Lonely feelings in the city   One room flat with crumbling walls   Sirens play a distant melody   Neon shadows paint the halls      In the thirteen months I've spent here   With my manuscript and rhymes   I've paid in cash for foolish pleasures   Mother dear you'd call them crimes      Raise the roof   Light the lite   Mother dear I'm returning tonight   Now I see   Your concern   Mother dear how you taught me to learn      I been a Roman for survival   Showing two sides of my face   I need the comfort of your wisdom   I'm coming home to your embrace      If by chance I pass before you   Don't discount my gratitude   You're responsible for me here   And of course my attitude      Raise the roof   Light the lite   Mother dear I'm returning tonight   Now I see   Your concern   Mother dear how you taught me to learn      Stayin' up half the night   Wonderin' if what I'm doin' is right   Raise the roof   Light the lite   Mother dear I'm returning tonight