Cold Hands From New York Lyrics - Gordon Lightfoot

I came down through Albany to New York 

To find what I'd been missin' 

I looked across the river to the city 

Where the windows all stood glistenin' 

I stood listenin' 

Into a tunnel I did rise, like a grave inside 

But I was young and able 

When I came out the other end 

Ah through the smoke, the winter light was feeble 

Unreadable 

I was optimistic though, a cabbie told me where to go 

I thanked him 

A face of white, a face of brown 

Ah here a smile and there a look of danger 

For a stranger 

It was too unreal for me 

I found no one who trusted me 

There was no man could offer me 

A cold hand from New York 

Cold hands from New York 

A voice within you cries, "Won't someone please help me 

I'll do the same for you one day 

If you should ever pass my way and need me" 

I came down to live alone in New York 

The city of the living 

There were fortunes at my feet but most of men 

Were taking, none we giving 

Or forgiving 

Children ran and children played and roses grew in alleyways 

I saw them 

There were men who lived in style and others who had died 

Where no one knew them 

Beause they couldn't win 

There were parks where old men slept and dingy rooms 

Where babies crept unwanted 

Till I began to ask myself if there were hope 

Or if it mattered what they did 

Or if they lived 

It was too unreal for me 

I found no one who trusted me 

There was no man could offer me 

A cold hand from New York 

Cold hands from New York 

A voice within you cries, "Won't someone please help me 

I'll do the same for you one day 

If you should ever pass my way and need me" 

I came down through Albany to New York 

To find what I'd been missin' 

I looked across the river to the city 

Where the windows all stood glistenin' 

I stood listenin' 

And there were prophets in the squares 

And people there who smiled and said, "Forget it" 

There were lovers in the park 

And there was danger in the dark, I felt it 

So afraid of it 

And there were preachers of the Word and poets 

Who were never heard, I heard them 

There were those who would not try to learn 

The measure of the lie they're livin' 

I heard a young musician play in a place 

Where they paid you not to listen 

I heard a woman scream for help while men stood by 

And offered their best wishes 

That's how it is 

It was too unreal for me 

I found no one who trusted me 

There was no man could offer me 

A cold hand from New York 

Cold hands from New York 

A voice within you cries, "Won't someone please help me 

I'll do the same for you one day 

If you should ever pass my way and need me" 

Cold hands from New York 

A voice within you cries, "Won't someone please help me 

I'll do the same for you one day 

If you should ever pass my way and need me" 

Cold hands from New York 

A voice within you cries, "Won't someone please help me 

I'll do the same for you one day 

If you should ever pass my way and need me"