Cradle and All

14th street the garbage swirls like a cyclone
3 o'clock in the afternoon and I'm going home
F-train is full of high school students
so much shouting, so much laughter
last night's underwear in my back pocket
sure sign of the morning after

take me home
take me home and leave me there
I think I wanna cry I don't know why
think I wanna sing myself a lullabye
feel free to listen, yeah
feel free to stare

I live in New York, New York
the city that never shuts up
in the daylight everything is so gory
you can hear snatches of stranger's sorry stories
and I moved here from Buffalo
but that's nothing
the Trico plant moved to Mexico
left my uncle standing out in the cold
saying, "here's your last paycheck,
have fun growing old"

take me home
take me home and leave me there
I think I wanna cry I don't know why
think I wanna sing myself a lullabye
feel free to listen
feel free to stare

rockabye baby in the treetop
when the wind blows the cradle will rock
when the bow breaks the cradle will fall
and down will come baby
cradle and all

youth is beauty, money is beauty
hell beauty is beauty sometimes
it's the luck of the draw
it's the natural law
it's a joke, it's a crime
and I was bored and you were bored
it was a meeting of the minds
and now it's 3 in the afternoon
and I can't leave too soon
saying, "thank you, I had a nice time"

take me home
take me home and leave me there
I think I wanna cry I don't know why
think I wanna sing myself a lullabye
feel free to listen, yeah
feel free to stare

rockabye baby in the treetop
when the wind blows the cradle will rock
and when the bow breaks the cradle will fall
and down will come baby
cradle and all

maybe I'll live my whole life just getting by
maybe I'll be discovered
maybe I'll be colonized
you can try to train me like a pet
you can try to teach me to behave
but I'll tell you if I haven't learned it yet
I ain't gonna sit, I ain't gonna stay

take me home
take me home and leave me there
i think i wanna cry i don't know why
think i wanna sing myself a lullabye
feel free to listen, yeah
feel free to stare