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Walking down Madison |
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I swear I never had a gun |
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No I never shot no one |
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I was only having fun |
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Walking down Madison |
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Swear I never had a gun |
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I was philosophizing some |
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Checking out the bums |
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See you give 'em your nickels |
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Your pennies and dimes |
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But you can't give 'em hope |
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In these mercenary times, oh no |
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And you feel real guilty |
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About the coat on your back |
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And the sandwich you had, oh no |
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From an uptown apartment |
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To a knife on the A train |
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It's not that far |
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From the sharks in the penthouse |
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To the rats in the basement |
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It's not that far |
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To the bag lady frozen asleep in the park |
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Oh no, it's not that far |
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Would you like to see some more? |
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I can show you if you'd like to |
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Walking down Madison |
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I swear I never had a gun |
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No I never shot no one |
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Wouldn't do it just for fun |
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Walking down Madison |
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Trying to keep my head screwed on |
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I was philosophizing some |
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Checking out the nuns |
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When you get to the corner |
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Don't look at those freaks |
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Keep your head down low |
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And stay quick on your feet, oh yeah |
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The beaming boy from Harlem |
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With the airforce coat |
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The ones who died, the ones who tried |
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The ones that sit and gloat |
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From an uptown apartment |
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To a knife on the A train |
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It's not that far |
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From the sharks in the penthouse |
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To the rats in the basement |
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It's not that far |
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To the bag lady frozen asleep |
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On the church steps |
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It's not that far |
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Would you like to see some more? |
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I can show you if you'd like to |
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Within every city and town there's a Madison |
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Frozen lives for whom nothing's happening |
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Hungry children is a mother's dilemma |
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Dumpster diving to feed her baby Emma |
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So you walk on by like it doesn't affect you |
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The held out hand that you pay no respect to |
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Nickels and dimes won't even buy your guilt |
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Another wino burnt to death in his quilt |
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It's a cardboard city, newspaper metropolis |
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The system can't cope or keep on top of this |
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The authorities come as you're not for display |
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Do they solve the problem, no, they move him away |
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They're in a vicious circle of no fixed abode |
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The social won't pay 'em the money they're owed |
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When you've got no money you can't pay rent |
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Hypothermia kills 'cos the system is bent |
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From an uptown apartment |
|
To a knife on the A train |
|
It's not that far |
|
From the sharks in the penthouse |
|
To the rats in the basement |
|
It's not that far |
|
To the bag lady frozen asleep in the park |
|
Oh no, it's not that far |
|
And do you want to see some more? |
|
I can show you if you'd like to |
|
From an uptown apartment |
|
To a knife on the A train |
|
It's not that far |
|
From the sharks in the penthouse |
|
To the rats in the basement |
|
It's not that far |
|
To the bag lady frozen asleep |
|
On the church steps |
|
It's not that far |
