My friends live in a bad part of town And when I go to see them it always brings me down There's bars across their windows iron gates upon their door And the whole neighborhood looks like the middle of a war We crawl through the back streets in the dead of night Windows rolled up and doors locked tight Creep up the alley trying not to make a sound Always looking round for what might be coming down You know we haven't got a nickel haven't got a dime Can't even get on welfare cause we haven't got the time To be pushed and pulled through those bureaucratic slots And have our lives filed away in some plastic box I don't know why it is That people have to live like this Gotta get out before it's too late Gotta get out whatever it takes Because we're living behind bars and we got no choice Living behind bars and we got no voice Living behind bars and we got to get away On the other side of town there's a great big wall Where the rich man lives he's afraid of it all He's worried about the people he might happen to meet If he ever set foot out on the street And the red lights flash and the sirens howl And the burglar alarms ring and the guard dogs growl Old lady fishing through a garbage can And I still can't seem to understand Why we're living behind bars and it's time to move Living behind bars what have we got to lose Living behind bars and we got to get away Living behind bars it seems like we got missed Living behind bars how did it come to this Living behind bars and we got to get away Living behind bars every night and day Living behind bars we can't go on this way Living behind bars and we got to get away
