Homeless

There's a man I see almost every day; he's got a black dog with a collar It used to be could you spare a dime, now it's could you spare a dollar Sometimes I give, sometimes I don't; depends what's in my pocket But he's a man locked inside an invisible cage and my dollar won't unlock it There's no future, there's no joy; he once was an adorable boy Once he started to fall, he found no safe place to land Walk right by that ghost of a man It's the crime I commit almost every day It's the violence of looking away There's a woman on my train who never asks for a thing but I can swear that she can see right through me I'm not sure I believe in prior lives, but if I did I'd swear she knew me But I'm on my phone, I'm on my own; I'm busy with my own worries And what must she think as she rides back and forth of all these people and all their hurries Homeless, dead to the world She once was an adorable girl Penniless, barely human Walk right past that ugly woman It's the crime I commit almost every day It's the violence of looking away (break) And now I'm getting dressed up, seems a strange way to help Filled with galas and with food drives And I want to learn the name of the man and his dog And understand the long story of their lives But then I don't, and it seems I wont, my best laid plans laid hollow I'm not afraid to lend a hand or an ear, maybe I'm afraid of what might follow There's no future, there's no joy; he once was an adorable boy Once he started to fall, he found no safe place to land Walk right by that ghost of a man Homeless, dead to the world She once was an adorable girl Penniless, barely human Walk right past that ugly woman But it doesn't really matter what I say, it matters how I live Am I really giving all that I've got to give It's the crime I commit almost every day It's the violence of looking away It's the crime I commit almost every day It's the violence of looking away