Lyrics
the clerks down at the coffee shop
slinging coffee across the bar
they pass along the impetus
to keep the people going
who don't know who they are
up in the biggest house of all
perched empty in the hills
the security system
turns the lights
on again and off again
the absent owner pays the bills
All around me
I'm swimming in the sound,
the clatter and the clamor
of the human endeavor,
I live here in this town
Black leather-jacketed
streetside punks
mendicants for change
Just below the surface
of the local law enforcement
they trade Euphoria for pain
Old Ms. Allebaucher
stays inside all day
saving up the courage
of her younger desperation
until time takes it all away
And I say,
All around me
I'm swimming in the sound,
the clatter and the clamor
of the human endeavor,
I live here in this town
Every window
hosts another life
Every streetlight
pushes back a bit of night
The Greyhound drops in Oakland
where the out-of-state disembark
They stumble onto Sproul
They spill out onto Telegraph
just 6 blocks from BART
The ruckus in Sproul Plaza
repeats itself each day
The protests and the preachers
turn the empty steps to bleachers
at night when the drummers play.
All around me
I'm swimming in the sound,
the clatter and the clamor
of the human endeavor,
I live here in this town
I live here in this town
I live here in this town
I live here in this town
I live here in this town