Well the black dogs are barking at the distant sound
of an east side siren cuttin' down,
and some safe-crack-alley-jack-ripper-of-fame,
smiles by the light of his own blowtorch flame
and the heat's so heavy they keep circling the block,
checking warehouse windows and the front street docks
with a billystick shaking from the side of his hip
cramming everything he's got into a forty-five clip
Oh oh let freedom ring, oh oh let freedom ring
oh oh let freedom ring
let us all keep the beat and let justice sing
Now that night watchman with the switchboard eyes
sits sweating out bennies as an exercise
tappin' coronary rhythms with a fountain pen
on the base of his skull and underneath his chin,
while on the thirty-eighth floor about a mile away
sits a big sandbox where the lawyers play
one in particular has spent all day
tampering with the history of the dossier
of some retainer-bought-crooked-white-collar-client
who acts like a weasel and walks like a giant
in a world where rules begin to dissolve
if you got enough money to get a lawyer involved
Oh oh let freedom ring, oh oh let freedom ring
oh oh let freedom ring
let us all keep the beat and let justice sing
Now the street sweep cleaner comes chuggin' up main
squirting a ready-made mixture of detergent and rain
washing a very wide assortment of the city's shame
into the mouth of an oversized city drain
where the two-foot-slew-foot alligator reigns
with his timex watch and his underground train
fighting off the pressure of this critical acclaim
with more snap in his bite and more weather in his veins
while the secret police in their dark dress blues
light their cigarettes up with a dynamite fuse
inspecting their silhouettes down to their shoes
hoping to stumble upon a series of clues
as to what went wrong when the universe was born
will gabriel be blowing a synthesized horn
load up the wagon and sell off the corn
we can cut it all down in the peak of its form
let confusion fall down a heavenly stair
from the left bank of paris to leningrad square
i'll be doing my best to try to comprehend
watching the magpies feeding off the bank of the thames
Oh oh let freedom ring, oh oh let freedom ring
oh oh let freedom ring
let us all keep the beat and let justice sing
oh oh let freedom ring, oh oh let freedom ring
oh oh let freedom ring
let us all keep the beat and let justice sing
let us all keep the beat and let justice sing
let us all keep the beat and let justice sing