I take a steam train to work Just like the one my father took And I pass over the walls I see the people as I look
I see there's the block For folks with purple skin There's the block for folks who have no chin There's the block for me & all my kin And over there's the change cage where we throw the rebels in
CHORUS I work the change cage Here on our side of the wall And I will hold the key until the day they say the cage will fall (2x)
Walls of iron bolted with steel Two miles high that should hide how we feel And in the city we've walled off each block This should work to segregate any racial melting pot
Long ago we learned of the trouble When a man steps out of his life's plastic bubble So we walled off the city, caged thoughts that were free And now our lives are safe from any change that Could have come between you & me
CHORUS (2x)
They say an artist from block 616 Revived some old art just for his own kicks They say his pictures were lude They say his women were nude So we throw them inside
Well now that artist can run, he can hide But sooner or later we'll throw him inside I don't think the people should see Well that's not art to me So we'll throw them inside