Lawless Avenues

<br>Papa hit him, Mama kissed him<br>Made him go to Catechism<br>With the sisters in their black and white<br>And all the time those city streets<br>Were teaching him another kind of wisdom<br>When to run and when to fight<br>Up at the playground after school<br>Listening to tales of the prison system<br>And those lawless avenues<br>Down on a half darkened street<br>A child`s footsteps repeat<br>And something there turns them<br>Down those lawless avenues<br>Silent Joe went down so bad<br>He was the strongest fighter the avenues had<br>Stabbed in the chest-- he went down swinging<br>Someone from some other part of town<br>No one even seen it coming down<br>And you don`t hear no church bells ringing<br>And in the violent night the police light<br>Sweeps across the lots and the yards<br>Following those lawless avenues<br>Down on a half darkened street<br>Armies advance and retreat<br>And struggle to take control<br>From those lawless avenues<br>Manuelito`s sister Rosa<br>Ran away with a surfer from Hermosa<br> Manuelito, cuida a Rosa<br> Hay mira como estan las cosas!<br> (Manuelito, take care of Rosa<br> Look at how things are)<br>But who could blame her after she saw<br>Every boy die who could have gotten close to her<br> Rosa es joven y solo quiere<br> ver la belleza del mundo<br> (Rosa is young and only wants<br> to see the beauty of the world)<br>Manuel said--<br>"You gotta fight for what you want in this life"<br>Just before they shipped him overseas to `Nam<br> Otra guerra sin razon<br> Otra guerra sin fin, sin honor<br> (Another war without reason<br> Another war without end, without honor)<br>And she was fighting to understand<br>When they shipped Manuelito`s body home<br>All she heard was one more shot<br>Echoing down lawless avenues<br>Hoy amigo, tal igual como ayer,<br>La lucha en el barrio no cambia<br>Nuestros hijos son los que han de crecer<br>Por ley de la calle, viviendo entre abrazos<br>Y chingazos<br>(Today my friend, just like yesterday,<br>The struggle in the barrio doesn`t change<br>Our children are the ones to grow up<br>By the law of the street,<br>Living between hugs and blows)<br>Down on a half darkened street<br>Fathers` and sons` lives repeat<br>And something there turns them<br>Down those lawless avenues<br>En el calor de la calle<br>(In the heat of the street)<br>Buscan el valor en la calle<br>(Looking for valor in the street)<br>Hasta final de la calle<br>(Till the end of the street)