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Baltimore Lyrics

Beat-up little seagull
On a marble stair
Tryin' to find the ocean
Lookin' everywhere

Hard times in the city
In a hard town by the sea
Ain't nowhere to run to
There ain't nothin' here for free

Hooker on the corner
Waitin' for a train
Drunk lyin' on the sidewalk
Sleepin' in the rain

And they hide their faces
And they hide their eyes
'Cause the city's dyin'
And they don't know why

Oh, Baltimore
Man, it's hard just to live
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it's hard just to live, just to live

Get my sister Sandy
And my little brother Ray
Buy a big old wagon
Gonna haul us all away

Livin' in the country
Where the mountain's high
Never comin' back here
'Til the day I die

Oh, Baltimore
Man, it's hard just to live
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it's hard just to live, just to live
Song Info
Submitted by
golgotha On Jun 06, 2002
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3 Meanings

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Cover art for Baltimore lyrics by Nina Simone

i don't think you can take it to literally as being merely "baltimore". I think it's america and its life. "ain't it hard just to live". The world is dark and nasty and morally corrupted. It's a metaphor

Cover art for Baltimore lyrics by Nina Simone

pretty sure it's 'aint it hard just to live'

this is one of the most increible recordings.

the lyrics work on two levels, empathising with baltimore the city and expressing her own injury caused by the city's poverty problem.

Cover art for Baltimore lyrics by Nina Simone

David Gray does an absolutely AWESOME cover of this on his new DVD. The song is about a city falling on hard times.