Finale: Roaring On

Lyrics

[NICK, spoken] On my last night in New York, I wander down to the water's edge. I find myself clinging to my father's advice: to reserve judgement. I think about the way New York slapped me with a wild promise I mistook for meaning, and the whole summer washes over me. The quiet brutality of Daisy and Tom, Jordan and the mess we made, Wolfsheim, the Wilsons; all of us holding on to the foul dust of our dreams so tightly, we couldn't see straight (sung) And as I turn to look at the shoreline Here is what I'll never forget I still can see Gatsby Standing in silhouette He's staring down the darkness His arm stretched to the sky With infinite hope That made him fool enough to try That light across the water Is always out of reach So why do we Why do we Why do we Keep reaching? (spoken) Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter. Tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. And one fine morning, so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past [ENSEMBLE] Where's the party and can you take me there? And when the party's over can you find another party somewhere? We live for today, we pay off the cops And when you think the party stops The party's roaring on The party's roaring on Oh, we beat on and on and on and on And on And on, and on And on