(Voices)

«Baltimore is burning»

«Baltimore is much better than what you're seeing today.»

»Everything is a fight, everything is a fight.»

Verse 1:
I ain’t been to a place that so crummy, funny,
How it’s turnin’ in my tummy.
Disgusting and filthy and dirty and grey,
But listen to the old heads, it ain’t always been this way.
They be talkin’ ‘bout the Glory Days,
The charm of the city, so that’s what they praise.
The birthplace of Billie, the home of The Babe,
Dreams once lived here, but they all decayed.

Now it’s crackheads and viles, smackheads for miles,
Windows boarded up and the roof ain’t got tiles.
Broken city, full of broken people,
Who never had a chance, were never treated equal.
Went to school—no books and no teachers
Went to church—just crooks dressed like preachers.
50% are zombies, 100% are broke,
But it’s my town, it means something, we’ll make it work.


(Chorus/Voices)

«Oh, Baltimore»

«The government has failed us. You can’t deny that.»

«It’s mostly vacant homes.»

«Baltimore»

«The environment is so charged right now that anything that happens there we’re gonna immediately think the worst.»

«Oh, Baltimore»

»Everything is a fight, everything is a fight.»


Verse 2:
I’ve seen many a great man laid out on the canvas,
Almost counted out, got up and took they chances,
Some call it greatness or courage or resolve,
I wonder if maybe it’s destitute beyond,
Once that flat line hits, is it over, is it out?
Will the tunnel bring it back, for one more bout?
Nothin’ sadder than a boxer who didn’t hang ‘em up,
Payday’s looming large, but the damage addin’ up.

Some say when it’s gone, it’s gone, let it die.
Ghost towns dot the landscape, sometimes I wonder why,
They didn’t fight, they didn’t go down swingin’
Left, right, left and uppercut just might win it.
When you ain’t got nothin’ left, you better fight for it.
There’s numbers less than zero, even though I’m sure that,
The city is wasteland, a no good rotten core,
She’s ours though, we love her and she’s worth fightin’ for.


(Chorus/Voices)

«Oh, Baltimore»

«The government has failed us. You can’t deny that.»

«It’s mostly vacant homes.»

«Baltimore»

«Today it’s time to stop singing and start swinging.»

«Oh, Baltimore»

»Everything is a fight, everything is a fight. No-one knows the feeling of love here, everybody’s been being on the street for so long that love is just unheard of»

Verse 3:
These days, I’m feelin’ a lot like Baltimore,
A shell of my former self, I’m feelin’ that for sure.
Been a rough patch, man, I’m questionin’ everything,
Lost the feeling that I’m destined for better things.
It’s these sleepless nights, they got me on the edge
Everything is after me, sleepin’ under the bed.
My passion for the day to day, dried up like the Mojave,
The only way I’m feelin’ somethin’s hot sauce or Wasabi.

No highs, no lows, I’m just there.
Past accomplishments, that’s all I got to wear.
Better sorry than safe, I once said it,
These days it seems, it would have been better if I meant it.
It will take more than Starbucks to gentrify my block,
The only way back is to electrify the clock,
This town has got a chance to flip the script and rise again,
If she can make it back, I’ll fall asleep and grin.


(Chorus/Voices)

«Oh, Baltimore»

«The government has failed us. You can’t deny that.»

«It’s mostly vacant homes.»

«Baltimore»

«Every day it’s just the thought ‘Am I gonna make it back home tonight?’
‘Am I gonna make it back home tonight?’ That’s some crazy thought to deal with.»

«The environment is so charged right now that anything that happens there we’re gonna immediately think the worst. Like the book says ‘Feelings buried alive never die’ – this stuff is buried alive, it’s right under the surface. And there might be a scab on it, but it’s a thin scab and as soon as there is the brush it starts to bleed again, over and over and over again»