(from “Cut and Run”)


That beggar on Union Square
Sittin’ there same as yesterday
I cross the street just to get away
From the begging bowl
What kind of sinner could sink so low
Such losers deserve no slack
Hurry by and don’t look back
At the begging bowl

I never knew how it fell on me
A cruel twist in a Hitchcock plot
Lost my life and traded the lot
For a begging bowl
And I never knew who to blame
And my tears have long run dry
Nothing left but to live or die
With a begging bowl

Such a bitter life I could leave
Such a bitter life I could leave
Just a little luck, I could grieve no more
That’s another lie I believe
Another lie I believe
Just another lie I believe no more

No matter what gets tossed in
It can never be what I need
Can’t raise a man from the seed
In a begging bowl
And the faces etched in stone
Brush past, never catch my eye
Hurry man, hurry up and die
With your begging bowl

Such a bitter life I could leave
Such a bitter life I could leave
Just a little luck, I could grieve no more
That’s another lie I believe
Another lie I believe
Just another lie I believe no more

Dear God, must you torment me
When you could gather me up today
Surely you wouldn’t turn me away
With a begging bowl
Yet another dawn burns my eyes
And this shell of a heart still beats
Daybreak and back on the streets
With a begging bowl