Papa hit him, Mama him Made him go to With the in their black and white And all the those city streets Were teaching him kind of wisdom When to run and when to Up at the playground after to tales of the prison system And those lawless on a half darkened street A child's footsteps And there turns them those lawless avenues Silent Joe went so bad He was the strongest the avenues had Stabbed in the he went down swinging Someone some other part of town No one even seen it coming And you don't hear no bells ringing And in the night the police light Sweeps the lots and the yards Following lawless avenues Down on a half darkened advance and retreat And struggle to take From those avenues sister Rosa Ran away a surfer from Hermosa Manuelito, cuida a Hay como estan las cosas! (Manuelito, take of Rosa Look at how are) But who could her after 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) said-- "You gotta for what you want in this life" Just before they shipped him to 'Nam Otra sin razon guerra sin fin, sin honor (Another war without war without end, without honor) And she was to understand When they shipped body home All she was one more shot Echoing down avenues Hoy amigo, tal igual ayer, La en el barrio no cambia Nuestros hijos son los que han de Por ley de la calle, viviendo abrazos Y (Today my friend, like yesterday, The in the barrio doesn't change Our children are the to grow up By the law of the street, Living between and blows) Down on a half darkened Fathers' and sons' lives And something there turns Down those lawless En el calor de la (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)