Papa hit him, kissed him him go to Catechism With the sisters in their and white And all the those city streets Were him another kind of wisdom When to run and to fight Up at the after school to tales of the prison system And those avenues Down on a half darkened A footsteps repeat And something there them Down those avenues Silent Joe down so bad He was the strongest fighter the had Stabbed in the chest-- he went swinging Someone from some part of town No one seen it coming down And you don't hear no church bells And in the violent the police light Sweeps across the and the yards Following lawless avenues on a half darkened street Armies advance and And struggle to control From those lawless Manuelito's Rosa Ran away with a surfer Hermosa Manuelito, cuida a Hay mira como las cosas! (Manuelito, care of Rosa at how things are) But who could blame her she saw Every boy die who could have close to her Rosa es joven y quiere ver la belleza del (Rosa is young and only to see the of the world) Manuel "You gotta fight for what you in this life" Just before they shipped him to 'Nam guerra sin razon Otra guerra sin fin, sin (Another war reason Another war without end, honor) And she was to understand When shipped Manuelito's body home All she was one more shot Echoing down avenues Hoy amigo, tal como ayer, La lucha en el no cambia Nuestros son los que han de crecer Por ley de la calle, viviendo abrazos Y (Today my friend, just yesterday, The struggle in the barrio doesn't Our children are the ones to up By the law of the street, Living between and blows) Down on a half street Fathers' and sons' lives And something there them those lawless avenues En el calor de la (In the of the street) Buscan el en la calle (Looking for in the street) Hasta de la calle (Till the end of the street)