[ Billy Bragg and Natalie Merchant ]. . In a busy street. A man sits down. Oblivious to the traffic sounds. No chaos. No frenzied shrieking crowd. Thank God their silence. Walking heads bent down. Come when they saw us. Called it lethargy. The treadmill turns. There down below their feet. Should I pray for an end to come. Quickly (quickly) quickly (quickly). Or cross the waves of an angry sea. Risking (risking). And braving (braving). The shipwreck and the mutiny assailing. Assailing. In a haunted doorway. And from the light of day. See another life fall to ruin in pain. False smiles from even children it seems. Landlocked ground for empty and lost dreams. A league against me. I hear him say. It's not worth half the effort. Or the price you pay. Should I pray for an end to come. Quickly (quickly) quickly (quickly). Or should I raise my face to the heavens above. And tell God (dear God). Stop jeering (and jeering). As our human frailties and all. Our failings. Are we failing?. Pound pound on an endless street. Again and again the nightmare scene. All strained against the tightened rope. Not one with a lasting lingering hope. There's evidence everywhere you see. Put a quarter down at the newsstand. So that you can read. Should I pray for an end to come. Quickly (quickly) quickly (quickly). Or should I raise my face to the clouds above. Entreating (entreating). Their mercy (some mercy). But as clouds will do. They'll rain down. First gently (gently) and sweetly (so sweetly). Until they silence me. With a burst of thunder (thunder) and lightning (and lightning). And helpless landlocked screaming. I know God must be agreeing. It's the worst part of watching. It's the worst part of watching. It's the worst part of watching. It's the worst part. Landlocked in screaming. God must be agreeing. To be helpless is the worst. Must be the worst part of watching. The worst part of watching.