Papa hit him, kissed him Made him go to With the sisters in their and white And all the time those city Were teaching him kind of wisdom When to run and to fight Up at the playground after Listening to tales of the prison And lawless avenues on a half darkened street A child's repeat And there turns them Down those lawless Silent Joe down so bad He was the strongest fighter the had Stabbed in the chest-- he down swinging from some other part of town No one seen it coming down And you hear no church bells ringing And in the night the police light Sweeps across the lots and the those lawless avenues Down on a half street Armies and retreat And struggle to control those lawless avenues Manuelito's Rosa Ran with a surfer from Hermosa Manuelito, cuida a Hay mira estan las cosas! (Manuelito, take of Rosa at how things are) But who could blame her she saw Every boy die who could gotten close to her es joven y solo quiere ver la belleza del (Rosa is young and only to see the of the world) Manuel "You gotta fight for you want in this life" Just before they shipped him overseas to Otra guerra sin guerra sin fin, sin honor (Another war without Another war without end, honor) And she was to understand When they Manuelito's body home All she heard was one shot Echoing down avenues Hoy amigo, tal como ayer, La lucha en el no cambia hijos son los que han de crecer Por ley de la calle, viviendo entre Y (Today my friend, just yesterday, The in the barrio doesn't change Our children are the ones to up By the law of the street, between hugs and blows) Down on a darkened street and sons' lives repeat And something turns them those lawless avenues En el de la calle (In the of the street) el valor en la calle (Looking for in the street) Hasta de la calle (Till the end of the street)