Shells

Three sheets to a Spring boutique
Paper malt down Chrystie Street
Twenty bucks for an ice cream treat
Two more for a cardboard dream

There's a church on Stanton east
It's cheaper in the heat
No doors on Pizza Beach
In love but they don't speak

Looks like Mary's on the take
Lit up behind the gate
There's no room here to pray
Something's on the way

There's a place where good men bleed
Warm bread cold nose hard bed bare feet
Still shells in the armory
How dare they call this free

There's a man down LES
In a box at the church playing CSN
He wants them to call his name
But Our House still sounds the same

And he says will I take more than I leave
Does my music help you breathe
I have so much left to say
But something's on the way

Three steps from a wider roof
Three years from a kinder look
Four walls won't stop the hurt
My lord what have you learned

Trying to right all of your wrongs
Playing someone else's songs
I don't want to sing this loud
But there's something about this crowd

And it looks like Mary's on the take
Lit up behind the gate
There's no room here to pray
Something's on the way