///*****/// [Intro] A window open to the heat A city breathing low [Verse 1] She came up through the alley With her shoes inside her hand And a bruise she called an accident That I did not understand She sat down on the iron With the traffic underneath And she smoked it like a sacrament And she would not say a thing Just the sirens going somewhere And the neon on the brick And a girl who had been running Since she was old enough to pick [Pre-Chorus] And I did not have an answer And I did not have a plan I just had a beat-up six-string And two ordinary hands [Chorus] So I played her something quiet On the fire escape at four Just an angel and a stranger And the whole world down below And I told her she was worth it Though she did not think it true And the city kept on burning And the night let something through Oh, my angel on the fire escape [Verse 2] She said nobody had ever Played her anything for free She said everybody wanted Something back eventually And I said I want you breathing When the sun comes up at six And I want you here tomorrow And that is the whole of it And she looked at me so strangely Like the words had come out wrong Like a language she had heard about But never learned along [Pre-Chorus] And the dawn came up like mercy Over rooftops made of tin And she was still there in the morning And she let the morning in [Chorus] So I played her something quiet On the fire escape at four Just an angel and a stranger And the whole world down below And I told her she was worth it Though she did not think it true And the city kept on burning And the night let something through Oh, my angel on the fire escape [Verse 3] That was nineteen eighty-seven And I have not seen her since But there is a woman up in Boston With three kids and a fence And she sent me one brown envelope With a photograph inside And on the back in blue ballpoint Just the words I stayed alive And I have played a thousand cities And I have sung to twenty thousand But no room has ever held me Like that iron and that dawn [Pre-Chorus] And I do not know who saved who And I never really will But something happened on that landing And it is happening still [Bridge] So if you're out there on the metal With your shoes inside your hand And the whole night saying leave it And you can barely stand Somebody is going to find you Somebody understands [Guitar Solo] [Final Chorus] So I am playing something quiet On a fire escape at four For an angel and a stranger And the whole world down below And you are worth the whole of it Though you do not think it true Let the city keep on burning Let the morning come to you Oh, my angel on the fire escape [Coda] Just hold on to the railing Just hold on to the sound Every angel I have ever known Was found upon the ground Every angel I have ever known Had feathers made of rust And every single one of them Was worth somebody's trust [Outro] A window open to the heat A city breathing low And a girl who did not go And a girl who did not go
