there's a man there livin' in a cardboard box
and he's checkin' out the weather
hopin' it don't rain too hard
you know down around this part of town
it's a perilous life to be livin'
without a membership card
and it's hustle for hustle, it's hand to mouth
it's an easy hole to get in to, but it's so hard to get out

and all the want to talk about at city hall
is how to build a better building to play baseball

there's a teenage girl with a baby boy
and a great big monkey
on her thin little back
she's lookin' down the alleyway for some kind of love
seems like her whole life
keeps slippin' through that concrete crack
and it's tease for tease, it's a trap set to fall
won't be no memorial when she goes, just some spray paint on the wall

somebody's grandmother livin' on memories
and stretchin' that social security
as far as it'll go
you know I always thought you were supposed take care of your old people
I guess that shows how much
I know
and it's lonely for lonely, it's so far from grace
they say if you ain't in with the cash flow, you're just takin' up space

I see those long limousines glidin'
they got millionaires inside 'em
oh, and they look so fine
they'll play you for a taxpayer fool
and make a good clean killing
almost every time
and it's dollar for dollar, you can hear that cash register sound
they say that sports spectacular is the finest game in town

there's a shadow on the promised land
shiver in the winter
freezin' in the empty space
seems like nobody really cares about anybody anymore
if you ain't got a lot of money
or a pretty face
and it's slander for slander, it cuts like a knife
this ain't no game we're playin', this is real life