Belmont Avenue

Lyrics

[CALOGERO, spoken] It's 3 am in The Bronx, New York I'm on the corner of 187th and Belmont Avenue This was my neighborhood I can still hear a million voices in my head, hear a million stories (sung) This is a Bronx tale and it's my story The world I lived in, the people I knew It's just a Bronx tale And like they all do, it starts right here on Belmont Avenue I can hear the church bells and smell the freshly baked bread (Ah oo) See the storefront awnings The neon green, white, and red (Ah oo) Cannolis on tray after tray Salamis strung up on display And Italians are all that you see [ENSEMBLE] Yeah, yeah The sidewalk's swinging Yeah, yeah The girls are singing [CALOGERO] As they pass by And the pushcart peddlers They hawk their wares door-to-door [Peddler] Pesce fresca! Pesce fresca! [CALOGERO] While the jukebox jockeys dance in the candy store Grandma's calling across [GRANDMA] Cia, Bambini [CALOGERO] While stirring the Sunday sauce [ENSEMBLE] Ciao, Nonna [CALOGERO] And in the middle lies me [ENSEMBLE] Woah, woah The streets start sighing Woah, woah And the girls strut by in a group Come on, Come on [CALOGERO] Strut right past my stoop [ENSEMBLE MEN] Stickball kick the can [ENSEMBLE WOMEN] Orchard beach in the sand [ENSEMBLE MEN] Find a girl and cop a feel Bryl cream wet dream Bring her home and close the deal [ENSEMBLE WOMEN] No no no No no no No no no [ENSEMBLE, DOO WOP GROUP] Next year's Frankie Vallis Croonin' in the alleys (Oo wee oo oo oo wah) Gettin' those falsettos to soar [ENSEMBLE MEN] While the Carmelite sisters Scream at their transistors [ALL] Every time the Bombers score [SPORTSCASTER, spoken over radio] That ball is going, going, it is gone! [CALOGERO and DOO WOP GROUP, Ensemble] Hangin' with the crew On the stoop, on the stoop On Belmont Avenue On the stoop, on the stoop Gotta love the view On the stoop, on the stoop [ALL] And on sultry summer nights Man the corner would rock! The romance, the laughs, the fights A universe on one little block [ENSEMBLE WOMEN, MEN] 'Eh oh! (Doo doo doo doo Doo wah dah) Everywhere (Doo doo doo) [ALL] Everywhere I go! [ENSEMBLE WOMEN and DOO-WOPS, CALOGERO and WISE GUYS] Yeah, yeah and the noise is growin' (Hangin' with my crew!) Yeah, yeah and the girls are going' (Gotta love the view) Shoop shoop Shoop shoop shoop [ALL] Belmont Avenue! Woah-oh Woah-oh Woah-oh [CALOGERO, spoken] And then there was Sonny He was the number one man in the neighborhood All day and all night he'd be right here on the corner He would stand here Nodding his head to all the old ladies goin' by with their shopping And they treated him like a God And in my neighborhood he was a God I couldn't take my eyes off of him But he never ever looked at me, never Until one day I was nine years old (sung) This is a Bronx tale And it's my story The one that shattered the world that I knew Here's how it happened And all of it's true It starts right here on Belmont Avenue