Maybe it was something else before - leather or cloth?
or maybe it was always just red vinyl, of which I'm not even sure
It’s hard to tell because it’s all still the same even though it’s been re-done
One thing’s for certain, though, this sandwich was a lot cheaper back then
A while ago it was half as expensive and before that it was only a quarter
Maybe it was during the twenties - I’m positive though, it was after 1908
God, what a city you are! I’d give anything to go back in time
And kiss every newly laid cornerstone in your Art Deco skyscrapers
And drag my heels through the soot caking your streets
I’d give anything to wander your alleys with the other vagrants of America
Displaced from their homes in Indiana, Colorado, and Oklahoma
We’d all get drunk together off a nickel’s bottle of gin
In the inferno of an atomic summer, laughing at all the business men
Sweating in their buggies, in their trolleys, their taxis, their coffins
We’re the real ones – we’re the angels she’s named after
Shoulder to shoulder in this dusty town, this overgrown meat factory
Grinding out the rest of our lives in the shadows of the greatness you purport
Riding that fine line between poverty and slight discomfort
Hiding in the cracks of your majesty and brilliance
We are the dregs of society and we are fine with that
Because I just found a quarter and I’m going to buy myself
A French dip sandwich to float me between the moments I bite into it
And when I become hungry again
