brooklyn betty

In the skyscrapers under the sun
The wind shakes the mirror
The image of the lake
People on the edge
Ants marching, slowing with age
They’re all blowing around
Burning up, look into the glass
They all run around
Look into the glass
It won’t break
Look into the glass
The L flies by
The glass all shakes
The lake ripples
The sand castles topple to the ground
Replaced the next day
Chicago’s got so much wind and rain
Chicago’s got so much soul
It loves the resistance
It loves the blues

Billy strums; the crowd’s a rattle snake
When Billy strums the people shake
When Billy stops the people rattle
Shake the snake and it will rattle
Shake the snake and it will rattle
Billy don’t stop strumming away, the blues

Billy sings; the crowd’s an Oak Tree
When Billy sings the people’s roots
Sink deep into the ground
His words touch the leaves
The people, the trees feel it in the rings
Billy don’t stop singing away, the blues

All is a set of ten pins
A bowling ball rolls through
The odd man’s out, three is out
You got only two tries
To get it right
Roll a strike or spare it all
Ten times ten, could be none
Games eventually end
Move on and try your luck
Music plays across the street
The words and notes all are written
On a sheet of paper
A confidential document for those too gone
Open to those gathered around
Blues on Halsted
Even more across the street
Rocking blues, people on swings
At the King
Underneath the only sun out at night

Billy strums; the crowd’s a rattle snake
When Billy strums the people shake
When Billy stops the people rattle
Shake the snake and it will rattle
Shake the snake and it will rattle
Billy don’t stop strumming away, the blues

Billy sings; the crowd’s an Oak Tree
When Billy sings the people’s roots
Sink deep into the ground
His words touch the leaves
The people, the trees feel it in the rings
Billy don’t stop singing away, the blues

Down past Navy Pier
Up around Lawrence
All the way east of the park
West of the busy streets
People sit and sing their tunes
Play with the wind
Follow their roots
Watered by the Blues
Watered by the Blues
Watered by the Blues

Down past Navy Pier
Up around Lawrence
All the way east of the park
West of the busy streets
People sit and sing their tunes
Play with the wind
Follow their roots
Watered by the Blues
Watered by the Blues
Watered by the Blues

The sky’s falling through the leaves of trees
As a stone, pale and gray
Strikes me between the eyes
Blue as the sky of a better day
It tears apart the clouds of white
Leaves of green
Eclipsing the sun from my view
That stone ripped through me
Left me alone and colorblind
Seeing shades of black and white
Faded excitement
The fight for better times
The best fly by way too fast
You’re already by someone else’s side
Oh, how I wish you would have chosen to stay

This stone has put me in a moment of despair
A rain shower of millions of tears
You used to care
Now you are no more than the thunder clouds
Blurring my vision
Trapping me in a steady, empty stare

You’ve now come back rising with the sun
Wiped away these tears
Your love has helped me escape from the showers
And has brought back the colors to the flowers

The breeze flies by shaking each branch
We fall from the trees as leaves
Once keen with green
Dancing in the wind happily
Fluttering through the skies
Suspended in time
A moment that should never end
Now seen orange and red
Mother Nature sends gusts
Carrying thunderstorms of fear
Wind propels each differently
I fell into the deep black sea
You got raked up by another
He just like me
I felt as though I had nothing to live
And I lost the care to swim
I was lost at sea and needed you more than ever

Gusts sent me to a moment of despair
A rain shower of millions of tears
You used to care
Now you are no more than the thunder clouds
Blurring my vision
Trapping me in a steady, empty stare

Oh please come back and rise with the sun
Wipe away my tears
Shelter me from these showers
Show me your face as pretty as flowers

You never came
But I was picked up by the waves
Saving me from the sea deep sorrow
And I floated away to another dream
Of a time I once again
Could dance with the wind
Thanks to these waves
They carried me for days
For they are how I kept my self-esteem

That stone put me in a moment of despair
Gusts brought rain showers
I was luckily not alone
Everyone else cared
I’ll always remember those great days
But it will never be again
Life’s shown, you’ve changed, and I’ve grown
And I say this with honest gratitude
Thanks