When Alexander Meets Emma

(album: A Singsong And A Scrap - 2005)

When Alexander met Emma
The first day she came to New York
Sachs's Cafe in Manhattan
Coffee and cigarettes and talk
Sun beating down on the East Side
Introductions are made in the haze
Emma, meet Alexander
Emma just smiles as she says:

"Take my hand. I'll take yours.
Save my life. I'll save yours."

Life stretches loudly before her
From the Bowery to old Suffolk Street
A five dollar bill in her pocket
And a worldful of people to meet
Ships rigging up in the Hudson
Waiting for love to set sail
Emma she tells Alexander
"I'll be there when you walk from the jail"

"Take my hand. I'll take yours.
Save my life. I'll save yours."

Newspaper talk turns to headlines
A love so cemented in fame
A word to the strike-breaking bosses
Propaganda in deed and in name
Fourteen long years on the island
It's a lifetime of summers to wait
And Emma, she meets Alexander
As they unlock the last prison gate

"Take my hand. I'll take yours.
Save my life. I'll save yours."