Jim Adams is the host for Song Lyric Sunday. This week’s theme is a SONG written for movies suggested by Nancy, aka The Sicilian Storyteller.

New York in 1988 – a time of big hair, way too much make-up and massive shoulder pads. Not forgetting Harrison Ford being dishy, Sigourney Weaver being bitchy, and Melanie Griffiths doing topless housework.

Yup, it’s the film Working Girl, a romantic comedy about a secretary with ambitions to climb the corporate ladder. To get a full idea of the plot, either watch the movie or the video below, the latter has spoilers at every turn! But at least you get to hum along to an Oscar-winning song by Carly Simon.

Let the River Run was inspired by the movie script (duh!) and the poems of Walt Whitman. The song is a secular hymn to New York City, a fact made even more poignant by the many shots of the Twin Towers in the accompanying video.

And, as for the qualities that won an Academy Award for Best Original Song:

This 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. Simon delivers a remarkable vocal, filled with passionate intensity.
Cash Box, 1989

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.

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.

We the great and small
Stand on a star
And blaze a trail of desire
Through the dark’ning dawn.

It’s asking for the taking.
Come run with me now,
The sky is the colour of blue
You’ve never even seen
In the eyes of your lover.

Oh, my heart is aching.
We’re coming to the edge,
Running on the water,
Coming through the fog,
Your sons and daughters.

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.

Songwriter(s): Carly Simon
© Bagaduce Music, CPP Belwin, Inc