It’s A Long Way Down

[Verse 1]
Born in a brothel
And thrown from my slave ship
Drink from a bottle
Smashed on a pavement
South Side Chicago
Breeds generations
Drop on down, kiss the ground
Zero raised in
Bricks rain down on sidewalks
Children rain from projects
Strobe light over low lights
Pistol flashes through old fishing nets
Siren only sings one song
And can't sing nothing new
Look out son, rooftop perch
Like gargoyles for the view

[Verse 2]
Sandman asks the ladies for kisses
As they walk on by
Then asks the men for smokes
He can't see the evil eye
Rises crippled bicycle
Across broken factory lots
Makes his bed with daily news
And whatever else he's got
Steps of hollow heels
Echo off the vacant walls
The lovers only scream their demons
If they speak at all
The barber chase's him deadbeat
Out his store front with a razor
The sooner he gets payback
The sooner we'll be safer

[Chorus]
It's a cold, cold city and a long way down
It's a cold, cold city and it's a long way down
It's a cold, cold city, it's a long way down
The city's getting colder as I make by my house

[Verse 3]
The longest night I lived through
And the day would never come
The train car pushed and pulled us strangers
Beneath them city slums
Man got on, said his plead
Passed around a hat
When it came to me I told him
Wish I'd thought of that
Virgin Mary oil spills
Is where bootleggers bow
You've already said too much
Across your tilted brow
The woman giving birth
In the gypsy cab, she's crazy
She pulled a blade out on the driver
Told him to do 80

[Chorus]
They say it's a cold, cold city and it's a long way down
It's a cold, cold city and it's a long way down
It's a cold, cold city, it's a long way down
The city's getting colder from what I found