She cuts you once, she cuts you twice
But still you believe
The wound is so fresh you can taste the blood
But you don't have strength to leave
You've been bought, you've been sold
You've been locked outside the door
But you stand there pleadin'
With your insides bleedin'
'Cause deep down you want some more
Then she says she wants forgiveness
It's such a clever masquerade

Ali dances and the audience applauds
Though he's bathed in sweat he hasn't lost his style
Ali don't you go downtown
You gave away another round for free
Me, I'm just another face at Zanzibar
But the waitress always serves a secret smile
She's waiting out in Shantytown
She's gonna pull the curtains down for me, for me
I've got the old man's car
I've got a jazz guitar
I've got a tab at Zanzibar

I play nights in the Spanish part of town
I've got music in my hands
The work is hard to find
But that don't get me down
Rosalinda understands
Crazy Latin dancing solo down in Herald Square
Oh Havana I've been searching for you everywhere
And though I'll never be there
I know what I would see there
I can always find my Cuban skies
In Rosalinda's eyes
When she smiles she gives everything to me

I never ask you where you go
After I leave you in the morning
We go our different ways to separate situations
It's not that easy anymore
Today I do what must be done
I give my time to total strangers
But now it feels as though the the day goes on forever
More than it ever did before
Until the night, until the night
I just might make it
Until the night, until the night
When I see you again

If you search for tenderness
It isn't hard to find
You can have the love you need to live
But if you look for truthfulness
You might just as well be blind
It always seems to be so hard to give
Honesty is such a lonely word
Everyone is so untrue
Honesty is hardly ever heard
And mostly what I need from you
I can always find someone
To say they sympathize
If I wear my heart out on my sleeve

Little Geo is a friend of mine
We get some money and we buy a cheap wine
Sit on the corner and have a holiday
Hide the bottle when the cop goes by
Talk about women and lie, lie, lie
Oh, my other world is just a half a mile away
Wait for mamma to turn out the light
Crawl on the the roof and then hit the night
I should be sleeping but tonight I just can't stay
I've given everybody so much time

Got a call from an old friend
We used to be real close
Said he couldn't go on the American way
Closed the shop, sold the house
Bought a ticket to the West Coast
Now he gives them a stand-up routine in L.A.
I don't need you to worry for me cause I'm alright
I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home
I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life

They say it takes a lot to keep a love alive
In every heart there pumps a different beat
But if we shift the rhythm into overdrive
Well, we could generate a lot of heat
On Fifty Second Street
Oh oh Fifty Second Street
We're gonna have a little show parade
Before they know the second bar was played
We're gonna slip it to 'em short and sweet on Fifty Second Street

Well you went uptown riding in your limousine
With your fine Park Avenue clothes
You had the Dom Perignon in your hand
And the spoon up your nose
And when you wake up in the morning
With your head on fire
And your eyes too bloody to see
Go on and cry in your coffee
But don't come bitchin' to me
Because you had to be a big shot, didn't you
You had to open up your mouth