There's blacks with knives and whites with clubs Fighting in Howard Beach There's no such thing as human rights When you walk the N.Y.streets A cop was shot in the head by a 10 years old kid Named Buddah in Central Park last week The fathers and daughters are lined up by the coffins By the Statue of Bigotry* You better hold on, something's happening here You better hold on, meet you in Tompkins Square The dopers sent a message To the cops last weekend They shot him in the car where he sat And Eleanor Bumpers and Michael Stewart Must have appreciated that There's a rampaging rage rising up like a plague Of bloody vials washing up on the beach It'll take more than the Angels or Iron Mike Tyson To heal this bloody breach, hey, hey You better hold on, something's happening here You better hold on, meet you in Tompkins Square A junkie ran down a lady a pregnant dancer She'll never dance but the baby was saved He shot up some China White And nodded out at the wheel And he doesn't remember a thing They shot that old lady 'Cause they thought she was a witness To crime she didn't even see Who's home is the home of the brave by the Statue of Bigotry, hey You better hold on, something's happening here You better hold on, meet you in Tompkins Square You got a black .38 and a gravity knife You still have to ride the train There's the smelly essence of N.Y. down there But you ain't no Bernard Goetz There's no Mafia lawyer to fight in your corner For that 15 minutes of fame The have and the have nots are bleeding in the tub That's New York's future not mine, oh You better hold on, something's happening here You better hold on, something's happening here Hold on