Mark Heard - Back Streets lyrics

Beneath the palm trees See them wave like flags in the warm breeze They paved up the promised land And gave us the backstreets Breathe in the bus fumes Aphrodisiac, a gift from the tycoons Who Cadillac through the human boomtown Here in the backstreets This ain't no ignorant bliss and no one expects it This ain't easy street yet and no one forgets it LIVING IN THE BACKSTREETS, BABY LIVING IN THE BACKSTREETS, GIRL LIVING IN THE BACKSTREETS, BABY IT'S A BACKSTREET WORLD LIVING IN THE BACKSTREETS, BABY LIVING IN THE BACKSTREETS NOW LIVING IN THE BACKSTREETS, BABY LIVING AND LOVIN' SOMEHOW Oh the drunks tilt Down the big boulevards that the banks built Say your thanks and forget your guilt Hey this is the backstreets National fascination With the footage of the smashing of oppression Cashing in with a big success But not for the backstreets Oh, this ain't no limbo of souls, but no one expects it This ain't no boulevard of gold, and no one forgets it Those ivory towers The ones that point like guns up in downtown Shoot the stars and they'll win some wars But not in the backstreets Up in the think-tanks They must be jumping in and drowning like tame rats Never wondering what's keeping love alive In the backstreets This ain't no ignorant bliss and no one expects it This ain't easy street yet and no one forgets it