My Petersburg

I grew up on the sly
In the gutters and the streets of Petersburg
Just a kid on the fly
Getting good at getting by in Petersburg

I've bartered for a blanket
Stolen for my bread
Learned to take my chances
And use my head
A Russian rat is clever
Clever, or he ends up dead

Boils down to
There are some who survive
Some who don't
Some give up, some give in
Me, I won't
Black and blue, welcome to my Petersburg

Standing here, you can see
From the spires to the piers of Petersburg
I'd be down on that quay
Selling stolen souvenirs of Petersburg

The Palace is above and alleyways below
Funny when a city is all you know
How even when you hate it
Something in you loves it so

That's where I learned my stuff
In some rough company
There's the boy growing up
Who was me
All I've been, all I'll be

We can do what we're told
We can go where we're lead
But I learned from my father to see what's ahead
Nothing here to hold me
No one that I owe
Funny how a boy can grow
Funny how a city tells you when it's time to go

Boils down to
There are some who have walls yet to climb
You and I on the fly, just in time
But tonight there's a sky
And quite a view
Welcome to my Petersburg