A Map Of New York

Think of each plaza, pier, and public park
How many sit there empty, lonely, dark
Think of it, for tomorrow's sake
Think of how you and I can make our mark.

You and I
We can draw a brand-new grid
Everything that you dreamed of as a kid
Give it a year, and go with me
Soon enough, you'll say "Look what we two did".

You've always had the right dream
We've always made a tight team
Now at last you're back
Exactly where you ought to be
So let's make a map of New York you and me
Twenty-two Reade, a building, sidewalk, shade
Now a memory that for Beth will never fade
And I could be planning city sites
Where memories just like this one might be made.

Thirty-three Bond
Where I wrote my first book
Greenwich and Moore
Where I learend how to cook
The Center Street courts
I intern there
The joy of this job is everywhere I look
That market was my first job
That diner was my worst job
And everywhere around me are these lives I left behind
The Tunnel where I laid rail
The co-op where I made my first sale
They make a map of New York in my mind
Put a sticker on the map where you landed that first day
Put a pin on the bridge
On the train
On J.F.K
On the street where I swore I'd afford a place some day.

Ev'ry avenue and place
Ev'ry building, ev'ry face
Of the lovers and the friends
The beginnings and the ends
Make a map of NYC
Where I've been and who I'll be
And you'll find me.

And you're feeling adrift, alone, apart
Then suddenly life will somehow start
And a map of New York is written on your heart.

On your heart
On your heart.

I'm too old for all that shit
To be told I'm selling out
Then again, all these years
Did I lose what I'm about?
On the street, in the cold
It's so hard to fight the doubt.

Then you hear the tunnel hum
With a rain about to come
And you surface to the street
And you fall into the beat
You can trace a line to me
On that map of NYC
Right where I should be.

Think of how human life will ebb and flow
People, and how they'll come and how they'll go
Remember the things we hoped and planned.

Remember them, and believe them, and you'll know
We'll know
We never walk a straight line
We never check a street sign.

But it's in the detour that we truly find our way
We always know the way home
As long as we can stay here we're home
And we make a map of work
Love and loss and life
And we make a map of play
We find our way
And we make a map of New York ev'ry day
Ending the night at 23rd and Third
Liz and her date
Who's hanging on every word.