Swear To God

a friend of mine went riding
to the car to a town
bought a sandwich and a milkshake
found a bench and sat down
met some girlies and some fellas
and made a new life

it's such a simple story
it'll make you think twice

about the trying and the doin' that we do everyday
and the caring and the workin' and the minimum wage
that you're makin' at your job
and spending at the bar

it's just about leaving
you don't have to go very far

cuz new york is a certain kind of sickness
and you've been ill
since far before you moved here
but you can't get well
in a place that is proud of just how cold it can be
and of its brutality

before my friend went riding i asked her if it was
a possibility that it is just us
just the boyfriends, and the babies
just the subways, the scene, and the scabies


then she said that while she knows
that that might be the case
sometimes you can enjoy the way our hands interlace
sometimes things are too hard and every thing's dark
sometimes we just got to blame new york

cuz new york is a certain kind of sickness
and you've been ill
since far before you moved here
but you can't get well
in a place that is proud of just how cold it can be
and of its brutality

i swear to god it's not me
it's New York
i swear to god it's not us
it's New York
i swear to god it's not me
it's New York
i swear to god it's not
it's New York
i swear to god it's not us
i swear to god it's not us
i swear to god it's not us