"All hope abandon, ye who enter here"
Said the sign I read that was hanging above her bed
And the siren's all willing
But a man can't ignore the signs
You gotta keep a good eye on the winding road ahead

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

And I spent time 'neath the trestles
With the punks and the dimestore saints
We kept faith and a switchblade tucked beneath my coat
And I ran with dirty angels
Slept out in the rain
We were scared and tired and barely seventeen

And my first sin was the fear that made me old
And my first sin was the fear that made me old

And now I walk down by the shipyards
Near the place where I was born
Saying, "Oh Maria, if you'da known me when"
But she only smiles by the light on the Navesink Banks
Saying, "Listen baby, I know you now"

Then she steps into the river
And I just stand by the moon
Thinking 'bout a ghost I hear at night
And she says, "Your first sin was a lie you told yourself.
"And your first sin was a lie you told yourself."