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In the iron-bound section near Avenue L
Where the Portuguese women come to see what you sell
The clouds so low the morning so slow
As the wires cut through the sky
The beams and bridges cut the light on the ground
Into little triangles and the rails run round
Through the rust and the heat
The light and sweet coffee color of her skin
Bound up in wire and fate
Watching her walk him up to the gate
In front of the iron-bound school yard.
Kids will grow like weeds on a fence
She says they look for the light they try to make sense.
They come up through the cracks
Like grass on the tracks
She touches him goodbye.
Steps off the curb and into the street
The blood and feathers near her feet
Into the iron-bound market
In the iron-bound section near Avenue L
Where the Portuguese women come to see what you sell
The clouds so low the morning so slow
As the wires cut through the sky
She stops at the stall
Fingers the ring
Opens her purse
Feels a longing
Away from the iron-bound border
"Fancy poultry parts sold here.
Breasts and thighs and hearts.
Backs are cheap and wings are nearly free.
Nearly free"
Where the Portuguese women come to see what you sell
The clouds so low the morning so slow
As the wires cut through the sky
The beams and bridges cut the light on the ground
Into little triangles and the rails run round
Through the rust and the heat
The light and sweet coffee color of her skin
Bound up in wire and fate
Watching her walk him up to the gate
In front of the iron-bound school yard.
Kids will grow like weeds on a fence
She says they look for the light they try to make sense.
They come up through the cracks
Like grass on the tracks
She touches him goodbye.
Steps off the curb and into the street
The blood and feathers near her feet
Into the iron-bound market
In the iron-bound section near Avenue L
Where the Portuguese women come to see what you sell
The clouds so low the morning so slow
As the wires cut through the sky
She stops at the stall
Fingers the ring
Opens her purse
Feels a longing
Away from the iron-bound border
"Fancy poultry parts sold here.
Breasts and thighs and hearts.
Backs are cheap and wings are nearly free.
Nearly free"
Lyrics submitted by Novartza, edited by DCCJeephunk
Ironbound/Fancy Poultry Lyrics as written by Suzanne Vega Anton Sanko
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Suzanne Vega in interview /themouthmagazine.com/2012/10/09/suzanne-vega/
«I loved the area of Ironbound, which is a part of Newark, New Jersey, with a lot of immigrants, a large Portugese community… I, myself, was avoiding getting married at the time of writing the song. I think I was afraid of feeling trapped. So I projected it outwards to a random woman from that area…»
@Areguru YES and YES! I was on a bus to NYC in 2005 or so and noticed the Iron Bound signs and many Portuguese themed environments while on the edge of New Jersey and figured Suzanne had been there, observed, and wrote my favorite SV song.