Fresh Air For My Mama

So say one and so say all Say what you gotta say or don't say nothing at all You been tossin' and turnin' through soft sticky nights While the Bronx below you fights to stay alive So say one and so say all Be what you gotta be Or don't be nothing at all Be gracious to your mother When you leave this neighborhood The change is gonna do her good Next to me, you look bad 'Cause there ain't no fresh air For my mama, my mama But the drop is sheer When you break away Take me away, it's just about time to hit the road And say you gotta believe in something It's easy to see my God is fading away So pick up your Bible and pray for me We're all alone in the darkness But our eyes are open wide We don't see nothing and our hands are tied To the railings from the Bowery and the humid city slickers So say one and so say all We had a lot to say And we said it all The cost of living in dreams Is rising like a crime wave The American way of dying The American way of dying And it gets you every time And it looks like it's got To my mama, my mama May she rest in peace