Cleaning Windows

Oh, the smell of the bakery from across the street

Got in my nose

As we carried our ladders down the street

With the wrought-iron gate rows

I went home and listened to Jimmie Rodgers in my lunch-break

Bought five Woodbines at the shop on the corner

And went straight back to work.

Oh, Sam was up on top

And I was on the bottom with the v

We went for lemonade and Paris buns

At the shop and broke for tea

I collected from the lady

And I cleaned the fanlight inside-out

I was blowing saxophone on the weekend

In that down joint.

What's my line?

I'm happy cleaning windows

Take my time

I'll see you when my love grows

Baby don't let it slide

I'm a working man in my prime

Cleaning windows (number a hundred and thirty-six)

I heard Leadbelly and Blind Lemon

On the street where I was born

Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee,

Muddy Waters singin' 'I'm A Rolling Stone'

I went home and read my Christmas Humphreys' book on Zen

Curiosity killed the cat

Kerouac's 'Dharma Bums' and 'On The Road'

What's my line?

I'm happy cleaning windows

Take my time

I'll see you when my love grows

Baby don't let it slide

I'm a working man in my prime

Cleaning windows...