Paul Sachs: MUSIC and ViDEO

Mean Streets

(Paul Sachs)

April, 2001

I think we all go back sometimes to that place where we lived be it good or bad. Even writer Thomas Wolfe wrote a book called, "You Can't Go Home Again." And that, to me, is the truth. There's also that great line from J.D Salinger's book, "Catcher in the Rye," where Holden Caufield states, "Don't ever tell anybody anything, If you do, you start missing everybody."

Me and Mario NYC 1982-4

Mean Streets

I'm walkin' on sidewalks
this city built long ago
what once were neighborhoods
are communities on death row

I'm walking down mean streets
I'm on the outside looking in
I'm walking down mean streets
in places I once had been

stray cats and sad dogs
lay under a leafless tree
in junkyards a wind blows
the architecture of what used to be

I'm walking down mean streets
I'm on the outside looking in
I'm walking down mean streets
in places I once had been

I grew up on the lower east side
where my father knew my name
in brownstone buildings we would hide
and they all looked the same
we'd say your house is my house
and your home is my home
we'd open fire hydrants in the street
the only way to cool the city's heat
and my best friend was Mario
he had a transistor radio
we'd get high and watch that river flow
wondering where we would go
wondering where we could go

spent a few nights behind bars
where I learned to grow up fast
from shining shoes to stealing cars
it's good to know some things don't last

I'm walking down mean streets
though I can't tell you why
but i'm going to the the river
and watch some boats go by

repeat chorus