Stark, spare, and barely there,
The ghetto moves beyond the knowledge or even consideration of the upper-middle riddles that just don't care.

Stark, spare,
And tell me, who cares'
They're stark, spare,
And tell me, who cares'

Slumming ain't the answer to the cancer, poverty, that so many of the poor slipped into degree,
Jesus walked among them, pausing to refresh, finally giving to the point of blood to share their emptiness,
Mark and Teresa, Godspeed to you,
Suffering in love when you don't have too,
And, God, have mercy on the rest of us too, 'cause when we shut out the poor, Lord, we're shutting out you.

Stark, spare,
And tell me, who cares'
They're stark, spare,
And tell me, who cares'

And Jesus walked among them, pausing to refresh, finally giving to the point of blood to share their emptiness,
And we must walk among them, for we can do no less than what the saviour taught us by his life and by his death,
For the truth is on our tables, the crumbs on our floors,
We must give while we are able,
Both Lazarus and our judge are at the door.

Stark, spare,
And tell me, who cares'
I'm talking 'bout stark, spare,
And tell me, who cares'
They're stark, spare,
Who cares'
Stark, spare,
And tell me, who cares'