"Walking down Madison" by Kirsty MacColl off 'Titanic Days'
Walking down Madison, I swear I never had a gun
No one ever shot no one an' I was only having fun.
Walking down Madison. Swear I never had a gun
Was philosophizing some. Checking out the bums.
See you give 'em your nickles, your pennies and dimes
But you can't give 'em up in these mus-summer 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 night on the A-train.
It's not that far
from the shops 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.
[ Poor! ]
Walking down Madison, I swear I never had a gun
No one ever shot no one. Wouldn't do it just for fun.
Walking down Madison, tryin' 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 Honolu' with the Air Force 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 shops in the penthouse, to the rats in the basement.
It's not that far
to the bag lady frozen asleep in on the church steps.
It's not that far.
[ Would you like t' see some more? ]
I can show you if you'd like to.
[ Poor! ]
[ Within every city and town, there's a Madison.
Frozen lights for whom nothing's happening.
Hungry children in the mother delema.
Dumpster divin' to be the baby M.
I see you walk on by like it doesn't affect.
The held-out hand that you pay no respect to.
Nickels and dimes won't even buy your guilt.
Another wino dead; burned to death in his boot.
It's a cardboard city; newspaper metropolis.
The system can't cope or keep on top of this.
The authorities come. Had you note the display?
Do they solve the problem? No they move them away.
There's a vicious circle on the face of the bold.
The social won't pay them the money they're owed.
When you've got no money you can't pay rent.
Hypothermia kills 'cause the system is bent. ]
From an uptown apartment, to a knife on the A-train.
It's not that far
from the shops 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.
[ Aye, bro, you wan' t' see some more? ]
I can show you if you'd like to.
[ Huh! ]
From an uptown apartment, to a knife on the A-train.
It's not that far
from the shops in the penthouse, to the rats in the basement.
It's not that far
to the bag lady frozen asleep on the chuch steps.
It's not that far.
[ Aye, come 'ere, lemme show you. Wanna see some more? ]
I can show you if you'd like to.
[ Huh! ]
[ In the subway sits a backwards man.
His grip on life is a bent-in can.
It's a holy shrine where he burns his life.
He makes things easy and removes his plight
for an hour or two but he can't escape.
They're all penned in with government tape.
There are good samaritans who bring him soup
The Sally armed with the barbers and boots.
You can see yourself 'cause it's not to far
One sharp shift, we don't know where we are,
Till the knife and it all comes back
like the smell of the train and the armies of wrath.
It's a shame to be human. It's a human shame.
It's seems with the one away, we're one and the same.
One and the same. One and the same.
No, it's not too far.
No. It's not too far.
We're one and the same. ]
(
geocities.com/hanson_c)