Released	October 4, 1991
Recorded	January–July, 1991 321 Studios, New York
Genre	Progressive metal
Length	68:33
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Paul O’Neill

Streets: A Rock Opera (often simply shortened to Streets) is a concept album by Savatage, dealing with the rise and fall of the musician DT Jesus. It was originally released in October 1991 on Atlantic Records. The album took almost a year to record, with pre-production beginning in October 1990.^[2] This would be the last Savatage album founder Jon Oliva would perform lead vocals on until the 2001 release of Poets and Madmen although he would remain active with the band as a composer and keyboard player.

The story features a fallen rock star called DT Jesus (DT is short for either De-Tox or Down-Town), who has hit hard times. He is a drug dealer as the story begins. DT Jesus is just another lowlife on the streets of New York City. Streets explains the story behind DT Jesus and his rise to fame again and his second fall.

The concept of Streets is based on a book written by Paul O’Neill many years prior to his involvement with the band. Streets was never meant to be an autobiography.^[3] In fact, it was written in 1979 as a Broadway play and stored in a drawer at Paul O’Neill’s home until Criss Oliva found it and suggested it be Savatage’s next album. It is considered coincidental that the life of lead vocalist Jon Oliva mirrored that of the main character DT Jesus at the time. Songs like “Jesus Saves” and “Ghost in the Ruins” were “rocked up”, said O’Neill, while many others, including “Believe”, “Heal My Soul” (which is based on a traditional Welsh lullaby, “Suo Gân“), and “A Little Too Far”, all appear in the same version intended for their Broadway performances. Other tracks like “Streets” and “Strange Reality” were written expressly for the rock opera. “Heal My Soul” was re-recorded by Savatage’s off-shoot musical project, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, on a 2007 Wal-Mart CD sampler. “Believe” was re-recorded with Tim Hockenberry on vocals by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra on their 2009 album Night Castle.

Had the title track of their previous album not been completed in time, Savatage would have liked to call the record Gutter Ballet, as the original play written by O’Neill was called Gutter Ballet. But the inclusion of the song on their previous record meant this was not going to happen. Instead, the band wanted to call the album Ghost in the Ruins.^[2] O’Neill said that “Streets was OK too”, but Jon Oliva disliked the fact that A Rock Opera was tagged onto the title. Oliva has said he has only introduced any performance of the album simply as “Streets”.^[2] Eventually, an album entitled Ghost in the Ruins was released in 1995 as a tribute to Criss Oliva.

During their 2007 tour, Jon Oliva’s new project, Jon Oliva’s Pain performed some of the album, in album running order, as a special surprise to audiences. Oliva himself noted on stage that some of the songs performed had never been performed live to an audience before.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Criss Oliva, Jon Oliva and Paul O’Neill, based on a book written by Paul O’Neill.

Original CD release
No.	Title	Length
1.	“Streets”	6:48
2.	“Jesus Saves”	5:13
3.	“Tonight He Grins Again”	3:28
4.	“Strange Reality”	4:56
5.	“A Little Too Far”	3:25
6.	“You’re Alive”	1:51
7.	“Sammy and Tex”	3:07
8.	“St. Patrick’s”	4:17
9.	“Can You Hear Me Now”	5:11
10.	“New York City Don’t Mean Nothing”	4:01
11.	“Ghost in the Ruins”	5:32
12.	“If I Go Away”	5:17
13.	“Agony and Ecstasy”	3:33
14.	“Heal My Soul”	2:35
15.	“Somewhere in Time”	3:17
16.	“Believe”	5:42

Lyrics

1. Streets

As darkness falls so hard
The children play

Somewhere
Out there
Alone and out of place
Streets of illusion
Sooth the shattered fate

I’ve been a runner
I’ve been a sinner
I’ve been inside my head
I sit here staring
Never quite caring
And this is where it has led

[Chorus]

These streets
Glitter in the dark
Don’t sleep
Red eyes sunken and stark
Dream deep
In her arms where you are safe
These streets
Never sleep still never wake

Somewhere out there
Gardens bloom and grow
Children awaken
To a world they know

Somewhere the sun shines
Somewhere the light’s kind
Somewhere they seek the day

Somewhere there’s no scene
Somewhere the air’s clean
But somewhere is so far away

These streets
Glitter in the dark
Don’t sleep
Red eyes sunken and stark
Dream deep
In her arms where you are safe
These streets
Never sleep still never wake

Welcome children
From the other side
In the darkness
Your eyes are opened wide

Here there are answers
On the edge dancers
Here the night hides out sins
And if you listen
While the streets glisten
Here’s where our story begins

These streets
Glitter in the dark
Don’t sleep
Red eyes sunken and stark
Dream deep
In her arms where you are safe
These streets
Never sleep still never wake

2. Jesus Saves

[Intro spoken by the bum:]
Hey, man, got a quarter?
You ain’t got nothin’ that’s OK man, that’s OK.
God bless you anyway. Here, I hope I didn’t scare you or nothing like that. I, I ain’t no bum or nothing like that. Yeah, I I use to live uptown once once before too you know. No, no, I did I did really. Use to come down here and look at all the characters. Never thought I’d be one of them though. Characters, man a lot of characters.
He he, you got a minute, you got a minute, let me tell you a story about this friend of mine. D.T. Jesus use to stand for Down Town Jesus. He use to sell drugs and stuff down there, and they called him- that’s why we use to call him DeTox. He was one character, one character that made it outta here.
Let me tell you about him.

Jesus was a talker
Just an out-of-place New Yorker
He hung out on the boulevard
He was sellin’ nickel candies
He was saving all his quarters
Bought himself a cheap guitar
Started playing’ bars
Kids came in their cars
Hear them shouting at the stage

[Chorus:]
Jesus saves
Jesus saves
Yes he does
Jesus saves

You know
Jesus he started changin’
Things got really strange
He saw his tee shirts everywhere
He started missing shows
The band came down to blows
But Jesus he just didn’t care

Things got out of hand
And so he quit the band
Still the critics they would rave

[Chorus:]

So the dice were cast
Today became the past
Jesus just disappeared
He was headed for New York
Or so his little label thought
And there he gave away the years

Last seen drinking wine
Beneath a flashing sign
Promising salvation to strays

[Chorus]

Her Him cut through the night
On those late night radio waves

Jesus saves
Yes he does
Jesus saves

3. Tonight He Grins Again

Nighttime again
Seems I’m my only friend
Wander the streets all alone
The lost in search of his own

Once again I’ve played the clown
Used my friends to let him down
Walk the streets just staring out
‘Cause in the dark the strange come out

Time and time and time again
I’m just looking for a friend
But no one seems to be around
Except this monkey that I’ve found
Still he is my only friend
And tonight he grins again

Something cold as pain
Burning inside my veins
I walk away
A shadow of Dorian Gray

Once again I’ve played the clown

Used my friends to let them down
Walk the streets just staring out
‘Cause in the dark the strange come out

Time and time and time again
I’m just looking for a friend
But no one seems to be around
Except this monkey that I’ve found
Still he is my only friend
And tonight he grins again

4. Strange Reality

Who’s this before me
Dressed in rags soaked in gin
A sign or a warning
Am I now where he’s been

Am I losing my way
This strange insanity
An illusion away
Is this reality

Could that be me

Wake every morning
I don’t know where I’ve been
All my excuses
Showing strain wearing thin

Am I losing my way
This strange insanity
An illusion away
Is this reality

Could that be me

Another day
Another night
Another drink another fight
Somehow it’s all the same
And so I’m staring in my gin
Never knowing if I’ll win
And still I play the game

Look to the future
With the eyes of the blind
Can’t see much further
Than this haze
In my mind

Am I losing my way
This strange insanity
An illusion away
Is this reality

Could that be me

5. A Little Too Far

Do you remember
Look at me
And all the things we’d said we’d be
We’d beat the house
We’d push the odds
We’d take it all we had the cards

With years to burn
And years to trash
Living lies based on flash
But somehow reaching for the stars
I think we went a bit too far

Got to get back
Got to get back
I never meant to take it this far

When everything you touch turns gold
Can weigh you down
Can make you old
When metal doesn’t ring the same
Reaction from inside your brain
And all those years we offered up
To gods who couldn’t get enough
And though we still stay up all night
The mornings aren’t quite as bright

Got to get back
Got to get back
I never meant to take it this far

And all those things we thought we’d learned
As we watched our bridges burn
While standing in the afterglow
I guess we gave them quite a show

When John Wayne caught the last train out
And Spock and Kirk have had enough
And no one’s left to beam me up
Got to get back
Got to get back
I never meant to take it this far

6. You’re Alive

So D.T. returned
To the ground he had burned in his past
And the press they all laughed
And they said it never lasts

But the crowds they came in
Just to see a man back from the dead
As he stood on the stage
The world echoed in his head

When you’re skating on ice too thin to take it
You got to move fast or else you break it
So throw back your hair and feel the wind rush by

So people take care when you’re chasing a dream in the night
That the walls of the past don’t interrupt your flight
Never stop never turn
Never look never learn
So they say
But somewhere in time we all pay
For yesterday

When you’re skating on ice too thin to take it
You got to move fast or else you break it
So throw back your hair and feel the wind rush by
And you’re alive

7. Sammy and Tex

Hey D.T. what you been up to
It’s been a real long time
And your bill’s past due
Stop right there
Don’t you look away
‘Cause you’ve had your fun
Now it’s time to pay

Now you know that I’ve been waiting
And I’m really very patient
But you’ve really pushed me way too far
‘Cause you owe me thirty thousand
And with interest it’s been growing
While you’ve hidden in these bars

Now I would have said just duck it
But then money by the bucket
I hear you’re raking in
So please forgive my diction
And prepare for crucifixion
While I write your next of kin

So please don’t turn away
You borrowed now you pay
Seems your mind’s
Gone a bit off track
Time to readjust
‘Cause Sammy’s back

So Sammy started dealing
and D.T. started reeling
And they tumbled to the floor
The furniture was flying
And D.T. thought of dying
When Tex walked through the door

Now Tex he wasn’t waiting
And without hesitating
Grabbed Sammy by the throat
And Sammy started shakin’
A frightened slab of bacon
Hanging like a coat

Seemed things were going right
Till Sammy pulled a knife sayin’

“If you want to cut the cards
Sammy’s gonna up the odds”

Then everything was quiet
A street after the riot
And the silence hung like death
And Tex he wasn’t breathing
His body lay there bleeding
A knife inside his chest

When D.T. saw his friend there
He quickly lost his terror
As something tore inside
His face was clenched in hatred
As his mind formulated
How this pimp would die

Sammy saw it in his eyes
And thought retreat would be wise

Saying “Seems I’ve stayed
A bit too long
So I’ll take my things
And Sammy’s gone”

8. St. Patrick’s

Hey there Lord it’s me
I wondered if you’re free
Or not asleep
This just won’t keep
It seems I just don’t see

Why all the things we asked
Or prayed would come to pass
Have gone unheard
Like silent words
That slip into the past

For Lord they’re not schemes
Can’t you tell dreams
Why do you
Let them slip by
Never even tried

It isn’t you don’t hear
There’s far too many tears
Or can’t you feel
Are we unreal
To one who knows no peers

You say we must pay dues
But still I am confused
I need to walk
And with you talk
Instead of to statues

For Lord they’re not schemes
Can’t you tell dreams
Why do you
Let them slip by
Never even tried

You take all the fame
But who’ll accept the blame
For all the hurts
Down here on earth
Unnecessary pain

For surely you must care
Or are you only air
Built in out minds
When we’re in binds
And never really there

[Bridge]

And can we be tired of you
Is that something that we’re allowed to do
For even the blind change their view
And it’s time we tried something new

And so I pled my case
I’ll now pull my escape
Didn’t mean to doubt
What it’s about
Seems I forgot my place

But if you find the time
Please change the story line
Or give a call
Explain it all
I’ll even leave the dime

9. Can You Hear Me Now?

If I closed my eyes
Would it all subside
To an echo in the night
Of a distant fading light
Then a stranger’s silhouette
A burning cigarette
And somewhere in the haze
A passage through the maze

And can you hear me now
Or are there just too many doors
Between then and now
For me to ever reach on through
And pull you back somehow
But that can’t happen anymore
Still still in the night
I think I hear you calling

I have walked this stage
As the music played
They knew every word
But they never heard
For they never changed
It’s all very strange
As I’m standing here
Contemplating years

And can you hear me now
Or are there just too many doors
Between then and now
For me to ever reach on through
And pull you back somehow
But that don’t happen anymore
Still in the dark
I’d swear I hear you calling

10. New York City Don’t Mean Nothing

I’ve been here since eighty-one
That’s a long time
And I’ve seen
All there is here to see

Had a space on Astor place
Had it all once
Now there streets
Are my reality

You see
New York City
Don’t mean nothing
Just a good place when you’re running
Light that cut so bright they make you bleed

Neon children live their lives there
Mad magicians tinsel nightmares
Still you know I’m never gonna leave

Never sleep alone on the subways
Never walk alone on the tracks
Never take a ride to the edge of your mind
Not unless you have a ticket back
Don’t believe in T.V. preachers
Don’t believe in talk show stars
Never follow trends if they turn on your friends
Just to be sure you know who your friends are

And if you’re running blind
On a refueled mind
Better watch the time
And careful you don’t go too far

Never burn the bridges before you
If you’ve burned the bridges behind
And never burn the one that you’re walking upon
Or you’re sure to hit the water in time

Don’t believe in expectations
Don’t believe in shooting stars
And if you make a stand on a dead empty hand
Never let them see your cards

And if you’re running blind
On a refueled mind
Better watch the time
And careful you don’t go too far

11. Ghost In The Ruins

Got a limousine
I wanna show it
Future’s looking good
I’ll probably blow it
Had some parents once
But you’d never know it
Bank roll oversize
So what if they stole it

But who am I foolin’
I’m the king of the ruins

But I’m doin’ well tonight
I got dreams to sell tonight

Got to belong
Try to hang on
Got to belong

Ghost in the ruins
I’m runnin’ the street scene
Ghost in the ruins
Burnin’ like gasoline
Ghost in the ruins
I’m takin’ you in deep
East Side West Side playin’ for keeps

See the runaway there on the corner
Just a throw away but somebody’s daughter
Had a pretty face so somebody bought her
Sellin’ her soul away so put in your order

She knows what she’s doin’
She’s a ghost in the ruins
She’s doin’ it well tonight
Got dreams to sell tonight
She wants to belong
Knows what to do
She’s got to hang on
Ghost in the ruins
I’m running the street scene
Ghost in the ruins
Burning like gasoline
Ghost in the ruins
I’m takin’ you in deep
East Side West Side
Playin’ for keeps

I know
I know you know
I know
I know you know
I know
I know you know
I don’t know anymore
I’m tellin’ you
I don’t know anymore
I’m tellin’ you
I don’t know anymore

12. If I Go Away

Somewhere on that long lonely road
We all stand lone
Looking for clues
From our different views

In the dark I’ve called out your name
It echoes in vain
Over again
In an empty room

[Chorus:]
If I go away
What would still remain of me?
The ghost within your eyes
The whisper in your sighs
You see
Believe
And I’m always there

Staring down a long empty hall
Pictures on walls
All with your name
But it’s not the same

Searching for the chord I can’t hear
Been searching for years
It’s somewhere inside
But it’s well disguised

[Chorus]

Someday I’ll take a chance
You find them where you can
They tend to slip away
Those doors to yesterday

Forever is a long time they say
Maybe some day
I’ll meet you there
If you’ve time to spare
Tell me then
Where I can go
Where they won’t know
Who I have been
Can we start again

[Chorus]

13. Agony and Ecstasy

Listen to me
From deep down inside
I’m the madness that just
Will not die
With no regrets
Of what I’ll do to you

Before the night is over
You’ll be crawling to me

You call me when you’re weak
For me you’ll lie and cheat
You’ll never get away
With me you’re here to stay
Listen D.T. can’t you see
Stay with me and you’ll be free
Even as I soothe your soul
I tear you down and make you old
You just keep on coming back
To buy another nickel sack
Twelve o’clock time to greet
Agony and ecstasy
Ecstasy
I’m the cry from within
From when your day begins
You’ll follow me like sheep
This shepherd never sleeps

So tell me what’s your price
Came skate on my ice
My blades they never rust
I’m asking you to trust

Listen now the time is right
And what a way to start the night
Spend your money endlessly
Another grand insanity
So D.T. here is the plan
I’ll make your brain a rubber band
Time to stretch it out and see
Agony and Ecstasy
Ecstasy
Feel my whisper through your haze of pain
Feel the calling of a neon vein
I’m the name upon your soul’s marquee
I am agony and ecstasy

And just remember
If you ever need me I’m here

14. Heal My Soul

I’ve been waiting
Long forgotten
Shipwrecked on
A distant shore
Am I drifting
No more wanted
Floating outward
Evermore

All the dreams
That I’ve harbored
In the labyrinths
Of my soul

Gone forever
Not discarded
Only sleeping
Till they’re whole

In the graveyard
Of my heart now
Sleep the years
That I’ve long sold

For their markers
Is there nothing
Only ghost
I can not hold

Father hear me
I am tired
Shall I waken
In thy home

Hold me closer
I am trying
Sweet Lord Jesus
Heal my soul

15. Somewhere In Time

So what can I tell you
If life’s the length of this play
Perhaps God gave the answers
To those with nothing to say

But then the years are forgiving
If God’s forgiving in kind
Perhaps we’ll all find our answers somewhere in time

I’ve been changing
Redefining
All the things I thought I knew
So long ago
When I was flying
Through those years that seem so far away

In the back of a reason
In the back of my mind
Where I’ve piled up the seasons
That I’ve traded for times

I’ve been grasping at rainbows
Hanging on till the end
But the rain is so real lord
And the rainbows pretend
And the rainbows pretend

I’ve been changing
Redefining
All the things I thought I knew
So long ago
When I was flying
Through the years
That seem so far away

16. Believe

So after all those one night stands
You’ve ended up with heart in hand
A child alone
On your own
Retreating
Regretful for the things you’re not
And all the dreams you haven’t got
Without a home
A heart of stone
Lies bleeding

And for all the roads you followed
And for all you did not find
And for all the things you had to leave behind

I am the way
I am the light
I am the dark inside the night
I hear your hopes
I feel your dreams
And in the dark I hear your screams
Don’t turn away
Just take my hand
And when you make your final stand
I’ll be right there
I’ll never leave
And all I ask of you
Believe
Your childhood eyes were so intense
While bartering your innocence
For bits of string
The grown-up wings
You needed

But when you had to add them up
You found that there were not enough
To get you in
Pay for sins repeated

And for all the years you borrowed
And for all the tears you cried
And for all the fears you had to keep inside

I am the way
I am the light
I am the dark inside the night
I hear your hopes
I feel your dreams
And in the dark
I hear your screams

Don’t turn away
Just take my hand
And when you make your final stand
I’ll be right there
I’ll never leave
All I ask of you is
Believe

I never wanted to know
Never wanted to see
I wasted my time
Till time wasted me
I never wanted to go
I always wanted to stay
‘Cause the persons I am
Are the parts that I play
So I plot and I plan
And I hope and I scheme
To the lure of a night
Filled with unfinished dreams
And I’m holding on tight
To a world gone astray
As they charge me for years
I can’t pay

I am the way
I am the light
I am the dark
Inside the night
I hear your hopes
I feel your dreams
And in the dark
I hear your screams
Don’t turn away
Just take my hand
And when you make your final stand
I’ll be right there
I’ll never leave
All I ask of you

Believe

17. Desiree

[bonus track]

Desiree
Listen to your heart
Have the dreams all been scattered
Are all the words just parts
‘Cause in these ruins alone
I’ve been watching you
A ghost among these stones
Desiree I’ve got to tell you

What good’s a tear without a face
To soften its downward fall from grace
And across my heart
Desiree I wish you’d see
Scars are the wounds that we all show
Time only heals if you let go
If you’re letting go
Desiree I wish you’d think of…

If you only take chances
When every angle’s safe
Have partnerless dances
In castles where you wait

But I see far away
A distance in your eyes
As you go on alone
Piling up your alibis

What good’s a tear without a face
To soften its downward fall from grace
And across my heart
Desiree I wish you’d see
Scars are the wounds that we must show
Time only heals if you let go
If you’re letting go
Desiree I wish you’d think of…

Lost in a movie script
With no words left to say
You leave on that plane alone
And there inside a midnight fog
I turn and walk away

What good’s a tear that fall from grace
What good’s a life that leaves no trace
When its time is done
Desiree I wish you’d see

Who needs a heart that never bleeds
Never retreats and never needs
If it’s all alone
Desiree I wish you’d think of me