Gypsy Magdalena

Sweep up the crumbs, vacuum the floor,

Wipe off the tables and open the door;

Clean off the parking lot rain or snow,

Learn a new language asking Here or to go.

Past the border guards, past the guns,

You came to America on the run;

Gypsy scarves and Material Girl,

Open your eyes to the brave new world.

Hands in my pockets and my eyes cast down,

I'm everything wrong with this American town;

Up all night with my rock'n'roll dreams,

I'm here for breakfast at a quarter past three.

Never left home on a desperate chance,

Never though exile without romance;

Squandered my days on empty thrills,

Five years of college and I got no skills.

   Magdalena I'm not laughing at you--

   I never know what to do,

   I'm a rich kid you're a refugee,

   What's in the stars for you and me.

Talk about love you just scoff,

Talk about politics you get pissed off;

Talk about dreams it ain't your style,

What can I do just to make you smile?

Welcome to America, come home with me,

We'll watch reruns on satellite tv;

Snub-nosed kisses, bullet-proof hearts,

Life and death stripped for parts.

I'll wait out back 'til you get off work,

I'll give you a smile and you'll give me a smirk;

We'll be home when the night is spent,

Don't you worry 'bout payin' the rent.

Power shifts and the walls come down,

The borderlines get moved around;

You and me and the Third World War--

I know you've heard it all before.

   Magdalena I'm not laughing at you--

   I never know what to do,

   I'm a rich kid you're a refugee,

   What's in the stars for you and me.

Cinderella she disparages,

With pumpkins turning into carriages,

Work three jobs and when you're through,

You've got forty-seven pairs of shoes.

Soviet schooling and a hungry heart,

Fill your dreams with a grocery cart;

Look as far as the eye can see,

It all belongs to you and me.

Turn off the news it's a world gone wrong,

Show me your pictures with your uniform on;

Listen to this--I'll play you a song,

I stayed up writin' it all night long.

Read my future tell me what do you see,

There in the bottom of your cinnamon tea;

I see the new morning on the rise,

I see the shadows underneath your eyes.

   Magdalena I'm not laughing at you--

   I never know what to do,

   I'm a rich kid you're a refugee,

   What's in the stars for you and me.