Songs
Quarters
Description
"Quarters" is a song originally composed, performed, and released by Regina Spektor. One of Regina's earliest songs, it was performed live potentially as early as 1998 (exact date unknown, sometime between 1998 and 2000 per Papa's Bootlegs). The song has never been professionally recorded or released. Prior to its live version release on Papa's Bootlegs on 2022-08-26, it was previously unknown. The United States Copyright Office has a piece of music by the name "Quarters" registered to Regina Spektor on 1998-08-20, described as "sound cassette + lyrics sheet", indicating a demo of the song does exist.
Official Releases
There are no known official releases associated with this song.
Music Videos
Demos
There are no known demos associated with this song.
Live Performances
This song has no known live performances.
Lyrics
On a subway, in a corner
Playing drums and a guitar
There’s this old man and this blonde girl
And I’ve been walking from so far
Hey, here a quarter, there a quarter
Sell your soul and buy a sin
From this lovely place you have up there
Do you see the hell they’re living inside?
And there’s this one man, he just sits there
He doesn’t talk, he doesn’t smile
And there’s this Dunkin’ Donuts cup beside him
And he just eats and sleeps and nods and eats
Oh, here a quarter, there a quarter
Sell your soul and buy a sun
From that lovely place you have up there
Is it nice to sleep?
Is it nice to have sweet dreams, my friend?
And there are these men, they walk around me
They look me down and up and down and say
Hey there, you’re a sexy bitch
And I’m wondering, why have I been walking from so far
Hey, here a quarter, there a quarter
Hey, sell your soul and buy a sin
From that lovely place you have up there
Do you see the hell they’re living inside?
Tell me, what do you see
When you’re looking down on me?
You know, there's all these paper cups
And oh, they jingle
And there's this lovely urine smell
And I would've never believed them
Even if they'd told me
That there could be so many quarters in hell
On a subway, in a corner
Playing drums and a guitar
There's this old man and this blonde girl
That had been walking from so far
Hey, here a quarter, there a quarter
Sell your soul and buy a sin
Sell and buy, sell and buy, sell and buy a sin
Sheet Music
Transcribers
There's no sheet music associated with this song.
Song Facts
Release Status:
Released
Originally By:
Original
Collaborators:
Solo
Alternate Titles:
N/A
Written:
1998-08-20
Demo:
N/A
First Official Release:
First Live Performance:
N/A
Last Live Performance:
N/A
Song Stats
First Known Date:
N/A
Last Known Date:
N/A
Time Between First Known Date and Last Known Date:
Time Between First and Last Performance:
never played live
# of Appearances on Official Releases:
1
# of Times Performed Live:
0
Themes & References
Trivia
Media Features
There are no known media features associated with this song.
Concert data provided by
