i was born in a city the called the windy city
and they called it the windy city because of the hawk
the hawk the all mighty hawk
mr wind
takes care of plenty business around winter time
the place that i lived in
was on a street that a
happened to be one of the deadend streets
where there was nothing to block
the wind the elements
nothing to buffer them for me to
keep them from knocking my pad down you know
i mean really socking it to me
when the boiler would bust and the heat was gone
i would have to get fully dressed before i could go the bed
cause i couldn’t put on my goulashes cause they had buckles on them
and my folks didn’t play that
they said don’t you tear up my bed clothes with some goulashes on
but i was fortunate
as soon as i was big enough to get a job save enough money
to get a ticket to catch anything
i split
i said one day i’m going to return
and i’m going to straighten it all out
and i’m about ready to go back now
so i thought i’d tell ya about it
they say this is a big rich town
but i live in the poorest part
i know i’m on a deadend street
in a city without a heart
i learned to fight before i was six
the only way i could get along
but when you’re raised on a deadend street
you’ve got to be tough and strong
now all the guys i know are getting in trouble
that’s how its always been
when the odds are all against you
how can you win yeah yeah yeah
i’m going to push my way out of here
even though i can’t say when
but i’m going to get off of this deadend street
and i ain’t never going to come back again
never
no no no
i’m going to push my way out of here
even though i can’t say when
but i’m going to get off of this deadend street
and i ain’t going to never come back again
no no no
i ain’t going to come back to this city street no more
no cause i’m going to get me a job
i’m going to save my dough
get away from here
i ain’t going to come back no more
i’m tired of a deadend street
i want to get out in the world and learn something
i’m tired of breaking my back
i want to start using my mind
Artist: Lou Rawls
Year: 1967
Decade: 60s
Language: en
Word Count: 209