I'LL TAKE MANHATTAN

‘Beer is cheaper than a smile to me’ said Johnny as we lost another night
‘This was the Garden Tavern last time I came’, I said, ‘they changed the name, I don’t know why’
‘Hey Kurt fill them again, I could get used to this Long Island Iced Tea’
‘It makes me feel lost and found, makes me feel restrained and free’
I said ‘what’s your problem?’
‘Life’, he said, ‘there’s more to being than going home’
‘So let’s stay and change the world’, I said, ‘or at the very least change our own’
‘There’s a place on 32nd where they can record you sing’
‘Gonen T Ron’s the man, he runs the whole damn thing’
‘He’s coloured many a voice with his experience and sight’
We’ll be the next big thing, we’re gonna do it over night’



We find ourselves in shackles but we’re supposed to be free
Yeah, gonna throw them all off and be what we should be
Meet me on Brooklyn Bridge tomorrow at about three
I’ll take Manhattan, you follow me



Hey, but first we gotta find ourselves a little inspiration
What better place? This is where they all come
Let’s retrace some famous steps and give it a spin of our own
We can find out how many cars there are on the New Jersey Turnpike
If it’s good enough for ‘Rhymin’ Simon’ it’s good enough for our like
But for now we’ll stick on this twenty-four square mile
This is where the action is
So this is where you and me will stay for a while



We find ourselves in shackles but we’re supposed to be free
Yeah, gonna throw them all off and be what we should be
Meet me on Brooklyn Bridge tomorrow at about three
I’ll take Manhattan, you follow me



I’ve got a five year plan but I reckon we can do it in two
I wanna be a matinee idol, I guess it’s razor ads for you
So let’s lock ourselves in the Chelsea hotel, immerse ourselves in the faded hues
That moved so many wordsmiths, so many old and new
Then we’ll get a drinking problem, perhaps we already have
It just costs too darn much for a pair of English boys
It’s cheaper in the liquor stores on ninth
Let’s get enough provisions to last a dozen nights
I’ll go get the Stolli, you can get the Lucky Strikes



We find ourselves in shackles but we’re supposed to be free
Yeah, gonna throw them all off and be what we should be
Meet me on Brooklyn Bridge tomorrow at about three
I’ll take Manhattan, you follow me
I’ll take Manhattan, you follow me

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(Copyright Jules Benjamin)

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From the album 'Benjy Bop'