Englishman in New York

Sting was two albums into his solo career when he wrote "Englishman in New York", a track from his second studio album Nothing Like the Sun, released in October 1987. Having fronted the Police until 1984, the English singer-songwriter had launched out on his own in 1985, and this single, issued by A&M Records in February 1988 as the album's third single, found him writing about someone he knew well.

The "Englishman" of the title was Quentin Crisp, the famous eccentric and gay icon who had recently moved from London to an apartment in the Bowery in Manhattan. Sting had met her, and Crisp joked that she looked forward to receiving her naturalisation papers so she could "commit a crime and not be deported." When Sting asked what kind of crime, Crisp replied, "Something glamorous, non-violent, with a dash of style. Crime is so rarely glamorous these days." Sting included the story in the album's liner notes.

Branford Marsalis played soprano saxophone on the recording, with Manu Katché on drums and Mino Cinélu on percussion. The single reached No. 51 in the UK but did better across continental Europe, hitting the top 40 in France, the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium, and peaking at No. 9 in South Africa. In 1990, ahead of the album The Soul Cages, Sting's label licensed Dutch producer Ben Liebrand to remix the track, and that version reached number 15 in the UK charts in mid-1990.