In New York city just walking the street   Ran out of money had nothing to eat   I stopped at the Plaza, that fancy hotel   Where you can check in if you're well to do well…   The first of July and a hundred and four   I stopped at the Plaza's front revolving door   I stepped in the door and went around for a ride   Treatin' myself to the cool air inside   Then I found myself in a chandeliered room   Where people were dining and I hid in the gloom   My hunger pains hurt 'til I thought I would break   When a waiter brought out a big strawberry cake      Oh that strawberry cake   Oh that strawberry cake   Out in California them berries were grown   And into this city them berries were flown   For making that strawberry cake      Then I thought of Oxnard, just north of LA   Where I picked strawberries for many a day   Hard work with no future for the harvest was done   And I headed eastward a-travelin' by thumb   And nobody wanted me here in this town   I felt like a stray dog they all kick around   Them berries reminded me of my bad breaks   I'm hungry and I want that strawberry cake      I deserve that strawberry cake   Deserve that strawberry cake   I ran and I grabbed it then out the side door   Into Central Park through the bushes I tore   Holdin' my strawberry cake      I look back behind me and what do I see   The chef and headwaiter and the maître d   I had a nice helpin' of cake as I ran   I gobble them berries as fast as I can   They're closin' the gap as I slowed down to eat   But the cake brought a new surge of power to my feet   I hid in the bush when the lead I did take   And I quietly finished my strawberry cake      I ate all that strawberry cake   That fine fancy strawberry cake   Someone at the plaza is without dessert   But for the first time in days now my belly don't hurt   I'm full of strawberry cake