Gordon Lightfoot Cold Hands From New York Lyrics

1968

I came down through Albany
To New York to find what I'd been missin'
I looked across the river to
The city where the windows all stood glistenin'
I stood listenin'

Into a tunnel I did ride
Like a grave inside, but I was young and able
When I came out the other end
All through the smoke the winter light was feeble
Unreadable

I was optimistic though
A cabbie told me where to go, I thanked him
A face of white, a face of brown
Oh here a smile, and there a look of danger
For a stranger

It was too unreal for me
I found no one who trusted me
There was no man could offer me
A cold hand from New York

Cold hands from New York
A voice within you cries
Won't someone please help me
I'll do the same for you one day
If you should ever pass my way
And need me

I came down to live alone
In New York the city of the living
There were fortunes at my feet
But the most of men were taking, none we giving
Or forgiving

Children ran and children played
And roses grew in alleyways, I saw them
There were men who lived in style
And others who had died where no one knew them
Because they couldn't win

There were parks where old men slept
And dingy rooms where babies crept unwanted
Till I began to ask myself
If there was hope or if it mattered what they did
Or if they lived

It was too unreal for me
I found no one who trusted me
There was no man could offer me
A cold hand from New York

Cold hands from New York
A voice within you cries
Won't someone please help me
I'll do the same for you one day
If you should ever pass my way
And need me

I came down through Albany
To New York to find what I'd been missin'
I looked across the river to
The city where the windows all stood glistenin'
I stood listenin'

There were prophets in the squares
And people there who smiled and said forget it
There were lovers in the park
And there was danger in the dark, I felt it
So afraid of it

There were preachers of the word
And poets who were never heard
I heard them
There were those who would not try
To learn the measure of the lie
They're livin'

I heard a young musician play
In a place where they paid you not to listen
I heard a woman scream for help
While men stood by and offered their best wishes
That's how it is

It was too unreal for me
I found no one who trusted me
There was no man could offer me
A cold hand from New York

Cold hands from New York
A voice within you cries
Won't someone please help me
I'll do the same for you one day
If you should ever pass my way
And need me

Cold hands from New York
A voice within you cries
Won't someone please help me
I'll do the same for you one day
If you should ever pass my way
And need me

Cold hands from New York
A voice within you cries
Won't someone please help me
I'll do the same for you one day
If you should ever pass my way
And need me

See also:

76
76.59
El Guato Tu Mujer Lyrics
Mikaila My Heart Can't Let You Go Lyrics