Land of the Living

Late afternoon back in New York town Waking up as the wheels touch down Pick up my guitar and walk away Wish I was going home to stay Line of taxis, I wait my turn Tar and asphalt, exhaust and fumes Beside the road on a patch of ground Taxi drivers are kneeling down Beneath the concrete sky, I watch them pray While the people of the world hurry on their way I think they're praying for us all today And the stories that fell from the sky that day This is the land of the living This is the land that's mine She still watches over Manhattan She's still holding onto that torch for life Back home fire's still burning, I can see it in the air Pictures of faces posted everywhere They say "hazel eyes, chestnut hair Mother of two missing down there" I pass the firemen on duty tonight Carpets of flowers in candlelight And thank you in a child's scrawl Taped to the third street fire house wall There's shadows of the lost on the faces I see Brothers and strangers on this island of grief There's death in the air, but there's life on this street There's life on this street This is the land of the living This is the land that's mine She still watches over Manhattan She's still holding onto that torch for life Then I got in a taxi, said "Hudson Street please" He started the meter and he looked at me I glanced at his name on the back of his seat And I looked out the window at the ghost filled streets I noticed cuts on his hand and his face And I said, "You're bleeding, are you okay?" He said, "I'm not so good, got beat up today And I'm not one of them, no matter what they say I'm just worried about my family My wife's in the house, and she's scared to leave" I didn't know what to say I didn't know what to say I said a prayer for him anyway This is the land of the living This is the land that's mine She still watches over Manhattan She's still holding onto that torch for life Holding on for life