The Kennedys - The Boy from the East River Shore Lyrics

He was born in an East Side tenement
His folks were new to the land
They worked for the men who brought them here
But it didn't work out as planned
Now he sleeps in a vacant warehouse
Bullets all riddled in the door
But he keeps himself alive for me
The boy from the East River shore

The gang got to him when he was ten
They showed him how to use a knife
They said you answer to us now on
Betrayal will mean your life
There's an innocent deep inside of him
Locked up like a prisoner of war
But he dreams of breaking out of here
The boy from the East River shore

Most of the neighbors ignore him
If they even see him at all
But the cops they know him all too well
From a brutal street fighting brawl
Oh he wasn't the one with blood on his hands
From that kid lying dead on the floor
But they keep watch out for one false move
From the boy from the East River shore

Well we knew we had to get away
Escape from the edge of despair
But it was risky business cutting those ties
They had eyes on him everywhere
We could blow by Staten Island
Push on through Baltimore
But they'll never stop until they kill
The boy from the East River shore

Well I worked at a Spanish market
Put away what I could
'Cause he could never make enough to break
Away from the neighborhood
We were set to leave by sundown
But the word got out before
And I didn't even make it off the block
With the boy from the East River shore

We got as far as Saint Vincent's
Policemen brought him in
Said they knew that he was better than this
They'd been keeping an eye on him
But they got the tip just a little too late
No the gang got to him before
We could run away together, me
And my boy from the East River shore
Oh, he never had a chance at all
My boy from the East River shore