Cold Hands From New York

Cold Hands From New York
Words and Music by: Gordon Lightfoot Arranged and adapted by: Publisher:

Recorded by Gordon Lightfoot	UAS6672, CD167, NC423

Lyrics: I came down from 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 rise, like a grave inside, but I was young and able When I came out the other end, ah 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, here a smile, there a look of danger For a stranger 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 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 I came down to live alone in New York the city of the living There were fortunes at my feet but most of men were taking, none we 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 'Cause 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 was hope or if it mattered what the did Or if they lived 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 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 I came down from 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 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 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