The Message by Grandmaster Flash It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder How I keep from going under It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder How I keep from going under Broken glass everywhere People pissing on the stairs, you know they just don’t care I can't take the smell, I can't take the noise Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice Rats in the front room, roaches in the back Junkies in the alley with the baseball bat I tried to get away, but I couldn't get far Cause a man with a tow-truck repossessed my car Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge I'm trying not to lose my head, ah huh-huh-huh 2nd and 5th: ah huh-huh-huh It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder How I keep from going under Standing on the front stoop, hangin' out the window Watching all the cars go by, roaring as the breezes blow 4th: say what? Crazy lady livin' in her bag Eating out of garbage piles, used to be a fag-hag Such a nice to tango, skipped her life and then go In search of her prince it seemed she lost her senses Down at the peepshow, watching all the creeps So she can tell the stories to the girls back home She went to the city and got social security She had to get a pimp, she couldn't make it on her own Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge I'm trying not to lose my head, ah huh-huh-huh 2nd and 5th: ah huh-huh-huh 4th: say what? It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder How I keep from going under My brother's doing best on my mother's TV She says: “You watch it too much, it’s just not healthy!” “All My Children” in the daytime, “Dallas” at night Can even see the game or the Sugar Ray fight The bill collectors they ring my phone And scare my wife when I'm not home Got a bum education, double-digit inflation I can’t take the train to the job, there's a strike at the station Neon King Kong standin' on my back Can't stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac A mid-ranged migraine, cancered membrane Sometimes I think I'm going insane, I swear I might hijack a plane Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge I'm trying not to lose my head, ah huh-huh-huh 2nd and 5th: ah huh-huh-huh 4th: say what? It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder How I keep from going under My son said: ”Daddy I don't wonna go to school Cause the teacher's a jerk!”, he must think I'm a fool And all the kids smoke reefer, I think it'd be cheaper If I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper I’ll dance to the beat, shuffle my feet Wear a shirt and tie and run with the creeps Cause it's all about money, ain't a damn thing funny You got to have a con in this land of milk and honey They pushed that girl in front of the train Took her to the doctor, sewed her arm on again Stabbed that man right in his heart Gave him a transplant for a brand new start I can't walk through the park, cause it's crazy after dark Keep my hand on my gun, cause they got me on the run I feel like a outlaw, broke my last glass jar Hear them say: “You want some more livin' on a seesaw?” Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge I'm trying not to lose my head, ah huh-huh-huh 2nd and 5th: ah huh-huh-huh 4th: say what? It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder How I keep from going under A child is born with no state of mind Blind to the ways of mankind God is smiling on you but he's frowning too Because only God knows what you’ll go through You’ll grow in the ghetto, living second rate And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate The places you’re playin’, where you stay Looks like one great big alley way You'll admire all the number book takers Thugs, pimps, pushers and the big money makers Driving big cars, spending twenties and tens And you wonna grow up to be just like them, huh, Smugglers, scrambles, burglars, gamblers Pickpockets, peddlers even panhandlers You say: “I'm cool, I'm no fool!” But then you wind up dropping out of high school Now you're unemployed, all non-void Walking ‘round like you're Pretty Boy Floyd Turned stickup kid, look what you’ve done did Got sent up for a eight year bid Now your manhood is took and you're a may tag Spend the next two years as a undercover fag Being used and abused to serve like hell Till one day you was found hung dead in a cell It was plain to see that your life was lost You was cold and your body swung back and forth But now your eyes sing the sad, sad song Of how you lived so fast and died so young Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge I'm trying not to lose my head, ah huh-huh-huh 2nd and 5th: ah huh-huh-huh 4th: say what? It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder How I keep from going under