Walking Down Madison
maccoll kirsty Lyrics

Walking down madison - I swear I never had a gun
I am walking on Madison avenue and I want to make it abundantly clear that I never carried a gun

No I never shot no-one - I was only having fun
To make it even clearer, I never shot anyone. If you are wondering, I was just enjoying myself

Walking down madison - swear I never had a gun
Again, I am on Madison avenue and I promise that I never had a gun

I was philosophizing some
I was in deep thought, contemplating the complexities of life

Checking out the bums
I was looking at the people living on the streets, the homeless, the oppressed, and the downtrodden

See you give 'em your nickels, your pennies and dimes
You try to show your generosity by giving them the little you have

But you can't give 'em hope in these mercenary times, oh no
Unfortunately, in these selfish times, your little contribution cannot give them hope

And you feel real guilty about the coat on your back
You have a heavy heart because you realize that the clothing on your back could do a lot of good for someone else in need

And the sandwich you had, oh no
You realize that the sandwich you just had could have gone a long way in feeding someone else who is hungry and starving

From an uptown apartment to a knife on the a train
The distance between the wealthy who live in expensive apartments in the upper part of town and the violence that takes place in public transportation is not that far apart

It's not that far
It may seem like a far distance, but it is not

From the sharks in the penthouse to the rats in the basement
The gap between the rich who own penthouses and the poor who live in the basement is not as wide as we think

To the bag lady frozen asleep in the park
The contrast between the homeless woman who is sleeping in the cold park is not so different when compared to the wealthy who live in the luxurious apartments

Oh no it's not that far
It is not as far as it appears to be

Would you like to see some more?
Do you want me to show you some more examples of how the world is divided?

When you get to the corner don't look at those freaks
When you get to the street corner, try not to stare at those who are less fortunate

Keep your head down low and stay quick on your feet, oh yeah
It's better to walk quickly and avoid any danger in such an environment

The beaming boy from harlem with the airforce coat
The cheerful boy from Harlem who wears an air force coat

The ones who died
Those who risked and lost their lives

The ones who tried
Those who attempted to make their lives better or achieve a goal

The ones that sit and gloat
Those who sit back and enjoy their wealth without doing anything for the less fortunate

Within every city and town there's a madison
In every city and town, there is a place where people from different social backgrounds interact.

Frozen lives for whom nothing's happening
The lives of people go on but they feel stuck, without any progress or development.

Hungry children is a mother's dilemma
Mothers struggle to feed their hungry children and provide for their basic needs.

Dumpster diving to feed her baby emma
A mother who is so desperate that she has to search trash cans to find food to feed her baby

So you walk on by like it doesn't affect you
You see these people struggling to survive and you ignore them, acting as if their situation has nothing to do with you

The held out hand that you pay no respect to
The people who are in need reach out for help to you, but you do not respond

Nickels and dimes won't even buy your guilt
Any money donated won't relieve you of the guilt that you should feel for ignoring their plight.

Another wino burnt to death in his quilt
A homeless person who was burned to death while sleeping with a simple cloth blanket

It's a cardboard city, newspaper metropolis
The whole place where people live is made up of cardboard and newspapers due to their poverty

The system can't cope or keep on top of this
The existing system cannot handle this large number of unprivileged people living in poverty

The authorities come as you're not for display
The authorities come around when people are not there to show them to the world.

Do they solve the problem no they move him away
Instead of finding a permanent solution to their problems, the authorities move them from one place to another without paying attention to their needs

They're in a vicious circle of no fixed abode
They move from one place to another without any fixed place of residence

The social won't pay 'em the money they're owed
The social welfare system fails to pay them what they are owed

When you've got no money you can't pay rent
When you are poor, it is impossible to keep paying the rent

Hypothermia kills ''cause the system is bent
Due to the broken system that is supposed to provide for everyone, many people die of hypothermia during the winters.

In the subway sits a vacuous man
A man with nothing inside his head is sitting in the subway

His grip on life is a bent tin can
The only thing the man is holding to stay alive is an old, bent tin can.

It's a holy shrine where he burns his light
A sacred place where he lights his candle to keep himself warm

It makes things easy and removes his plight
The light from the candle makes life easy for him and removes his troubles

For an hour or two but he can't escape
He is only able to have some relief for a short time, and then he is back to reality

They're all penned in with government tape
They are all trapped in a system created by the government or authorities that does not help them get out of poverty.

There are good samaritans who bring the soup
There are people who, out of kindness, provide food to the poor and homeless

The sally army with their bibles and boots
The Salvation Army, a religious organization, provides aid and support to the impoverished and homeless.

You can see yourself as it's not too far
It's not impossible for one to end up one day like they are, it's not too far away.

One short trip you don't know who they are
It is easy to get into their situation, and you'll never know who these people really are

Till the night comes then it all comes back
When night falls, it all comes back to you.

Like the smell of patchouli and the armies of rats
The smell of patchouli is associated with the hippie movement that took place in the '60s and '70s while the armies of rats represent the condition for which they live in.

It's a shame to be human it's a human shame
It's a shame that we as human beings treat others differently just because they do not have the same means as us.

It seems we've forgotten we're one and the same
It seems that we have forgotten that at our core, we are all human and should treat each other with the same respect and consideration