Coming to the edge,
Running on the water.

Let the river run,
Let all the dreamers wake the nation.
Come, the New Jerusalem.

Silver cities rise;
The morning lights the streets that meet them,
And sirens call them on with a song.

It's asking for the taking, trembling, shaking.
Oh, my heart is aching.

We're coming to the edge,
Running on the water,
Coming through the fog,
Your sons and daughters.

Let the river run,
Let all the dreamers wake the nation.
Come, the New Jerusalem.

Silver cities rise;
The morning lights the streets that meet them,
And sirens call them on with a song.

Coming to the edge,
Running on the water.

American singer-songwriter Carly Simon wrote, composed and performed Let the River Run as the  theme to the 1988 Mike Nichols film Working Girl. Simon stated she found inspiration for the lyrics by first reading the original script, and then the poems of Walt Whitman. Musically, she wanted to write a hymn to New York with a contemporary beat under it, so as to juxtapose those opposites in a compelling way. CashBox Magazine states that it “is perhaps the most powerful songwriting Simon has ever done. A broken drum feel underscores a brilliant anthem for the working class. The gospel-tinged melody soars, inspires; the lyric conjures visions of a nation only needing to let the river of hope run its course.”