Those Saints

Seventeen of March, the year was '96
Outside the Academy, a hundred bucks a ticket
Up on the stage, playing up a storm
The Maria's Wind
"Keep Your Cool"
"Get Out To Joe"
Three people out on the balcony below
One little bullet changed so many lives
Play in a band, you can run but you can't hide
Get back in the band and count the cost
Big Murph, comatose in New Orleans
Frank's having a proverbial collapse
But he never checked a graph, Joe
One night we're rocking in Columbus, Ohio
Johnny Byrne partying back in the East Village, Joe
Four in the morning, four a.m. I said, "You stay"
Johnny just fell off a fire escape
This bit of straw breaks the camel's back, Joe
Geoff and Freddy went up brass attack
The pipes scream out defiance
They sure stop and laugh at the last dance
So come on, baby, get up off your ass
This ain't no dress rehearsal rag
No matter what you say or do
Life's just gonna make a fool out of you
Makes no difference if you're green, white, orange or blue
All the saints just gonna keep on marching through
I'll keep on marching through, baby
The New York Journal is singing about Bobby Sands
But they think we're just a crowd of jolly yanks
Who don't understand our political culture
Don't know the past, forget about the future
Go on home to New York City
Drummer, wake up, I've been smoking in your eyes
This ain't no Broadway musical, your building's on fire
Get back in the band and lick your wounds
Gotta make a new record, write some tunes
A man from the Mets says, "Are you available
To play for us in Shea Stadium?"
Thirty-three years to the day since The Beatles were here
Jagger, Andy P. and John Lennon
Kick-start the band into the next millennium
Shea is rocking, no time for regrets
The rhythm section starts kicking in
Chris comes out rapping, "Time to go"
The band has good sports, get on with the show
So come on, baby, get up off your ass
This ain't no dress rehearsal rag
No matter what you say or do
Life's just gonna make a fool out of you
Makes no difference if you're green, white, orange or blue
All the saints just gonna keep on marching through
I'll keep on marching through, baby
Come on, Johnny Byrne, get up and dance, baby
You got no life in your big strut
Get your glasses back up on your head
Everybody
Oh, when the saints go marching through
Oh, when the saints go marching through
Oh, Lord, I wanna be in that number
When the saints go marching through