"Down in the City of Sighs and Tears, under the white light's glare,
Down in the City of Wasted Years, you'll find your mama there,
Wandering along where each smiling face hides its story of lost careers;
And perhaps she is dreaming of you to-night, in the City of Sighs and Tears."
The machinery gave a ponderous throb, the great black belts sagged and fell inert, the wheels whirred listlessly, clocks all over the great city began to toll for one more long day ended and gone, while the voices of the girl toilers rose superbly and filled the gathering stillness with the soft crescendo refrain:
"Wandering along where each smiling face hides its story of lost careers;
And perhaps she is dreaming of you to-night, in the City of Sighs and Tears—
In the City of Sighs and Tears."