Tone of the City (feat. Mike Zito)

TONE OF THE CITY

Secret alleys

usher sailors

to the love

of tender duchesses

While minstrels

strum ragtime

for the dollar of the day

Neo-hippies

thumb paper

in acts of salvation

While vaudeville transvestites

gear up for a play

It's a tone of the city

it's a melody of its own

It's a rhyme for the needy

who've had taken

their souls

There is no serenade

like the sound of the city

It's a siren for the searchers who've lost their way home

In doorways, the junkies

trade booty for some uptime

While in taverns

the grey gentry

toast gin to the years

Street pushers

whisper words

of promise to the walking

While lonesmen sip brandy

and hold back the tears

It's a tone of the city

it's a melody of it's own

It's a rhyme for the needy

who've had taken their souls

There is no serenade

like the sound of the city

It's a siren for the searchers

who've lost their way home

Above a rhapsody of blue

on a bed of bloody Kleenex

Lay wired an idle forgotten in time

He bides the next moment

to make his revival

To prove to himself

he was worth all this while

He harbored the hope

he learned as a child

That justice will serve

those who survive

But lost were the words that spoke of self-reverence

As addiction is all

he could never deny

It's the tone of the city

it's a melody of its own

It's a rhyme for the needy

who've had taken their souls

There is no serenade

like the sound of the city

It's a siren for the searchers who've lost their way home

It's the tone of the city

it's a melody of it's own

It's a rhyme for the needy

who've had taken their souls

There is no serenade

like the sound of the city

It's a siren for the searchers who've lost their way home

It's a song for the sinners who live their lives alone