Ralph McTell
Standing Down in New York Town
Hey, buddy, can you spare me some change?
Me and my lady trying to get back to Detroit
They're ripping off the customers and tearing the buildings down
The ship seems to be sinking, and everyone's moving out
But maybe it's just the way I feel
For some have been so kind
Maybe it's just that I'm far from home
And you, and you and you, been on my mind
Faces in the curtains whilst the sirens were screaming
Disturbing the dreaming that I had without sleep
Hustlers on the block taking every cent I've got
So it's dollars for the barmen that give my mind some ease
But maybe it's just the way I feel
For some have been so kind
Maybe it's just that I'm far from home
And you, and you and you, been on my mind
Someone has bled an angry slogan on the wall
Just across the street from my luxury hotel
And the letters are so big that from close up you cannot read them
But I'm high up in my room and I can read them very well
But maybe it's just the way I feel
For some have been so kind
Maybe it's just that I'm far from home
And you, and you and you, been on my mind
Hopalong, the Bowery Boys, and all my cowboy heroes
Saturday morning picture memories floating in the air
"Give my regards to Broadway," said a grey-faced statue
Who was obviously stoned to be standing in that square
But maybe it's just the way I feel
For some have been so kind
Maybe it's just that I'm far from home
And you, and you and you, been on my mind