(Yeah!) (Check it out) [Intro] [Wah-wah guitar and tight drum groove, Hammond organ sting] [Verse 1] Sun hits the fire escape, chrome on a beat-up car Jukebox gospel from a corner bar Sidewalk philosophers selling their advice A dollar gets you wisdom, two gets you lies (C'mon now) The trash truck symphony at 4 AM A lullaby that rocks this town again My neighbor's TV glow, a blue, familiar friend This messy puzzle where the pieces bend (Alright!) [Chorus] Oh, this city machine, it's a beautiful mess A concrete ballet under duress (The gears are grinding!) Somehow the cogs that don't quite fit Are the very ones that make the whole thing click (Get down!) [Verse 2] Smell of hot bread mixed with bus exhaust A hundred different battles getting fought and lost (Stay sharp!) The tailor whistles, stitching up a seam While a kid plots glory by the pool hall gleam (Watch him now) The cop directs the chaos with a practiced hand The whole wild circus makes its final stand Every broken part has got a role to play To keep the rhythm going night and day (Feel that beat!) [Chorus] Oh, this city machine, it's a beautiful mess A concrete ballet under duress (The gears are grinding!) Somehow the cogs that don't quite fit Are the very ones that make the whole thing click (Yeah! Can you dig it?) [Bridge] [Brass section hits hard, organ solo rides over the groove] Don't need no silver screen, no fictional chase Just step outside, you'll find your special place In the glorious, grinding, greasy race... (Woo!) [Instrumental Break] [Full funky band break: driving bass and drums, stabbing brass, melodic Hammond B-3 organ solo, rhythmic Rhodes piano] [Outro] (Funky people, yeah!) The machine hums on, it never sleeps It rocks and rolls, a promise that it keeps (Just keeps on turning!) Just step outside, something's always going down In the greatest show on asphalt ground... (The gears are grinding!) Yeah, this beautiful, beautiful mess... (Aw, take it home now!) [Fade out on funky guitar riff and final brass stab] [End]
