MENTAL HYGIENE

I’ve seen them standing in the hall
Like a hawk on a thermal steady watching me
Through the two way mirror
Locked up til I get out

Kind of lonely
Everybody knows me, don’t nobody know me
But the blues and the grays meet deep in the winter
At the top of Harlem by the Hudson River
The cold wind blows you down on your way in
Don’t eat, don’t drink, don’t sleep, you just stay in

They call it “Mental Hygiene”,

I’m just here for a cleaning
Trying to make a little green and get up and stay out
They call it “Mental Hygiene”,

I’m just here for a cleaning
Trying to stay up even and get up and stay out

Down 1-6-8 off of the A or the C

Across Broadway down at the end of the street
Through the revolving door where you don’t sign in
It’s just the same thing again and again and again
They give you time to think, cold food and hot drinks,
They give you tiny towels for your baths in the sink
And measure your reactions to the strangest things
From the worst bartenders that the city’s seen 

They call it “Mental Hygiene”,

I’m just here for a cleaning
Trying to make a little green and get up and stay out
They call it “Mental Hygiene”,

I’m just here for a cleaning
Trying to stay up even and get up and stay out

They say that twenty-five that’s a mighty fine age
They say to take it slow, cause it fades away so fast.
But when you’re old that’s just something you’ll say
Cause when you were twenty-five you didn’t feel that way

Well the lessons aren’t lost at the top of Gotham
Where they give you drugs and time to solve your problems
And institute ain’t just a fancy word
For some men in suits driving fancy cars

They call it “Mental Hygiene”, I’m just here for a cleaning