Lyrics

As the snow cries
On a bitter, steel-gray Chicago dawn,
A fragile infant shivers — barely born —
In the shadows
(In the shadows)

And his mother's tears
Fall in silence on a cold, cracked floor,
Another soul she can’t afford,
In the shadows
(In the shadows)

People — can’t you feel it burn?
Another life without a turn,
A boy lost before he’s even named.
Are we deaf to the silent screams?
Do we drown out broken dreams,
Cover our hearts and
Look away?

But the wind still cuts,
And the child with frostbitten feet and scars
Finds warmth in trash and rusted cars,
In the shadows
(In the shadows)

And his hunger aches —
So he slips through alleys after dark,
Cold steel tucked beneath his heart,
In the shadows
(In the shadows)

He learns the rules the hard can teach,
Fights for scraps just out of reach,
Steals to live, forgets to pray —
No light to guide him
From the gray.

Then one night, lost in rage,
He shakes the cage
He pulls a trigger —
One last breath,
A twisted run
Towards certain death.

And his mother screams.

As the sirens wail and people stare,
Another boy lies bleeding there,
In the shadows
(In the shadows)

And as her young man dies,
(In the shadows)
On that same cold, godless morning light,
Another baby's born to fight
In the shadows...
(In the shadows)

And his mama cries.
(In the shadows)
(In the shadows…)
(Still she cries…)