Streets of New York

Lyrics

[Verse 1] In the Streets of New York, dope fiends are leanin' for morphine The TV screens follow the homicide scenes You live here? You're takin' a chance So look and I take one glance, there's a man inside an ambulance Crowds are gettin' louder I wonder how the people wanna go fight for the white powder People hangin' in spots They waited 'til the blocks got hot and got raided by the cops I'll explain, the man sleepin' in the rain His whole life remains inside a bottle of Night Train Another man got his clothes in a sack 'Cause he spent every dime of his rent playin' blackjack And there's the poor little sister She has a little baby daughter named Sonya and Sonya has pneumonia So why's her mother in a club pullin' zippers? Yo, that's her job, Sonya's mommy is a bar stripper Drug dealers drive around lookin' hard Knowin' they're sendin' their brothers and sisters to the graveyard Every day is a main event, some old lady limps The pushers and pimps eat shrimps It gets tirin', the sight of a gun firin' Then there's desire for the sound of a siren A bag lady dies in an alleyway She's seen the last of her days inside the subways More and more down the slope, the kid couldn't cope So he stole somebody's dope and a gold rope Now my son's on the run He's a wanted one, had fun then was done by a shotgun Upstairs, I cover my ears in tears The man downstairs must have drank too many beers 'Cause every day of his life, he beats his wife 'Til one night she decides to pull a butcher knife Blind man plays the sax A tune called 'The Arms on My Moms Show Railroad Tracks' Many lives are cut short That's when you're livin', in the streets of New York [Break] [Verse 2] Baby needs new shoes But his papa uses all the money for booze A young girl is undressed in the back seat of a Caddy Callin' some man Daddy Three men slain inside a apartment All you could see was the sparks when it darkened Daylight broke, cops roll on the scene The drug war, daily routine Gamblin' spots, just a poor man's jackpot You winnin' a lot, you get shot The drug dealin' fanatics, but you don't want no static 'Cause they got crack addicts with automatics Shootouts for a desire for territory A kid got caught in the crossfire A tired mother can't take no more She grabbed a bottle full of sleepin' pills and took about 24 Human beings are layin' on the pavement 'Cause they're a part of a mental enslavement The cop snipers, little babies in dirty diapers This type of life is makin' you hyper People scoutin' a torched-out building And got killed when the cold air filled in Is Hell really suggested? No more persons arrested, a child molested A little kid says, "Yo I got a color TV, CD player and car stereo And all I want is a castle I also got a .38, don't give me no hassle" One kid heads straight for the top And gets stopped and popped by a crooked cop Look behind you when you walk That's how it is, in the Streets of New York