Carlos and Carmen Vidal just had a child

A lovely girl with a crooked smile

Now they gotta split 'cause the Bronx ain't fit

For a kid to grow up in

Let's find a place they say, somewhere far away

With no blacks, no Jews and no gays

There but for the grace of God go I

Papi and the family left the dirty streets

To find a quiet place overseas

And year after year the kid has to hear

The do's, the don'ts and the dears

And when she's ten years old she digs that Rock 'n' Roll

But Papi bans it from the home

There but for the grace of God go I

(It could be me, it could be you)

Baby, she turns out to be a natural freak

Gaining weight and losing sleep

And when she's sweet sixteen, she packs her things and leaves

With a man she met on the street

Carmen starts to bawl, bangs her head to the wall

Too much love is worse than none at all

There but for the grace of God go I

Carlos and Carmen Vidal just had a child

A lovely girl with a crooked smile

Now they gotta split 'cause the Bronx ain't fit

For a kid to grow up in

Let's find a place they say, somewhere far away

With no blacks, no Jews and no gays

There but for the grace of God go I