Dirty Water

I was born inside a tiny room I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move My mother cried and held me to her breast The nurses they all gathered 'round And one of them she held me down And washed me in that brown and murky water In the oceans, in the air Dirty water everywhere Dirty water filling up my cup I caught a fever from the well And eventually I couldn't tell The difference between the right and the wrong And when I asked you for advice You turned to me and you whispered 'ice' And cooled me with that cold and dirty water In the oceans, in the air Dirty water everywhere Dirty water filling up my cup Across the sea, across the land Every woman, every man Has come to wash their hands In dirty water In dirty water In dirty water In dirty water I withered as they searched for cures For something old, for something pure Virtues that I never could express And finally they called the priest Who laid me out to rest in peace Anointed with that dark and dirty water In the bedrooms, in the towers In the corridors of power Dirty water mixing with the best Served in crystal, served in glass In the palaces, in the bars We all know the taste Of dirty water Of dirty water Of dirty water Of dirty water Yeah dirty water