Belmont Avenue

It's 3 am in The Bronx, New York I'm on the corner of 187th and Belmont Avenue This was my neighborhood I can still hear a million voices in my head Hear a million stories This is a Bronx tale And it's my story The world I lived in The people I knew It's just a Bronx tale And like they all do It starts right here on Belmont Avenue I can hear the church bells and smell the freshly baked bread (Ah-ooh) See the storefront awnings The neon green, white, and red (Ah-ooh) Cannolis on tray after tray Salamis strung up on display And Italians are all that you see! Yeah, yeah And sidewalk's swinging Yeah, yeah And the girls are singing Shoop-shoop As they pass my stoop And the pushcart peddlers They hawk their wares door-to-door (Pesce fresca! Pesce fresca!) While the jukebox jockeys dance in the candy store (Ba-dah-dah, ba-dah-dah-dah-dah) (Ba-dah-dah, ba-dah-dah-dah-dah) Grandma's calling across (Ciao, Bambini!) While stirring the Sunday sauce (Ciao, Nonna!) And in the middle lies me Woah, woah And the streets start sighing Woah, woah And the girls strut by in a group Come on, Come on Try to ride pass my stoop Stickball, kick the can Orchard beach in the sand Find a girl to cop a feel Brylcreem, wet dream Bring her home and close the deal (No-no-no, no-no-no, no-no-no!) Next year's Frankie Valli's Cruisin' in the allies Getting those falsettos to soar While the Carmelie Sisters Scream at the transistors Every time the bombers score! Hangin with the crew! (On the stoop, on the stoop) On Belmont Avenue! (On the stoop, on the stoop) Gotta love the view! (On the stoop, on the stoop) Belmont Avenue! And those sultry summer nights Playin' the corner with rock The romance, the laughs, the fights A universe on one little block! Day-oh! Everywhere Everywhere I go! Belmont Avenue! (Yeah, yeah, boys are swingin') Hangin' with my crew! (Yeah, yeah, the girls are goin') Gotta love the view (Shoop-shoop-shoop) Belmont Avenue! Woah Woah Woah And then there was Sonny He was the number one man in the neighborhood All day and all night he'd be right here on the corner He would stand here Nodding his head to all the old ladies going by with their shopping And they treated him like a god And in my neighborhood, he was a god I couldn't take my eyes off of him But he never ever looked at me, never Until one day I was nine years old This is a Bronx tale And it's my story The one that shattered the world that I knew Here's how it happened And all of it's true It starts right here on Belmont Avenue