[Intro] (Distant thunder. Rain. Low city ambience. A single piano note.) They call me a city. They're wrong. I'm a story. Every street has a scar. Every building has a secret. Every shadow remembers a name. Welcome... to Gotham. [Verse 1] I was here before the Bat. Before the cape. Before the mask. Before the night had something to fear. I watched a boy lose everything. I watched him turn his grief into a symbol. Then the shadows changed. A signal appeared above my streets. And suddenly... the darkness had a name. [Pre-Chorus] But I have never belonged to one man. I belong to everyone who has ever survived me. The broken. The brave. The lost. The ones who refuse to disappear. [Chorus] GOTHAM! CITY OF SHADOWS! CITY OF SCARS! YOU BUILT YOUR MONSTERS BENEATH YOUR STARS! GOTHAM! YOU NEVER SLEEP! YOU BURY YOUR SECRETS BUT THE STREETS STILL SPEAK! I'VE SEEN THE BAT! I'VE SEEN THE CLOWN! I'VE WATCHED YOUR HEROES FALL AND RISE FROM THE GROUND! GOTHAM! YOU CAN BREAK OUR BONES! BUT YOU'LL NEVER TAKE OUR HOME! [Verse 2] I watched a Robin become a Nightwing. I watched another come back from the grave. I watched a detective solve mysteries the Bat couldn't see. I watched a girl turn tragedy into strength. I watched a boy carry the blood of a demon and still choose to be good. I watched a woman lose her wings... and become Oracle. I watched Cassandra learn that violence didn't have to define her. I watched Duke bring sunlight into my streets. And Alfred... He kept the door open. [Pre-Chorus] You call them heroes. You call them legends. But I remember who they were before the world learned their names. Children. People. Family. [Chorus] GOTHAM! CITY OF SHADOWS! CITY OF SCARS! YOU BUILT YOUR MONSTERS BENEATH YOUR STARS! GOTHAM! YOU NEVER SLEEP! YOU BURY YOUR SECRETS BUT THE STREETS STILL SPEAK! I'VE SEEN THE BAT! I'VE SEEN THE CLOWN! I'VE WATCHED YOUR HEROES FALL AND RISE FROM THE GROUND! GOTHAM! YOU CAN BREAK OUR BONES! BUT YOU'LL NEVER TAKE OUR HOME! [Bridge] (Music falls away. Rain and distant piano.) Do you know what I remember? Not the battles. Not the explosions. Not the blood. I remember the moments between them. A father waiting for his son to come home. A brother teaching another brother to smile. A girl finding her strength again. A boy discovering that he wasn't a weapon. A family sitting together after another impossible night. That's Gotham. Not the darkness. The people who keep finding light inside it. [Build] (Heartbeat. Distant drums begin.) You can burn my buildings. You can tear apart my streets. You can fill my alleys with monsters. I'll still be here. You can put a crown on a madman. You can paint my walls with fear. But every time you think you've won... someone gets back up. [Breakdown] I AM GOTHAM! I AM THE NIGHT! I AM EVERY SHADOW AND EVERY LIGHT! I AM THE SCAR! I AM THE FLAME! I AM EVERY PERSON WHO REFUSED TO BREAK! YOU CAN'T DESTROY ME! YOU CAN'T SILENCE ME! YOU CAN'T BURY WHAT I HAVE BECOME! I AM GOTHAM! AND I... NEVER... SLEEP! [Final Chorus] GOTHAM! CITY OF SHADOWS! CITY OF SCARS! YOU BUILT YOUR MONSTERS BENEATH YOUR STARS! GOTHAM! YOU NEVER SLEEP! YOU BURY YOUR SECRETS BUT THE STREETS STILL SPEAK! I'VE SEEN THE BAT! I'VE SEEN THE CLOWN! I'VE WATCHED YOUR HEROES RISE FROM THE GROUND! GOTHAM! YOU CAN BREAK OUR BONES! YOU CAN SHAKE THESE STREETS! YOU CAN TAKE EVERYTHING... BUT YOU'LL NEVER TAKE OUR HOME! [Final Outro] (The music slowly fades into rain.) The night belongs to the Bat. The shadows belong to the city. The light belongs to those who refuse to give up. And when the sun rises... Gotham will still be here. Bruised. Broken. Alive. (Pause.) Gotham never dies.
