Lou Marsh Lyrics - Phil Ochs

On the streets of New York city 

When the hour was getting late 

There were young men armed with knives and guns 

Young men armed with hate 

And Lou Marsh stepped between them 

And died there in his tracks 

For one man is no army 

When the city turns its back 

And now the streets are empty 

Now the streets are dark 

So keep an eye on shadows 

And never pass the park 

For the city is a jungle 

When the law is out of sight 

And death lurks in El Barrio 

With the orphans of the night 

He left behind a chamber 

Of a church he served so long 

For he learned the prayers of distant men 

Will never right the wrongs 

His church became an alley 

And his pulpit was the street 

And he made his congregation 

From the boys he used to meet 

And now the streets are empty 

Now the streets are dark 

So keep an eye on shadows 

And never pass the park 

For the city is a jungle 

When the law is out of sight 

And death lurks in El Barrio 

With the orphans of the night 

There were two gangs approaching 

In Spanish Harlem town 

The smell of blood was in the air 

The challenge was laid down 

He felt their blinding hatred 

And he tried to save their lives 

And the answer that they gave him 

Was their fists and feet and knives 

And now the streets are empty 

Now the streets are dark 

So keep an eye on shadows 

And never pass the park 

For the city is a jungle 

When the law is out of sight 

And death lurks in El Barrio 

With the orphans of the night 

Will Lou Marsh lie forgotten 

In his cold and silent grave? 

Will his memory still linger on 

In those he tried to save? 

All of us who knew him 

Will now and then recall 

And shed a tear on poverty 

Tombstone of us all 

For now the streets are empty 

Now the streets are dark 

So keep an eye on shadows 

And never pass the park 

For the city is a jungle 

When the law is out of sight 

And death lurks in El Barrio 

With the orphans of the night