We ain’t got much money, but the meter’s always running
I know you’re frightened, so am I
It seems like all our best-lad plans are slowly
slipping thru our hands
And I’m too tired to be mad

We used to dream how it would be,
we’d raise our children by the sea
You’d build cities, I’d make tea
I’ve got a subway token, but the train I want ain’t running
It hasn’t come by here in years

Come to Cincinnati
Our trains run on time
Come to Cincinnati
Things will turn out fine


I’ve never seen the Northern Lights,
but I keep looking to the sky
I’d love to see all 7 seas
Argentina calls my name, dancing tango in the rain
Smell that ocean breeze

I know these dreams are like a broken glass,
I fill it but it don’t last
At least I still can dream
One day I’ll learn to swim, someday I’ll learn to swim
But I just don’t know when

Come to Cincinnati
We’ve got swimming pools
Come to Cincinnati
Everybody’s cool


Remember when you got stung by bees, (2)
then you tripped and broke your knee
And we had weevils in our yard.
And that rock inside my shoe turned my foot all black & blue
Fuck! Why is everything so hard.

But, I’m not bitter, not one bit
Well, maybe just a little
But I’m not gonna let it bring me down
One day I’ll learn to swim, I know I’ll learn to swim
Cause I can’t afford to drown.

Maybe we should think about Cincinnati
I’ve got a cousin who lives out there
I hear good things ‘bout Cincinnati
We’ll find happiness there

In Cincinnati…Cincinnati…Cincinnati
Happi-ness is there
In Cincinnati…Cincinnati…Cincinnati
You can breath the air

They bought a piece of heaven near Over the Rhine
Then he started hanging out with the criminal kind
His wife said she hadn’t heard from him in days
The police found him face down in the gutter
Lipstick on one collar, bloodstains on the other
All their dreams washed down the Ohio.

In Cincinnati…Cincinnati…Cincinnati
Happi-ness is there
In Cincinnati…Cincinnati…Cincinnati
You can breath the air

In Cincinnati, Ohio.
Down by the river.
Where the Bengals play.