A Corridor of Civic Imagination

Lyrics

You think a city just happens?
Like a river finds the sea?
No, sir. You draw the line. You fill the glass.
You swing.

1974. They came for the Fox.
Wrecking ball ticking on the city clocks.
Just an old palace, they said. Let it fall.
But Atlanta answered the call.
Not our stars. Not our sky.
Sold raffle tickets off grocery receipts.
Saved a Moorish dream on Peachtree Street.
With a Möller organ and a thousand pleas.
That's not history. That's a decree.

This is the corridor of civic imagination.
A blueprinted heartbeat, a willed creation.
We didn't find it, we declared it so.
Gave it a rhythm, we watched it grow.
From a skid-row whisper to a big band shout.
This is what a city's soul is about.

Robert Woodruff, 1968.
Put his name on a promise, sealed the gate
On silence. Built a house for the sound.
Then Richard Meier, 1983, broke ground
On a white enamel church for the eye.
A place for the colors, under the sky.
Built it right on Peachtree, burning bright.
An anchor of vision. A beacon of light.

This is the corridor of civic imagination.
A blueprinted heartbeat, a willed creation.
We didn't find it, we declared it so.
Gave it a rhythm, we watched it grow.
From a skid-row whisper to a big band shout.
This is what a city's soul is about.

And the names not carved in stone?
Mary Rose Taylor, who saved a writer's home.
The volunteers whose names were never learned.
The hands that laid the first BeltLine trail.
The voices that made Monroe Drive prevail.
They drew a new map with a rainbow line.
A different kind of civic design.

This is the corridor of civic imagination!
A blueprinted heartbeat, a willed creation!
We didn't find it, we declared it so!
Gave it a rhythm, we watched it grow!
From a skid-row whisper to a big band shout!
This is what a city's soul is about!

Yeah!
Tech Square dreaming.
Pride parade streaming.
The Woodruff gleaming.
We drew the line.
Made it shine.
A civic design.