[Intro Dawn ambience with trolley bell and chopped piano] (Female Vocalist) Sun coming up Smoke in the sky (Male Vocalist) Whole city moving Before daylight [Verse 1 Morning rush with crisp modern flow] (Male Vocalist) Eighteen seventy one in four in the crowd By nineteen ten nearly half lived around Cities got motion the map got flipped Farm machines rose so the workers switched Immigrant families gave the skyline soul New York Detroit Chicago on go Black families moved for a chance to advance Southern cities first then north for a chance Rail lines rolled with the people and freight Raw goods arrived while the factories ate Chicago packed meat Pittsburgh poured steel Ports moved products on a worldwide deal Country went urban the streets got deep Morning just started but the city never sleeps [Chorus Melodic vocals over bouncing bass] (Female Vocalist) City never sleeps It just changes shifts Dreams in the street While the skyline lifts Gold on the roof Grit under the feet Everybody moving To the city beat Up all day Up all night Hope in the dark Progress in the light City grew fast But the price ran deep Round and around The city never sleeps [Verse 2 Midday beat switch with jazz bass] (Male Vocalist) Tenement packed several families inside One cold tap and one toilet combined Windows full of children rooms running tight Slums stayed crowded every day every night Middle class caught the streetcar away Doctors, teachers, managers getting paid Suburbs got houses with water and power Time for the music and books by the hour Rich built mansions like money had height Country estates made the wealth look bright Gold on the surface but struggle beneath That is why Gilded had truth underneath Same city block but a different routine Three separate worlds in the very same scene [Chorus Melodic vocals over bouncing bass] (Female Vocalist) City never sleeps It just changes shifts Dreams in the street While the skyline lifts Gold on the roof Grit under the feet Everybody moving To the city beat Up all day Up all night Hope in the dark Progress in the light City grew fast But the price ran deep Round and around The city never sleeps [Verse 3 Evening turns dark with heavy drums] (Male Vocalist) Growth came fast infrastructure moved slow Trash in the street where the diseases could grow Sewers overwhelmed with the city packed tight Poverty pressed on the blocks every night New York screened children when sickness came through Clinics and nurses brought help that was new Religious groups opened shelters and care Tried giving hope where the system was bare Settlement houses put help on the ground Classes and services spread through the town Jane Addams opened Hull House in eighty nine People helping people made the whole block shine City had problems no filter no gloss But reformers stepped in and started the cause [Bridge Orchestral lift with park ambience] (Female Vocalist) Olmsted said every city needs green Space for the people and air they could breathe Central Park opened a break from the grind City Beautiful put nature in mind World Fair Chicago showed bold new design Art and architecture could change city life Concrete and gardens both had a voice Building a city was also a choice [Verse 4 Night skyline with rapid futuristic flow] (Male Vocalist) Limited space so the buildings went high Iron frame strong put the walls in the sky Otis made elevators safer to ride Jenney went ten floors Chicago worldwide First skyscraper changed every view Woolworth rose fifty five stories brand new Cathedral of Commerce with the clouds at its feet City went vertical leveling up every street Horse cars rolled then the cable cars came Richmond made electric trolleys change lanes Boston went underground ninety seven New York followed in nineteen oh four Eeds crossed the Mississippi holding it down Brooklyn Bridge linked two sides of the town Trains and trolleys made the suburbs increase Night kept moving while the city found speed [Final Chorus Full brass and choir over massive beat] (Female Vocalist) City never sleeps It just changes shifts Dreams in the street While the skyline lifts Gold on the roof Grit under the feet Everybody moving To the city beat Up all day Up all night Hope in the dark Progress in the light City grew fast But the price ran deep Round and around The city never sleeps City never sleeps It just changes shifts Millions of stories Inside of the bricks [Outro Subway rumble fades beneath piano] (Female Vocalist) Morning to midnight The whole world meets (Male Vocalist) Trouble and triumph On the very same street
