The Nightwatchman
"The Fabled City"

Me and Javi
Shouted slogans in Spanish
Like it was our world to win
Then they moved the plant
Down to Ojeda
Time to bite your tongue again

I've seen the fabled city
And its streets are paved with gold
But an iron fence runs 'round it
And its iron gate is closed

What ain't right ain't right
He told me
But something else passed behind his eyes
Now he's downtown on his knees
Washing floors for somebody
And quietly biding his time

I've seen the fabled city
And its streets are paved with gold
But an iron fence runs round it
And its iron gate is closed

At the gas station
On Sunset and Crescent
I met an angel sad and old
She lived in the alley
Behind the market
In the shadows maybe hidden from the Lord
And for a dollar
She sang a song
That sounded more like a prayer
A wish that her dead mother and father
Couldn't look down and see her there

I've seen the fabled city
And its streets are paved with gold
But an iron fence runs round it
And its iron gate is closed

On the wire outside my window
There sit 100 swallows
And I suspect that if one flew
Then 99 would follow