Downtown L.A. is a depressing place You can see young men with deep lines in their face They could all be something if somebody cared But nobody knows they're even down there.
Old woman walking with a sack on her back Picking up the garbage people put out back Men down there trying to walk the line Trading their soul for a bottle of wine.
In the inner city it ain't no good It's a long, long way from Hollywood Bad kind of people got a hold of the street They got something that the poor people need.
At two in the morning they bust your head Fat chance walking you'll end up dead It's the law of the jungle with a gun and a knife If you stay long enough you lose your life.
Man down there he couldn't be lying He was sleeping in the street and he couldn't keep from crying Said he'd been there for twenty one years Through the bars and the brawls and the blues and the tears.
Prop up the front the back falls down All around the canyons of L.A. town When he asked me for a dollar I looked him in his face Downtown L.A. is a depressing place.