Cradle & All Lyrics - Ani Difranco

Fourteenth street and the garbage swirls like a cyclone 

Three-o-clock in the afternoon 

And I am going home 

F-train is full of high school students 

So much shouting, so much laughter 

Last night's underwear 

In my back pocket 

Sure sign of the morning after 

[Chorus:] 

Take me home 

Take me home and leave me there 

Think I'm going to cry, don't know why 

Think I'm going to sing myself a lullaby 

Feel free to listen 

Feel free to stare 

I live in New York, New York 

City that never shuts up 

In the daylight everything is so gory 

You can hear snatches of stranger's sorry stories 

And I moved there from buffalo 

But that's nothing 

The trico plant moved to Mexico 

Left my uncle standing out in the cold 

Said there's your last paycheck 

Have fun growing old 

[Chorus] 

Rockabye baby 

In the treetop 

When the wind blows 

The cradle will rock 

When the bough breaks 

The cradle will fall 

Down will come baby 

Cradle and all 

Youth is beauty 

Money is beauty 

Hell, beauty is beauty sometimes 

It's the luck of the draw 

It's the natural law 

It's a joke, it's a crime 

I was bored 

You were bored 

It was a meeting of the minds 

Now it's three in the afternoon 

And I can't leave too soon 

Saying, thank you I had a nice time 

[Chorus] 

Rockabye baby 

In the treetop 

When the wind blows 

The cradle will rock 

When the bough breaks 

The cradle will fall 

Down will come baby 

Cradle and all 

Maybe I'll live my whole life 

Just getting by 

Maybe I'll be discovered 

Maybe I'll be colonized 

You can try to train me like a pet 

You can try to teach me to behave 

But I'll tell you, if I haven't learned it yet 

You know, 

I ain't gonna sit 

I ain't gonna stay 

[Chorus]