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
And do you want 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