The Benefits - 45 Steps Lyrics

Up 45 steps to my front door
Sometimes I get tired
I'm on the top floor in the place where I live
There's nobody higher

Buildings harbor reputations
Until there's a buyer
Here up on my elevation
There's nobody higher

The heat all rises to the place that I sleep
Sometimes I perspire
The chimneys are sealed in the place where I live
We never start fires

Birds make nests above my head
They cry out in ire
This is all I can afford
Until I retire

Up 45 steps to my front door.
People don't come over 'cause the steps are a chore
In the place where I live, there's nobody higher
I wonder if we'd get out if there was a fire

Only 45 steps though it seems there are more
In the morning the landlord will knock on the door
Stark white walls that I can't paint
When you reach the top you are ready to faint

Buildings harbor reputations
Until there's a buyer
Here up on my elevation
There's nobody higher

The plumbing needs fixed, you can't take a shower
Water closet's been running for over an hour
If I told you I was happy, you'd know I was lying
The radiator sounds like somebody's dying

Birds make nests above my head
They cry out in ire
This is all I can afford
Until I retire

This used to be a crack house in a past incarnation.
Now the only crack is in the foundation.
I hear my neighbors move around my home.
At least I know that I'm not alone.