Lucy Kaplansky Brooklyn Train Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I'm a rider of the city on this Brooklyn train
Held by the crowd, face to face
Freeze frames in time move through me
Moments and lives I won't again see

[Verse 2]
Pack of kids gets on board
Loud and laughing, they rule the car
Non-stop rhythm of words and speed
The sound of the young, the sound of the city
[Chorus]
Down below on iron veins
Rolling waves of subway trains
Rails of mercy cross the lives of men
Safe in the body of New York again

[Verse 3]
Asian men selling fire trucks and flags
To the mix of voices of a doo-wop band
Sailors in whites dance and swing
'Neath the streets, part of everything

[Verse 4]
A family just arrived from JFK
A couple of boys, another on the way
A mother is watching, remembers her son
Buys some fire trucks, gives each of them one [Chorus]
Down below on iron veins
Rolling waves of subway trains
Rails of mercy cross the lives of men
Safe in the body of New York again

[Bridge]
And in all these others it's myself I see
And the threads that connect these faces to me
And those who rode these rails before me
And the others who will ride this train after me
[Verse 5]
Williamsburg Bridge, sun hits the train
As it rises over the city again
Nobody speaks, everyone stares
Remembering all that used to be there
And only the living know what loss means
We're riding together on this morning train

[Chorus]
Down below on iron veins
Rolling waves of subway trains
Rails of mercy cross the lives of men
Safe in the body of New York again
Safe in the body of New York again