Original version of the song, altough recorded on third album 'Big Rude Jake AKA Defiance (1999, Roadrunner records). Lovely 'Chicago 20's-machine guns-oldtimers-sound'. Not my property, just tryin' to share good music and enjoy in it. Lyrics: On a day like this in the Market quarter And alleys lined in patchwork posted bills And coats of paint like petals peel And colors glow from within themselves Serengeti pink and Prussian blue Rembrandt reds and amber honey golds And garden greens and deadly sharkskin grays As the mob thickens, the mystery unfolds. (Chorus And I take to shade, and I play the shadows And I watch my back and I play it cool. And I stand on guard and I stop to wonder And one day withers and a new one blooms. And on a day like this in the gridlock traffic In the grinding gears and the razor wires And a thousand faces and the island music The charge electric, in the air and sky And fresh killed flesh, and rhinestone studded ironies Are crucified on every porch and post. And vestal whores on second story balconies Cuttlefish and diesel go dancing up your nose (Chorus) And the city steams and rides a steelyard fulcrum It teeters and sways in the sundown light. I hold my breath and I hang in the balance Of a city that reels between despair and delight. And I am not your judge, I am not your Champion I won't straight the road for some new messiah. I am a boulevard dog in the concrete corridor I am compelled by a mystery, I am the Blue Pariah. (Chorus 2x)