Walking Down Madison

Walking down Madison

I swear I never had a gun

No I never shot no one

I was only having fun

Walking down Madison

Swear I never had a gun

I was philosophizing some

Checking out the bums

See you give 'em your nickels

Your pennies and dimes

But you can't give 'em hope

In these mercenary times, oh no

And you feel real guilty

About the coat on your back

And the sandwich you had, oh no

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

Would you like to see some more?

I can show you if you'd like to

Walking down Madison

I swear I never had a gun

No I never shot no one

Wouldn't do it just for fun

Walking down Madison

Trying to keep my head screwed on

I was philosophizing some

Checking out the nuns

When you get to the corner

Don't look at those freaks

Keep your head down low

And stay quick on your feet, oh yeah

The beaming boy from Harlem

With the airforce coat

The ones who died, the ones who tried

The ones that sit and gloat

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

Would you like to see some more?

I can show you if you'd like to

Within every city and town there's a Madison

Frozen lives for whom nothing's happening

Hungry children is a mother's dilemma

Dumpster diving to feed her baby Emma

So you walk on by like it doesn't affect you

The held out hand that you pay no respect to

Nickels and dimes won't even buy your guilt

Another wino burnt to death in his quilt

It's a cardboard city, newspaper metropolis

The system can't cope or keep on top of this

The authorities come as you're not for display

Do they solve the problem, no, they move him away

They're in a vicious circle of no fixed abode

The social won't pay 'em the money they're owed

When you've got no money you can't pay rent

Hypothermia kills 'cos the system is bent

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