5 Chinese Brothers – Williamsburg lyrics

Tom Meltzer

There's a cold rain pouring off the Williamsburg Bridge
The world's giving way beneath my feet
Someone once said that you're lucky when you're dead
You know sometimes I agree

They're sweeping hot bottle caps onto the street
There's a boy about 16 staring down
With a sick little smile just to prove he's alive
As he looks around for nothing on the ground

Once his life was a prison but it burst at the seams
When he found a way to leave his dreams behind
Now he lives in a mist he hopes will leave him so numb
That he'll die without a worry on his mind

Chorus

I was walking through Williamsburg, taking it in
Trying to keep the courage not to run
When a boy left a bodega and he stepped in my path
In his right hand was a gun

He said, "Give me your money and I'll leave you alive"
And he shook and looked discouraged while he talked
And I tried not to watch him as he walked away
But I noticed a spring in his walk

Chorus

You only get one chance at everything on this Earth
And everything you do you must redeem
It's a hard sad life most people'd rather throw away
On drinks and drugs and idle dreams

I was sitting in my bedroom staring at an empty fifth
The night was disappearing from my head
When I had a funny thought and I started to laugh
'Cause I remembered what somebody said

Chorus