Lyrics

in a doorway in San Francisco
for a month of winter days
two hours every afternoon
i stood there and earned my pay

it was in the middle of Chinatown
January in the air
singing for people on their way somewhere
trying to make them lend an ear

it was my first school as a singer
watching all the people react
some would stop for a song or a minute
some would wave as they walked past

some would walk right into traffic
so they wouldn't have to pass near
some guy singing in a bank doorway
that's the very last thing you’d want to hear

well i guess i’ve come a long way
at least far enough to say
if i knew then what i know now
i’d head right back to Chinatown
and do it all again, my friend
yes i’d do it all again

there was one pretty girl in the afternoons
came by every single day
with a different guy, she’d go upstairs
into the hotel across the way

i never did meet her or know her name
but she always gave me a smile
i want to thank her for those $5 bills
you know, they kept me alive awhile