I have watched in wonder as The colours turned to grey I've seen the metal machines and The factory dreams I just got to get away I have grown accustomed to The drugs of power and steel And the achin' in my head and the concrete bed And the politician's velvet feel, oh
I have learned to save my smile and Use it like a knife We've all learned to trust in profit and value Profit over life I have watched the skyline grow in Defiance of the sun We let it take us and we let it break us Now the damage has been done, oh
I have learned the language Of the lost that walk the streets And I'm the city's minstrel Who knows all of her syncopated beats I can recall when ambitions were small And the music filled the air But the minstrel's crying 'cause the music's dying And the city's everywhere It's everywhere
Now there's no more singing Just a ringing in my ears And the city's story in all it's power Is the greatest of my fears
Long gone once upon a time I sang a song so sweet But now I can't hear the melody I just feel the driving beat, beneath my feet Hear my crying