All hope abandon, ye who enter here
Said the sign I read that was hangin´ above her bed
And the sirens all were wailin´, but a man can ignore the signs
Gotta keep a good eye on the windin´ road ahead

And my first sin was a young American girl
My first sin was a young American girl

And I spent time ´neath the trestles
With the punks and the dime store saints
Kept faith and a switchblade stuffed beneath my coat
And I ran with dirty angels, slept out in the rain
We were scared and tired and barely 17

And my first sin was a fear that made me old
My first sin was a fear that made me old

Now I walk down by the shipyards
Near the place where I was born
Sayin´ "Oh, Maria, if you´da known me when..."

But she only smiles
By the light on the Navesink banks
Sayin´ "Listen baby, I know you now"

Then she steps into the river
And I just stand by the moon
Thinkin´ ´bout a ghost I hear at night

And she says "Your first sin was a lie you told yourself"
"Your first sin was a lie you told yourself"