Lyrics Barefoot In New York - Arthur Russell

Barefoot In New York

I really wanted to stay awake
I was trying to stay awake
And it was about 7 o’clock on Sunday Morning
Been up all night
Knew I had to finish my work
I knew I had to
As I looked out my window it was
Bright sunlight on the orange bricks of the next building
Very bright sight somehow reflecting
And through the window if I was able to understand
I guess why I couldn’t stay awake
It was not conscious
Before I realized I couldn’t stay awake anymore
But now it’s even worse than before
I was listening to a tape of a lecture on Buddhism
At which I was present
I heard myself asking a lot of stupid questions
I was thickheaded at the lecture
Sitting there on the floor
But to hear it all now it’s even worse than before
Those shoes I had were some name I can’t remember
I found them in a wastebasket about to be emptied
They’re mostly the only shoes I wear
When I found them they had been worn
The bottoms were worn off
Worn off on the edges
They were mostly in good shape
I found that they fit me
I was very happy
There was something about them that sticks to the floor when I walk
It makes a noise
I kept wearing them
They got wet many times and now the stitches holding them together on the sides
is coming apart
Everywhere
And you can see my colored socks in the hole where they come apart
But they stick to the floor when I walk still
Very noticeable
I stepped in some sticky stuff
Spilled by the door
Since then it’s even worse than before
On Broadway one night
There was this fairly high pitched, loud tone that sounded like a siren
People were looking around to see where it came from
The food store on the corner provided a lot of the light
Because it was open
Pretty soon I realized that the sound was coming from
The hood of this one car that was parked on the street nearby
It was empty and locked as you walked toward it
And became even louder
I first noticed the sound when I walked past the store
But now it’s even worse than before
I really wanted to show somehow how things deteriorate
Or how one bad thing leads to another
At first there were plenty of things to point to
Lots of people, places, things, ideas
Turning to shit everywhere
I could describe these instances
But the more I thought about them
The less they seemed to be negative things
But appeared in the scenes as something new and productive
And I couldn’t talk about them in the same way
But I knew it was true that there really are
Dangerous crises
Growing in many different places
That I was blind to then
Once it was easy to find something to deplore
But now it’s even worse than before
The question is whether or not
This kind of music is going to hypnotize you
Do you resent being made to listen to
This monotonous music
Or having to listen to
Such boring sentences
Friends have said that by producing this kind of music
People are put to sleep
In fact, I’ve always thought too
I’ve always disliked the Rolling Stones
Since I found out what they were up to
So when the prospect of doing this very hypnotic music came to my mind
I realized that I should at least bring up the problems of listening to this
kind of rhythm
That is, regularity may temporarily take your mind of the more important tasks
we have
I had to decide if it was in our best interest to present this
But now that I went ahead and did it after asking what it was for
Now it’s even worse than before