I was caught up in a crowd
Riot, they yelled,
Riot like a French girl!
I was caught up in a crowd
Fire they threw
Fire like it was 1792
I was caught up in a crowd
Armed with umbrellas -
Armed like goodfellas.
The night was dusky
The stars shone lustily
They ate up the night
And urged the rabble
To fight.
The hotel keeper wanted
Two hundred bucks a room
Five star, he said
But all I needed was a TV set
And some Loony Tunes
So I spilled back outside
And bought myself a
Paper cup of scalding coffee
A girl has to be armed with more
Than sweet words and fresh ideas
However wild or lofty.
I was hustling down a side street
Where oil drums did burn
A few bright souls ducked down there
To see what they could learn.
A church lay up ahead,
It seemed kinda inviting,
It was dangling a bait
But I knew I wasn’t gonna be a-biting
They aren’t selling sanctuary
Salvation or a get-out clause
The Priests they sit above
The rules of morality and law.
It is a vague situation
An atmosphere of dread…
There hasn’t been sanctuary there
Since the last time I was dead.
I was caught up in a crowd
That chanted all their woes
They do not know why they
Are fighting, only that their
Fury grows and grows
They work only for the landlord
They toil for a crust of bread
While the rich few lay lounging
In some other man’s wife’s bed.
I have these rising dreams
They occupy my mind
While the players take over
Main Street, Las Vegas
And the hills of Palestine.
I am always looking for a room,
Always searching for some peace
But in the back of my mind
I only want to go and get myself
A piece of the action
A slice of that humble pie
In the sky turns slowly
One solitary watching eye.