Skid Row
Carla J. Hargrove Lyrics

Alarm goes off at seven
You wake up early in the morning

And you start uptown
You head to work in the busy part of town

You put in your eight hours
You work for a full workday

For the powers that have always been
You work for the same old bosses

Till it's five P.M.
You work until the end of the day

Then you go
You leave work

Downtown
You head to the poorer part of town

Where the folks are broke
The people there are poor

You go Downtown
You head to Skid Row

Where your life's a joke
Your life is a mess

When you buy your token
When you buy your train ticket

You go
You head

Home to Skid Row
You go home to the poor part of town

Yes, you go
You do indeed go

Where the cabs don't stop
Taxis don't stop there

Where the food is slop
The food is bad

Where the hop-heads flop
Where drug addicts lay around

In the snow
Even in the winter

Uptown you cater to a million jerks
At work, you cater to a lot of unpleasant people

Uptown you're messengers and
At work, you deliver messages and

Mail room clerks
Work in the mailroom

Eating all your lunches at the
You eat your lunch at the

Hot dog carts
Street carts that serve fast food

The bosses take your money
Your bosses take your hard-earned money

And they break your hearts
They constantly disappoint and stress you out

Uptown you cater to a million whores
At work, you cater to a lot of immoral people

You disinfect terrazzo on their
You clean the terrazzo floors in their

Bathroom floors
Bathrooms

Your morning's tribulation
Mornings are tough

Afternoon's a curse
Afternoons are even worse

And five o'clock is even worse
Leaving work at the end of the day isn't even good

That's when you go
That's when you leave

Where the guys are drips
Where the guys are losers

Where they rip your slips
Where they make fun of you

Where relationships are no go
Where it's hard to have a relationship

Down on Skid Row!
In the poor part of town

(Down on Skid Row)
In the poor part of town

(Down on Skid Row!)
In the poor part of town

Poor! All my life I've always been poor
You have never been financially stable

I keep asking God what I'm for
You constantly question your purpose in life

And he tells me "Gee, I'm not sure
You feel uncertain about your purpose

Sweep that floor, kid"
Your purpose is to clean floors

Oh, I started life as an orphan
You grew up without parents

A child of the street
You were a street child

Here on Skid Row
In the poor part of town

He took me in, gave me shelter, a bed
Someone took you in and gave you a place to stay

Crust of bread and a job
You received only the basics and a job

Treats me like dirt, calls me a slob
Your boss treats you poorly and criticizes you

Which I am
You are not perfect

So I live
So you survive

That's your home address
Your home is in Skid Row

Ya live
You live

When your life's a mess
When your life is in chaos

Where depressions' jes'
Where depression is prevalent

Status Quo
Things remain the same

Someone show me a way to get outta here
You want someone to help you leave Skid Row

'Cause I constantly pray I'll get
You always pray to leave

Outta here
To leave this place

Please, won't somebody say I'll get
You need reassurance that you'll leave someday

Someone gimme my shot or I'll
You need an opportunity or you'll

Rot here
Stay in Skid Row forever

Show me how and I will, I'll get outta here
You need a plan to get out, but you're willing to try

Downtown, 'cause it's dangerous
You want to go to Downtown, but it's dangerous

I'll start climbing up hill and get outta here
You plan on working hard to leave

Downtown, where the rainbow's just a no-show!
You don't expect things to be much better in Downtown

Someone tell me I still could get outta here
You need someone to reassure you that leaving is possible

Someone tell lady luck that I'm stuck here
You feel like you're out of luck and unable to leave

When you live
Living

Downtown, where the sun don't shine
In the less prosperous part of town with no hope

Gee it sure would be swell to get outta here
It would be great to leave

Downtown, past the bottom line
Moving beyond the point of no return in the poor part of town

Bid the gutter farewell and get outta here
Say goodbye to the bad part of town and leave

Downtown, go ask any wino, he'll know
The homeless people might know how to leave

I'd move heaven and he'll to get outta skid
You would do anything to leave Skid Row

I'd do I dunno what to get outta skid
You don't know what you need to do, but you'd do it to leave Skid Row

But a hell of a lot to get outta skid
You know it'll take a lot of time and effort to leave Skid Row

People tell me there's not a way outta skid
People say it's impossible to leave Skid Row

But believe me I gotta get outta skid
But you believe you have to leave Skid Row

Row!
End of song