[Chorus]
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
Oh God, save New York first

[Verse 1]
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

[Chorus]
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
Oh God, save New York first

[Verse 2]
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 one garden-city or another
The question stands, which one is New York?
[Chorus]
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
Oh God, save New York first

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
Oh God, save New York first
God, oh
God, oh