Ellington's A Train

2am on a downtown A Train
A long day and night on the job
Generation Z a sous chef
He’s got big dreams

Staring blankly filth and graffiti
Smelling the smells of the herd
Bum curled up asleep in the corner
His company

He ain’t riding on no Ellington A train
Billy Strayhorn ain’t nowhere to be found
Roar and rattle of steel and danger
The new jazz in town

Roaring through the bowels of the city
Next stop a gang jumps the car
Hoodied, tattoed, headphones screaming
Itching for a fight
Where are the cops tonight

He’ll get off on West Fourteenth Street
A few blocks to his door
Three flights up he’ll pop a cold one
Lock the city outside