Talking Big Apple '75 - Loudon Wainwright III

Well there’s all kinds of cities that I ramble around

But New York, New York, now there’s a hell of a town

You know it ain’t no lie, and it ain’t no guff

They got five big boroughs chock full of stuff

They got skyscrapers, subways and a sea of humanity

Museums, libraries, culture galore

They got cable TV, how could you ask for more?

And if reality is your cup of meat

They got 42nd Street

Take a stroll downtown and run the gauntlet

Well the mayor is the mayor call the mayor A Beam

Even dreamed this here big mac scheme

But that big scheme kind of petered out

And President Ford had to bail 'em out

I don’t think his heart was in it though

If you like action, come to NYC

They got murder and rape and robbery

They got all kinds of violence can happen to you

They got broken glass and dog doo-doo

A Saturday night special every night of the week

They got bars in New York that never close

And bars where the people take off their clothes

And bars where the young folks dance all night and

Bars where a fella can pick a fight

If you want to, you can spend the night behind bars

Well, like I said before you know I ramble around

I meet a whole lot people out there who put New York down

Of course half of them ain’t never been there

So some of that criticism just ain’t fair

Sure I know New York is dirty and ugly and

Full of cockroaches and gonorrhea and rats and junkies and

Hookers and rude cab drivers

Bad air and bad vibes and unemployment and

They don’t pick up the garbage

Oh, but it’s not boring