Fresh Air for Mama

So say one and so say all
Say what you gotta say or don't say nothing at all
You been tossin' and turnin' through soft sticky nights
While the Bronx below you fights to stay alive

So say one and so say all
Be what you gotta be
Or don't be nothing at all

Be gracious to your mother
When you leave this neighborhood
The change is gonna do her good
Next to me, you look bad
'Cause there ain't no fresh air
For my mama, my mama

But the drop is sheer
When you break away

Take me away, it's just about time to hit the road
And say you gotta believe in something
It's easy to see my God is fading away
So pick up your Bible and pray for me

We're all alone in the darkness
But our eyes are open wide
We don't see nothing and our hands are tied
To the railings from the Bowery and the humid city slickers

So say one and so say all
We had a lot to say
And we said it all

The cost of living in dreams
Is rising like a crime wave
The American way of dying
The American way of dying

And it gets you every time
And it looks like it's got
To my mama, my mama
May she rest in peace