My savior, this city,
My comfort, her pity
Or so I hoped.
My heartache, my hard luck,
My war time, my struggle
That no one knows.

In the allys where I sleep
I beg and beg for the food I eat
All the pain and the hurt
In your gut where it burns
Every man here is just like me.
The wind blowing round the snow
Makes a man freeze straight to the bone
So I drink and drink and I try not to think
Of the people I lost at home

These six strings I'm playing
These songs I'm singing
Keep me alive.
These strangers
That curse me
The hero
They don't see
Just waiting to die

I ain't the man that I used to be
I feel the city as it's crushing me
I am losing ground on these empty streets
New York town has got the best of me
The southern ground where my mamma sleeps
She found death and she found peace
There's an empty grave next to where she lay
That's where I'm supposed to be.

I beg and I plead
For her god to hear me
He's just a coward
Just a thief
I pray and I pray
For him to answer me
I hear nothing
I hear nothing
I beg and I plead
For her god to hear me
I hear nothing
Nothing