Riding Out The Storm

C
The New York City winter comes in 
cold grey sheets of steel,
  Em
A numbness in his hands and feet is 
all that he can feel.
F           G7             C
Alcohol and sterno turns a doorway 
to a bed
And the ghost of who he might have 
           G             Am
been lives on inside his head.

     C
In a canyon made of brownstone on a 
sidewalk icy black
   Em
He wanders nearly barefoot with his 
righteousness intact.
  F           G7          
A man of many mansions in a 
  C
cardboard box replete,
And he lies sleeping with an angel 
          G                 Am
while his heart pretends to beat.

        F
Ah, the wind blows down on Lonely 
Street like an ice pick through the 
air
          Am
Midst the Sunday Times and the 
coffee grinds and the winos in Times
 Square.
F                                 
Five flights up on Easy Street, 
  C
you know she's safe and warm,
And way down low ?neath a foot of 
             G              Am
snow he's a- riding out the storm.

Continues after the ad
  C
I offered him my winter coat, 
politely he refused,
        Em
Like an educated man he spoke with 
words I seldom use.
   F                 G7           
He said I don't need pity, for 
   C
these choices are my own.
He bowed his head just slightly and 
     G               Am
then quietly moved a long.

        F
Ah, the wind blows down on Lonely 
Street like an ice pick through the 
air
          Am
Midst the Sunday Times and the 
coffee grinds and the winos in Times
 Square.
F                                 
Five flights up on Easy Street, 
  C
you know she's safe and warm,
And way down low ?neath a foot of 
             G              Am
snow he's a- riding out the storm.
F Am F Am


           C
Well, it?s not like he's a victim of
 this homeless life he stalks,
    Em
Nor helpless to get back across the 
fine line that he walks.
F              G7                 
Riding out the storm means yester 
C
day's already spent,
Tomorrow don't mean nothing, it 
      G           Am
won't even make a dent.

        F
Ah, the wind blows down on Lonely 
Street like an ice pick through the 
air
          Am
Midst the Sunday Times and the 
coffee grinds and the winos in Times
 Square.
F                                 
Five flights up on Easy Street, 
  C
you know she's safe and warm,
And way down low ?neath a foot of 
             G              Am
snow he's a- riding out the storm.

C G C                           
- Riding out, riding out, riding
                 Am
 out, ooo-ooo- ooo.
C G C                           
- Riding out, riding out, riding
                 Am
 out, ooo-ooo- ooo.
C G C                           
- Riding out, riding out, riding
                 Am
 out, ooo-ooo- ooo.
C G C                           
- Riding out, riding out, riding
                 Am
 out, ooo-ooo- ooo.
C G C Am C