Karl Martino and Dante Martino – Copyright 1993, 2002

A song written by me and my brother, one rainy night at a place referred to as ‘Needle Point Park’ (McPhereson Square in Kensington Philadelphia). The song reflects the life of one kid, who get’s twisted by the neighborhood, a neighborhood whose culture is predominantly one of struggle in the face of drugs, decay, and hopelessness.

The lyrics to Kensington were reprinted in the New Hampshire newspaper “The Citizen” on December 12th, 2001. The author of the article came to Philly to work for a soup kitchen in Kensington. Somehow – he found my site and our song. Link – The Citizen: Feeding the Needy

Litter lines the streets
The homeless begging for something to eat
Decay is here, like a cancer
Sometimes a pill seems like the only answer

Now Jimmy was born without a father
It made is life just that much harder
Now Jimmy’s doin time
He shot a dealer dead for a lousy dime

Your hopes
And your dreams
Don’t mean that much
In
Ken – sing – ton
Your heart
Fills with screams
But it don’t mean much
In
Ken – sing – ton

Jimmy never did that well in school
In fact he always played the class fool
Inside he couldn’t find the tears to cry
Slowly watched himself begin to die

Jimmy had a heart of gold
But in the end sold it away
He needed some kind of escape
From the pain he faced every day

Your hopes
And your dreams
Don’t mean that much
In
Ken – sing – ton
Your heart
Fills with screams
But it don’t mean much
In
Ken – sing – ton

As I sit here in my jail cell
I look back on the place I called hell
If by the chair I’m gonna die
Then turn on the current and make me fry

‘Cause you can see it from the York and Dauphin Station
For a miles and a miles the devastation
My tomb will a better place for me
Lord take me from here,
No more hurt pain or agony or fear….

Your hopes
And your dreams
Don’t mean that much
In
Ken – sing – ton
Your heart
Fills with screams
But it don’t mean much
In
Ken – sing – ton

Kensington took my youth away
Kensington broke my soul today
Kensington broke my soul
Kensington made me into this fool