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(kirsty maccoll/johnny marr) |
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Walking down madison - i swear i never had a gun |
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No i never shot no-one - i was only having fun |
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Walking down madison - swear i never had a gun |
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I was philosophizing some |
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Checking out the bums |
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See you give 'em your nickels, your pennies and dimes |
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But you can't give 'em hope in these mercenary times, oh no |
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And you feel real guilty about the coat on your back |
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And the sandwich you had, oh no |
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From an uptown apartment to a knife on the a train |
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It's not that far |
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From the sharks in the penthouse to the rats in the basement |
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It's not that far |
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To the bag lady frozen asleep in the park |
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Oh no it's not that far |
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Would you like to see some more? |
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I can show you if you'd like to |
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Walking down madison - i swear i never had a gun |
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No i never shot no-one - wouldn't do it just for fun |
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Walking down madison - trying to keep my head screwed on |
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I was philosophizing some |
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Checking out the nuns |
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When you get to the corner don't look at those freaks |
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Keep your head down low and stay quick on your feet, oh yeah |
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The beaming boy from harlem with the airforce coat |
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The ones who died |
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The ones who tried |
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The ones that sit and gloat |
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From an uptown apartment to a knife on the a train |
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It's not that far |
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From the sharks in the penthouse to the rats in the basement |
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It's not that far |
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To the bag lady frozen asleep on the church steps |
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It's not that far |
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Would you like to see some more? |
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I can show you if you'd like to |
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Within every city and town there's a madison |
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Frozen lives for whom nothing's happening |
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Hungry children is a mother's dilemma |
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Dumpster diving to feed her baby emma |
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So you walk on by like it doesn't affect you |
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The held out hand that you pay no respect to |
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Nickels and dimes won't even buy your guilt |
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Another wino burnt to death in his quilt |
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It's a cardboard city, newspaper metropolis |
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The system can't cope or keep on top of this |
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The authorities come as you're not for display |
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Do they solve the problem no they move him away |
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They're in a vicious circle of no fixed abode |
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The social won't pay 'em the money they're owed |
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When you've got no money you can't pay rent |
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Hypothermia kills 'cos the system is bent |
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From an uptown apartment to a knife on the a train |
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It's not that far |
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From the sharks in the penthouse to the rats in the basement |
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It's not that far |
|
To the bag lady frozen asleep in the park |
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Oh no it's not that far |
|
Would you like 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 |
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It's not that far |
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Would you like to see some more? |
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I can show you if you'd like to |
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In the subway sits a vacuous man |
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His grip on life is a bent tin can |
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It's a holy shrine where he burns his light |
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It makes things easy and removes his plight |
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For an hour or two but he can't escape |
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They're all penned in with government tape |
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There are good samaritans who bring the soup |
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The sally army with their bibles and boots |
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You can see yourself as it's not too far |
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One short trip you don't who they are |
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Till the night comes then it all comes back |
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Like the smell of patchouli and the armies of rats |
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It's a shame to be human it's a human shame |
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It seems we've forgotten we're one and the same |