'Oh I come from Pittsburgh to study astrology,'
She said as she stood on my instep,
'I could show you New York with a walk between
Fourth Street and Nine.'
Then out of her coat taking seven harmonicas
She sat down to play on a doorstep saying
'Come back to my place I will show you the stars
and the signs'.
Pre-Chorus:1
So I followed her into the black lands
Where the window frames peel and flake
And the old Jewish face behind the lace
Even now trying to get to see what's cooking
Just John the Baptist in the park getting laid
thinking there's no-one look i ng.
And its eighty degrees and I'm down on my knees
in Brooklyn.
Her house was a dusty collection of rusty
Confusion with landings and tunnels
And leaning bookcases and spaces and faces and
things
Where twenty-five Puerto Ricans, Manhattan
Mohicans
And Jewish-Italian Pawnbrokers
Lead their theatrical lives in their rooms in the
wings
Pre-Chorus:2
While outside in the black lands
The violent day runs wild
And the black and white minstrelsrun through the crazy alleys
While the cops go booking
And ruthless toothless agents sneak around and
there's no-one look i ng
And it's eighty degrees and I'm down on my
knees in Brooklyn.
And oh, I'm back in the city again.
You can tell by the smell of the hamburger stand
in the rain
Verse: 3
She spoke of astrology while muttering apologies
For coffee that tasted of hot dogs
I said 'That's OK, mine was cold anyway, and
just grand'
Then she lay on the bed while the radio fed us with
Records and adverts for cat food
And I looked at her, holding my thoughts in the
palm of my hand
Pre-Chorus:3
And outside in the black lands
The evening came and went
And the bums in the street begging money for one
last drink
Are hanging round the liquor stores trying to get
a foot in
And the girl from Pittsburgh and I made love on a
mattress with the new moon look i ng.
And in the cool evening breeze I was down on my
knees in Brooklyn