Care In The Community

(album: Sand In Your Shoes - 1995)

There's a man riding the tube train
He's got voices in his head
One voice says get off at your stop
But he might get on instead
Another voice tells him it's time
Be ready to take a life
Another voice tells him he'll know when
In his pocket he handles a knife

There's a woman who stands in a doorway
In a shop out on the Strand
A litany spills from her cracked lips
She hears but she don't understand
Why are these dates so important?
Like a nun in her cell she repeats
As she stares through her mirrored reflection
At the world blurring past on the street

You better take care in the community
The community better take care
There is no immunity
Everybody must bear his share

Slowly a young girl comes down
From what she's had to do
To feel cradled in somebody's arms
Fixed for an hour or two
You see she's helping herself
Providing for what she needs
The community cares for itself it seems
It don't affect you or me

It seems that the system is working
At least for you and me
Now that everyone's taking care in the community

You better take care in the community
This community better take care
There is no immunity
Everybody must bear his share

There's a young man who hangs 'round the station
And he strides up and down as he talks
It's a one-sided conversation
And he's constantly checking his watch
Confused and so full of anger
Sometimes he thinks he'll explode
And he's frightened of leaving these city streets
But he's even more scared of the road

A bus pulls up at the station
Commuters clamber inside
The office is only just over the road
A two hundred meter ride
But this way they don't get hassled
By the beggars around Waterloo
One's only got so much compassion
And what can one person do?

You better take care in the community
This community better take care
There is no immunity
Everybody must bear his share