Lyrics

[ABRAHAM] The President told the city to drop dead And you're painting The block is blighted, the bankers said And you're painting The neighborhood is changing hues You paint the colors that you choose Brownstone, asphalt, black and white You're painting No one safe from Son of Sam And you're painting Cunningham and Cage at BAM And you're painting Roe v. Wade, the national debt King Tut mummies at the Met And sometimes you forget Just why you're painting And the world is in disorder And the center will not hold And it takes a superpower To keep the block under control And nobody will see you And the thing that you've designed But they'll see the mark you left behind [ABRAHAM] Peepshows in the old arcades   And you're painting   Spray paint Rembrandts, Gay Pride parades   And you're painting [MINGUS]   Write your tag Where they can see     Someday museums are Gonna show me [ABRAHAM and MINGUS] Blackout, looting city-wide Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide And how do you decide Just what you're painting [ABRAHAM] Headless body in a topless bar And you're painting Rachel left you where you are Alone and painting The President declared a war on drugs Your son is going to school with thugs The house is worthless, the broker said You're stuck in Brooklyn, your marriage is dead And anyone with a clue has already fled And you're painting [ABRAHAM and MINGUS] And the world is in disorder And the center will not hold And you aren't a superhero And you're feeling very old [ABRAHAM] And sometimes when you're painting You put on one of her records And it's like she never left And the song is everywhere The song is everywhere And the block is technicolor And you're painting