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 New York streets
A cop was shot in the head by a 10-year-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 ho-hold on
We'll 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 Bumpurs 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
I'm gonna 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 a crime she didn't even see
Whose 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
There's a riot here 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 New York down there
But you ain't no Bernhard 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
Oh, you bet...