Down in a cellar a poker player calls
Out on the waste-ground another sucker crawls
Somewhere in the alley a frightened woman bawls
Down in the dockyards another victim falls

And you feel the Heartbeat of the City
Oh yes it's fighting just to stay alive
Rats get fat in the city
Only the fittest, only the fittest ever survive

Down in the workhouse a mindless worker sighs
Prayers in the prison a first offender fries
On a rich mans doorstep a hungry baby cries
Like trash in the gutter a homeless drunkard lies

And you feel the Heartbeat of the City
Oh yes it's fighting just to stay alive
Rats get fat in the city
Only the fittest, only the fittest ever survive

And you feel the Heartbeat of the City
Oh yes it's fighting just to stay alive
Rats get fat in the city
Only the fittest, only the fittest ever survive