Pretty, pretty wilted daisies all in a row
 On the top of Mt. Vernon in the dirty snow
 Where the shadows sing of sunshine like a dying snow
 Pretty, pretty wilted daisies all in a row
 
 You’re waving high into the night time of a New York street
 Your newly painted yellow taxi has dirty seats
 You’re racing quick into the nightclub, so that you can see
 The same old sick and sadly strangers always seem to meet
 
 Cause it’s a long way to and a short ride from the top
 It’s a rotting middle finger and the cancer will not stop
 It’s a long way to and a short ride from the top
 Well, your hand begins to slip or they cut and either way you drop
 
 Your small apartment is a mess but you don’t seem to care
 The dirty dishes in the corner go with the broken chairs
 And higher grows the stack of bills that calmly declare
 If you don’t pay within a week then your shit is theirs
 
 You go to work Monday through Sunday, open to close
 The seven dollars that they pay you, son, is good as a broken nose
 When no one’s watching, pull your pants down, touch your toes
 You’re undercut and you’re exploited but that’s how our country grows
 
 Cause it’s a long way to and a short ride from the top
 It’s a rotting middle finger and the cancer will not stop
 It’s a long way to and a short ride from the top
 And your hand begins to slip or they cut
 
 Either way you take what they have stolen
 Or try to break what can’t be broken
 You can speak what you believe
 But every thought comes preconceived
 
 You try to wash your hands to this
 Clear your conscience and dismiss
 Pretend our problems don’t exist
 We’re taking aspirin for a broken wrist
 
 Cause it’s a long, long way to the top
 Oh, it’s your rotting middle finger and the cancer will not stop
 It’s a long, long way to the top
 Well, our hands begin to slip or they cut, either way we