Janis Ian
Heart of a City
[Intro]
This is a new song. Um, actually somebody was asking me why it's not on a CD last night, and, um, that's because it's only four days old. 

[Verse 1]
There stood the observation deck
Where none had stood before
We stared down at the smoking ground
And one man took the floor
He said "I'm just five blocks from home
I was in it at the start
And they might have touched the flesh and bone
But they did not strike the heart"

[Chorus]
'Cause the heart of a city is the soul of a man
And it runs like a river through the beat of thе land
You can tear down a building, you can tear down a park
You can strike at a symbol, but you can't touch thе heart

[Verse 2]
There were ashes on the window sills
And ashes on the leaves
There were ashes on the tongues
Of everybody who still breathed
And flames so high they blocked the sky
'Til only cinders flew
But the phoenix rises from the ash
And I'll be rising, too
[Chorus]
The heart of a city is the soul of a man
And it runs like a river to the beat of the land
You can tear down a building, you can tear down a park
You can strike at a symbol, but you can't touch the heart

[Bridge]
I heard the lady's torch
Across the harbor calling me
And a hundred thousand immigrants
Who came here to be free
And I thought about the cowards
Who were claiming victory
Well, if you see them on the street
You can tell 'em this for me

[Chorus]
The heart of a city is the soul of a man
And it runs like a river through the length of the land
They can tear down a building, they can tear down a park
They can tear down a symbol, but they can't touch the heart
They can strike at a symbol, but they can't touch the heart
They can strike at the symbol, but they can't touch the heart

[Outro]
Thank you. Thank you.