Long Black Lincoln

Long Black Lincoln

I live in the land of the long black Lincoln
Town cars and stretch limousines
Mercedes Benz with the tinted windows
Standing in the sunlight how it gleams

This is the city of the yellow taxi
No lanes and no red lights
Crosstown bus running river to river
Eastside days and west side nights

These are the streets of the doublewide stroller
The kind with the canopy that blocks out the sun Pretty black lady pushing little white babies
A women’s work, never done

And the bars still close at four in the morning
The way the Good Lord meant it to be
And the streets it was told were paved with gold
The tired and the poor came from across the sea
Hungry huddled masses yearning to breathe free

There’s a place George Washington stood
You can see it if you go downtown
And that neighborhood bar I used to stop in for a drink
I bet some of the regulars still come around

But there’s no more candy for a penny
No soda fountain, drink for a dime
Days misspent we had so many
But figuring your losses won’t get you back the time

So here it is this city this island
Where I still sleep where I still dream
Hope, despair, desire and longing
City of magic, City of schemes

And everybody’s talkin’ ‘bout the Hudson River crossings
And where they lead nobody really knows
The traffic report says they’ll be some delays
And so it goes and so it goes

In the land of the long black Lincoln
Town cars and stretch limousines