This is the story you wanted to write
Well, tonight is the night that you can
Just get this done and by dawn's early light
You can finish the fight you began

This time we're in it to stay
Think about seizing the day
Think of that train as she rolls into old Santa Fe
Tell 'em I'm on my way

See old man Pulitzer snug in his bed
He don't care if we're dead or alive
Three satin pillows are under his head
While we're beggin' for bread to survive

Joe, if you're still countin' sheep
Wake up and read 'em and weep
You got your thugs with their sticks and their slugs
Yeah, but we got a promise to keep

Once and for all, something tells me the tide'll be turnin'
Once and for all, there's a fire inside me that won't stop burnin'
Now that the choices are clear, now that tomorrow is here
Watch how the mighty will fall, for once and for all

This is for kids shinin' shoes in the street
With no shoes on their feet every day
This is for guys sweatin' blood in the shops
While the bosses and cops look away

This is to even the score
This ain't just Newsies no more
This ain't just kids with some pie in the sky
This is do it or die, this is war

Once and for all, we'll be there to defend one another
Once and for all, every kid is our friend, every friend a brother
Five thousand fists in the sky, five thousand reasons to try
We're goin' over the wall, better to die than to crawl
Either we stand or we fall, for once, once and for all