An old man sings the blues,
the Coney Island blues,
in the Brooklyn wasteland
by the sea.

In the season of despair,
an old man sings the blues
and strolls along a bleak
Boardwalk, drifting into an
ancient time.

The Cyclone,
The Wonder Wheel,
&
The Parachute Jump,
Fragmentary images
feed his shattered soul;

Dreamland,
Luna Park,
&
Steeplechase,
Fragmentary visions feed
his antediluvian brain.

And the old man by the sea
sings the Coney Island blues.

Traumatic shards of Yesterday,
Flashbacks sailing through his
private wilderness,
&

the old man sings the blues,
the Coney Island blues.

Coney Island’s on fire:
Dreamland (1904-1911)
&
Luna Park (1903-1946)
&
Steeplechase (1897-1907;
1908-1964) are burning!

And the old man by the sea
sings the Coney Island blues.

Hunched over, the old man
wanders through an ancient
time. And the fires continue,
burning endlessly at the end
of a majestic era,

for Coney Island is dying;
Coney Island is burning.
And the old man’s brain is
on fire,

as he wanders through lost time,
but strolls along a barren
Boardwalk.

And the old man by the sea
sings the blues,
the Coney Island blues.