|date=5 July 2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-53923-4|page=37}} A new verse was created when it was released as sheet music as the original verse contained too many references to the specific plot of the musical. The song includes fragments of the song "New York, New York" from the musical. "Lonely Town" is one of the three principal ballads of the show alongside "Lucky to Be Me" and "Some Other Time".{{cite book|author=Carol J. Oja|title=Bernstein Meets Broadway: Collaborative Art in a Time of War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o44dBAAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-986209-2|page=233}} The song had developed from "Lonely Me", of which the lyrics only exist.

The Boston Herald critic Elinor Hughes felt that "Lonely Town" was one of the few songs from the musical that would be "most likely to be remembered".

Frank Sinatra starred in the 1947 film version of the musical with Gene Kelly, and believed that he was going to perform the song in the film though in the musical it had been written for Kelly's character. Comden recalled that Sinatra was "very, very angry" upon being told on the last day of shooting that the song was not to be included.{{cite book|author1=Will Friedwald|author2=Tony Bennett|title=Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DNM2DwAAQBAJ|date=1 May 2018|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=978-1-61373-773-6|page=623}}{{cite book|author=Spencer Leigh|title=Frank Sinatra: An Extraordinary Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBm6CgAAQBAJ|date=25 September 2015|publisher=McNidder and Grace Limited|isbn=978-0-85716-088-1|page=138}}

In his biography of Sinatra, Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art, Will Friedwald wrote that Sinatra and Gordon Jenkins considered the song the "high point" of Sinatra's 1957 album arranged by Jenkins, Where Are You?, and describes the song as a "heavy, moving ballad".

"Lonely Town" was performed by Shirley Horn on Charlie Haden's 1999 album The Art of the Song, in an arrangement by Alan Broadbent. Broadbent won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.{{cite book|author=Don Franks|title=Entertainment Awards: A Music, Cinema, Theatre and Broadcasting Guide, 1928 through 2003, 3d ed.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dOKoBQAAQBAJ|date=3 December 2014|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-0806-8|page=66}}

• Maynard Ferguson – Dimensions (EmArcy, 1955){{cite web|title=www.discogs.com|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/2690348-Maynard-Ferguson-Dimensions?srsltid=AfmBOooUDk_BIdHB4sNO1jtfL_l-1UiYMOVdd8EHCNwq_vD8PE8jxNGl|website=www.discogs.com|accessdate=February 4, 2025}}
• Frank Sinatra – Where Are You? (Capitol, 1957){{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/where-are-you--mw0000691401|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=February 5, 2025}}
• Tommy Flanagan – Lonely Town (Blue Note, 1959){{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/lonely-town-mw0000379836|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=February 6, 2025}}
• Blossom Dearie – Blossom Dearie Sings Comden and Green (Verve, 1959){{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/blossom-dearie-sings-comden-and-green-mw0000014469|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=February 3, 2025}}
• Mel Tormé – Mel Tormé Swings Shubert Alley (Verve, 1960){{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/swings-shubert-alley-mw0000188828|website=www.allmusic.com|accessdate=July 7, 2024}}
• Gerry Mulligan – Jeru (Columbia, 1962){{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000487432|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=February 7, 2025}}
• Freddie Hubbard – First Light (CTI, 1971){{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/first-light-mw0000188197|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=February 8, 2025}}
• Jaki Byard – There'll Be Some Changes Made (Muse, 1972){{cite web|title=www.discogs.com|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/2664060-Jaki-Byard-Therell-Be-Some-Changes-Made|website=www.discogs.com|accessdate=February 9, 2025}}
• On the Town (Deutsche Grammophon, 1994){{cite web|title=www.discogs.com|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/4472936-Leonard-Bernstein-Betty-Comden-Adolph-Green-Jerome-Robbins-Frederica-von-Stade-Thomas-Hampson-Samuel?srsltid=AfmBOopE5sVJESoWekLNOb5Z3TfR-g7Z1s4bv-XQMGtmqo1wyz6qy2kH|website=www.discogs.com|accessdate=February 8, 2025}}
• Shirley Horn with Charlie Haden – The Art of the Song (Polygram, 1999){{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-art-of-the-song-mw0000668250|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=February 7, 2025}}
• Roberto Magris – Mating Call (JMood, 2010){{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/mating-call-mw0002341061|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=February 6, 2025}}
• Barry Manilow – Songs of New York (Decca), 2017{{cite web|title=www.discogs.com|url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1181476-Barry-Manilow-This-Is-My-Town-Songs-Of-New-York?srsltid=AfmBOor6zFfGH17V-w8UAw0EGsSc4Bs3mr4b1GVKJit5ZjRXc9oqyJ88|website=www.discogs.com|accessdate=February 5, 2025}}
• Kurt Elling – The Questions (Okeh, 2018){{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-questions-mw0003139439|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=February 4, 2025}}

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Category:1944 songs

Category:Frank Sinatra songs

Category:Songs about New York City

Category:Songs from musicals

Category:Songs with music by Leonard Bernstein

Category:Songs with lyrics by Betty Comden

Category:Songs with lyrics by Adolph Green

Category:On the Town