i'm leaving this city before i'm frozen, before i'm 
stuck here right in place. the highway may be strewn 
with sin, but it's proven again and again: it's the 
only way i'm saved. oh, chicago, you're as cold as the 
heart of the candidate the night of the inauguration. 
and like him, i don't expect you'll ever understand my 
situation. i know, like him, your heart don't break. 
'cause he grins as he's promising the mess he's gonna 
make. and then he offers you a handshake, saying, "no 
blood on my hands today." but when he grins, you see 
it's his teeth that are blood-stained.
you told me once you were complicated, but i never knew 
with you what to believe. you said you never give your 
tricks away for nothing and you always keep something 
up your sleeve. you say, "this circus has three rings 
and nobody gets in for free." 
now your pretty eyes, don't blink or i've got nothing 
to look for. your pretty hands, don't put 'em in your 
pockets or i've got nothing to reach for. your pretty 
lips, don't turn away. don't pretend you've got nothing 
to say. 
see, mama, she was a poet, and at night she'd recite 
her best verse. but she said, "crumple this when i go 
and throw it from the window of my speeding hearse." i 
had it bad but you have it worse. i had it bad and you 
have it worse. and she said, "go out now. go out now to 
the streets, girl. you go out there, now. you write 
your own life story. and you alone decide if it's gonna 
be a magazine or poetry." 
and your pretty eyes, don't blink or i've got nothing 
to look for. your pretty hands, don't hide 'em in your 
pockets or i've got nothing to reach for. your pretty 
lips, don't turn away. don't pretend you've got nothing 
to say. you've got a lot to say. you've got a lot to 
say. you've got a lot to say. 
and i wish, always, that i could thank you, but i guess 
i just don't know how. 'cause you said the best thing i 
could do for you is to take good care of myself.
and you became a ghost before you wanted and my heart 
is the home you've haunted. and every time i hear the 
sirens sing, i feel footsteps inside of me. like your 
heart beating, like my heart beating, like your heart 
beating.