The streets are sweating hope and fear
And the boarded up windows shed a tear
Cars drive on and people walk by
Graffiti and tearstains haven't learned to lie

Beyond the lights are the standard issue homes
Where standard issue people roam
The men in suits with their television lives
And the melancholy dreamers with their midnight drives

Both lock their secrets deep inside
And pretend they have not a think to hide
Souls lit up like the city lights
And hearts darkened from so many sleepless nights

The skyscrapers, in their luminous might
Blot out the stars that would light up the night
Beautiful but bittersweet
A plastic town playing the soundtrack of defeat

Sometimes the bells ring from the tower
And the subways sing songs of hope with power
The streets are sweating: love and hate
Hope and fear, it seems to create