Pass the guys on Essex streets
Flipping quarters from elbow to hand
Past the pickle stops and kosher stops and plain clothes cops along Grand
Past some former champ boozing,
And ome worn out tramp using his sidewalk for a seat
And meet me at the big movie house on Delancey Street

I been saving my money, babe
Avoiding the basement pool halls
Staying away from the bars with pictures of flowers on the walls
Ain’t been riding the bus or the subway cars
Been sticking to my own two feet
So I can meet you at the big movie house on Delancey Street

We froze all last winter
Our little room was cold as hell
My flu dragged on through the middle of spring
And Martha never got well
It’s been getting so lonely without her now
And I’m dreading the December sleet
The takeout Chinese ain’t the same somehow
So meet me on Delancey Street

The butcher shook his head
He shrugged and turned away
I’m sorry sir, he said
No credit for you today
But that’s alright, that’s okay
That won’t affect this Saturday
I’ve been saving my money right
Sticking it out of sight
So I can meet you at the neon light tonight

So pass Ronnie eating jelly at a pastrami deli
Pass the tourists saying “what’s that”
Pass the young couple hissing and the old guy pissing
In a milk bowl left for a cat
Past the water dripping down off a slanted roof
So it can freeze and form a sheet
And meet me at the big movie house on Delancey Street

(lyrics: Dan Bern)