Shelter Songs mission is to help those in the shelter system share their story thru song. 
Shelter Songs currently works with the residents of the
Park Slope Women’s Shelter & Broadway House. 


 

How You Get To New York 

Sometimes a mothers got a long walk finding her way home 
And sometimes a daughters gonna do what she’s been shown 
Trouble lord trouble that ain’t hard to find 
Especially when you’re the troubled kind 
That road has no fork sometimes that’s how you get to New York 

And just because you’re loud that don’t mean you’ve got a voice 
And free to fuck up endlessly still don’t mean it's all  a choice 
Cause over here on the poor side of town 
High’s the only up & it’s meant to keep you down 
That road has no fork and sometimes that’s how you get to New York 

How you get on the streets
On your back  
On your knees 
And all the while thinking you’ve landed on your feet 

Sometimes rock bottoms on the 8th floor of the Empire Hotel 
Wishing this stranger would've killed you 
Cause you ain’t had no luck yourself 
29 years shouldn’t seem like forever 
But no one ever told you deserved any better
That road had no fork and sometimes that’s how you get to New York

Luna Star Smile

Luna Star Smile is coming to town 
She’s walked a long hard mile to spread kindness around 
Luna Star Smile melts away danger 
And when you’re not afraid nobody’s  a stranger

And her will has power power power 
In the deepest darkest hour 
It’s stronger than the dope stronger than the smoke 
It’ll blow it all away 

Luna Star Smile she’s got a sidekick 
They call her Tough Little Cookie that’s her lil sis 
And their moms always tired she needs to rest 
So Luna Star Smile & Tough Little Cookie do their best 

CHO

The moon has power It can push & pull the tides 
And stars are for wishes and they can be your guide 
And her smile oh her smile her stepdad used to say 
Could sell a million t shirts in just one day 

CHO

Luna Star Smile is dreaming of home 
And playing Hot Cross Buns real loud
On her xylophone dreaming of home

Written by M & T
PSWS

Trying to get Back on the Bus 

85 kills under my belt  
but when that ice water in my veins  
it began to melt  
i was washed away in that flood  
of guilt and shame booze & drugs  
it was them against us 
now it’s just me   
trying to get back on the bus  

1st one lingered on my mind 
then less and less and less and less 
each and every time  
till it was just lining up them dots  
just line’em and take my shot 
it was them against us 
now it’s just me   
trying to get back on the bus  

it may seem like no big deal  
to walk thru those doors  
sit above those wheels  
feel‘em spinning round & round  
while your hands shake  
and your heart pounds  
what it feels like in my shoes  
I would never wish on you  
or anyone  
the things i’ve seen the things i’ve done  

truth is we gotta go way back  
before the war before iraq  
crosstown bus with my girl  
79 i was top of the world  
a gun in her back  
a knife to my throat  
something snapped  
something broke  
it was them against us 
now it’s just me  
trying to get back on the bus  

now i’m living one breath at a time  
i know my stop i know my line  
i got landmarks along the way  
and i’m making new ones every day  
cause it ain’t them and it ain’t us  
it’s just me  
Trying to get back on the bus  

Written by G & T  
Park Slope Women's Shelter 

Rock n Roll 

Last call with Karl at
Neimans  Allllllll aboard  
All you Uptown girls with your Chanel bags 
With all that money can afford 

Step into the spiral all you butterflies  
New York will eat you and eat at you alive  
Then the truth will come out  about this modern world
Are you a made out of gold or are you a counterfeit girl  

Where are our idols  Brittany & Justin  
Matching denim we thought we could trust them  
And then they broke they broke our hearts 
And a darkness fell over these here parts  

America is dangling from a cliff  
Melania Ivanka  
How did it come to this  

Runaway brides  Bachelorettes  
Nothing to remember nothing to forget  
We lived together once the rich and the poor  
Till they bottled all the oxygen  
And wired all the doors 

There’ll be no trading places Dan will be Dan  
And ol legless Eddie will never be the man  

Step into the spiral all you butterflies   
New York will eat you and eat at you alive   
Then the truth will come out  about this modern world 
Are you a made out of gold or are you a counterfeit girl  

Written by R & T
Park Slope Women's Shelter