Sirens In The City
David Baerwald Lyrics

Look at the city
The singer is observing the city

Sinking like a ship
The singer perceives the city as sinking, possibly due to its problems

Look at that tired river boil
The singer observes the river, which appears exhausted and agitated

Look at that chain of cars piling up
The singer sees a traffic jam with many cars accumulating and blocking the way

Look at that city of toil
The singer sees a city full of labor and effort, possibly implying that people work too hard

A rich man is cursing
The singer describes a wealthy person who is angry and frustrated

Behind the wheel
The rich man is driving his car

Of a jacked up Cadillac Benz
The rich man is driving an expensive and luxurious car

An ambulance crawling
The singer sees an ambulance moving slowly

Crippled by the traffic
The ambulance cannot move fast due to the heavy traffic

While the indifferent night descends
The singer describes the night as unfeeling and unconcerned about the city's problems

A playground full of children
The singer notices a place where children play

The laughing sound of children
The singer hears the happy voices of children playing

Sirens in the city
There are emergency sirens sounding in the city

But lord how I love this town
Despite the problems, the singer still feels affection towards the city

Crime in the streets
The singer mentions the presence of crime in the city

It's almost more than I can bear
The singer is almost overwhelmed by the amount of crime

It happened again last week
The singer is referring to a recent instance of crime that occurred

But nobody seems to care and
The singer feels like nobody is taking action to prevent the crime

I ride across the river
The singer is crossing a river

I visit my poor old ma
The singer goes to see their elderly mother

Ride the subway back into Manhattan
The singer takes the subway to return to Manhattan

Oh buddy
The singer is addressing someone familiar

There's no such thing as the law
The singer believes that the law does not exist or is not enforced

So who's gonna save the children?
The singer is asking who will protect the children from harm

You know I went out to make it better
The singer tried to improve the situation

And what thanks did I get?
The singer is suggesting that their efforts were not appreciated

Six long years
The singer has been trying to make things better for six years

Across the bridge of tears
The singer has experienced sadness and hardship during this time

Well you ain't seen nothing yet
The singer believes that worse things will happen in the future