Rush's final song exceeding ten minutes in length — the end of an era that began with "By-Tor & the Snow Dog." The piece attempts to capture the energy and atmosphere of two great cities: New York (first verse) and London (second verse). The title references John Dos Passos' literary technique of the same name from his U.S.A. trilogy, one of Peart's favorite works.
It was the first song written for the album and features expansive synthesizer textures that paint vivid cityscapes. Unlike the other tracks, it wasn't performed live after the Signals tour in 1983 — until the Time Machine tour in 2010, when the band played Moving Pictures in its entirety for the first time. Its absence from setlists for 27 years made its return particularly emotional for fans.
The piece represents a transitional moment — the last of Rush's extended compositions before they committed fully to the shorter song format that would define the 1980s era.