Sleep there's nothing to do today Watch the vegetables rot The monkfish flop Down in Chinatown Find your hand between your legs The fortune teller frowns Packs her cards away She tells you she won't say Down in Chinatown Let the bath tub overflow It's time to go Your bourbon on the rocks You're running out the clock In Chinatown Gather yourself together And meet me where the West Side highway roars
Don't listen to the story they tell you The Emperor snores Down in Chinatown Hearts may break by morning A soldier's a dime a dozen Kiss your little yellow cousins In Chinatown Swallow your holy water And wake beneath a shady lichee tree So much water under so many bridges The Communists won't call you And the children won't harm you Playing in the hall In Chinatown