[Verse 1]
I came down through Albany
To New York to find what I'd been missin'
I looked across the river to
The city where the windows all stood glistenin'
I stood listenin'
Into a tunnel I did ride
Like a grave inside
But I was young and able
When I came out the other end
All through the smoke the winter light was feeble
Unreadable
I was optimistic though
A cabbie told me where to go
I thanked him
A face of white, a face of brown
Oh, here a smile and there a look of danger
For a stranger

[Pre-Chorus]
It was too unreal for me
I found no one who trusted me
There was no man could offer me
A cold hand from New York

[Chorus]
Cold hands from New York
A voice within you cries
"Won't someone please help me?
I'll do the same for you one day
If you should ever pass my way
And need me"
[Verse 2]
I came down to live alone
In New York, the city of the living
There were fortunes at my feet
But the most of men were taking
None were giving
Or forgiving
Children ran and children played
And roses grew in alleyways
I saw them
There were men who lived in style
And others who had died
Where no one knew them
Because they couldn't win
There were parks where old men slept
And dingy rooms where babies crept
Unwanted
Till I began to ask myself
If there were hope or if it mattered what they did
Or if they lived

[Pre-Chorus]
It was too unreal for me
I found no one who trusted me
There was no man could offer me
A cold hand from New York
[Chorus]
Cold hands from New York
A voice within you cries
"Won't someone please help me?
I'll do the same for you one day
If you should ever pass my way
And need me"

[Verse 3]
I came down through Albany
To New York to find what I'd been missin'
I looked across the river to
The city where the windows all stood glistenin'
I stood listenin'
There were prophets in the squares
And people there who smiled and said forget it
There were lovers in the park
And there was danger in the dark
I felt it
So afraid of it
There were preachers of the word
And poets who were never heard
I heard them
There were those who would not try
To learn the measure of the lie
They're livin'
I heard a young musician play
In a place where they paid you not to listen
I heard a woman scream for help
While men stood by and offered their best wishes
That's how it is
[Pre-Chorus]
It was too unreal for me
I found no one who trusted me
There was no man could offer me
A cold hand from New York

[Chorus]
Cold hands from New York
A voice within you cries
"Won't someone please help me?
I'll do the same for you one day
If you should ever pass my way
And need me"
Cold hands from New York
A voice within you cries
"Won't someone please help me?
I'll do the same for you one day
If you should ever pass my way
And need me"
Cold hands from New York
A voice within you cries
"Won't someone please help me?
I'll do the same for you one day
If you should ever pass my way
And need me"