If this world never dies / and we’ll all be blessed or cursed / and there’s any place worth saving Oh God, save New York first
Ride underneath her long tilled soil / New York / until you feel the subway’s pulse and beat And see the living roots all kinds entangled / from Wall Street’s king to idlers off the street Rise to face her eye level now / New York / watch clicking heels make the curb alive Until you know what brings these people here / and what it takes a city to survive
If this world never dies / and we’ll all be blessed or cursed / and there’s any place worth saving Oh God, save New York first
Stare hard and slow into her soul / New York / Until you see the wounded and forsaken And all their longings told in honest art / stare until your bones are shaken Listen to her from the subway to the sky / telling you that every road is a fork Leading toward on garden-city or another / the question stands / which one is New York
If this world never dies / and we’ll all be blessed or cursed / and there’s any place worth saving Oh God, save New York first