Janis Ian — Bayonne Blues

[Verse 1] I was raised in New York City where the money grows on trees And the flowers all look gritty and the people look diseased Come up from New Jersey where I sung the Bayonne blues I watched the roller derby on the seven-thirty news I thought I'd be a folksinger I went down to MacDougal Street And Bleecker where the stars got stoned But the union hall was closed And the stars out on the road Making monеy singing anti-money songs [Verse 2] I went back up to Broadway, I took the IRT Somе old man in a raincoat parked his body next to me "Do you want to make some money fast?" And then he grabbed me by the ass I got derailed at Forty-Second Street I asked some lady for the time She asked me to her room She said "I've got a water bed" I said "I've got the flu You look just like a friend of mine I never liked too well She sold picture postcards Of the crack in the Liberty Bell" [Verse 3] I went into the Taco Bell to get myself some lunch They rushed me to the hospital to have my stomach pumped Run over on the corner by a wheelchair with no horn I fell into a manhole and was baptized and reborn I moved out to Long Island Bought a color TV I watch the doctor shows I'm a soap opera queen I think I got pneumonia I'm sure I've got TB It may not be a hell of a life But it's life enough for me