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

Would you like 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