BernardShuford.com

Just a beggar on a street in New York City
Where he sits and stares and dreams of yesterday
There’s a picture in his pocket of his fam’ly
And he sometimes pulls it out and drifts away

To a place where all is well and there’s no pain
To a time when he loves everyone again

In nineteen sixty four , he bought a Bible
And carried it to church three times a week.
His wife and son went too and they met Jesus
And the preacher said “We love you coming here.”

But that church in Tennessee, it had some problems
Black men really didn’t quite fit in
So some people made some calls and accusations,
And they calmly told him “Don’t come back again!”

To a place where all is well and there’s no pain
To a time when he loves everyone again

Just a beggar on a street in New York City
Where he sits and stares and dreams of yesterday
There’s a picture in his pocket of his fam’ly
And he sometimes pulls it out and drifts away

When a man comes to your door, how you treat him
Tells him everything he knows ‘bout who you are
From the beggar on the street in New York City
To the rich girl riding in the limousine