Dallas is a Jungle

While I was reading The Jungle these lyrics kept running through my head:

Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?
Well, Dallas is a jewel, yeah, Dallas is a beautiful sight.
Dallas is a jungle but Dallas gives a beautiful light.
Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?

Well, Dallas is a woman who will walk on you when you're down.
But when you are up, she's the kind you want to take around.
But Dallas ain't a woman to help you get your feet on the ground.
Yes Dallas is a woman who will walk on you when you're down.

Well, I came into Dallas with the bright lights on my mind,
But I came into Dallas with a dollar and a dime.

Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eye
A steel and concrete soul with a warm hearted love disguise
A rich man who tends to believe in his own lies
Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes

This is the Flatlanders: Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock. At least in Texas Music, they are more a legend than a supergroup.

The songwriter, Gilmore, is confused and bewildered by the city even after he's been living there for a while. He refuses to resolve to one side or the other, completely. Yes, there's no question that the city is a dangerous place, far more characterized by brutality and violence than by love or even beauty. But on the surface, and surfaces do matter still, on the surface it's completely dazzling, mesmerizing, captivating...