Lou Marsh

On the streets of New York city

When the hour was getting late

There were young men armed with knives and guns

Young men armed with hate

And Lou Marsh stepped between them

And died there in his tracks

For one man is no army

When the city turns its back

And now the streets are empty

Now the streets are dark

So keep an eye on shadows

And never pass the park

For the city is a jungle

When the law is out of sight

And death lurks in El Barrio

With the orphans of the night

He left behind a chamber

Of a church he served so long

For he learned the prayers of distant men

Will never right the wrongs

His church became an alley

And his pulpit was the street

And he made his congregation

From the boys he used to meet

And now the streets are empty

Now the streets are dark

So keep an eye on shadows

And never pass the park

For the city is a jungle

When the law is out of sight

And death lurks in El Barrio

With the orphans of the night

There were two gangs approaching

In Spanish Harlem town

The smell of blood was in the air

The challenge was laid down

He felt their blinding hatred

And he tried to save their lives

And the answer that they gave him

Was their fists and feet and knives

And now the streets are empty

Now the streets are dark

So keep an eye on shadows

And never pass the park

For the city is a jungle

When the law is out of sight

And death lurks in El Barrio

With the orphans of the night

Will Lou Marsh lie forgotten

In his cold and silent grave?

Will his memory still linger on

In those he tried to save?

All of us who knew him

Will now and then recall

And shed a tear on poverty

Tombstone of us all

For now the streets are empty

Now the streets are dark

So keep an eye on shadows

And never pass the park

For the city is a jungle

When the law is out of sight

And death lurks in El Barrio

With the orphans of the night