Get all 8 A Metropolitan Guide releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The One That Isn't Burned, The Girls You Sang to Sleep, Alternate Histories Vol. I, These Hills Are Gonna Rise, The Grand Revolution of Lakeside, Simulation Avenue, Pioneering, and Lesser Tragedies.
1. |
The Balloonist
03:45
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I am a hot-air balloonist taking folks around
Thirty-five bucks a head, though forty during sunset
I can take you where you want to be, anywhere you choose
I can take you across the countryside; put a little color in the skyline
I can sing with the bluebirds and fly with the doves
Get you a little bit closer to the stars above
But of all the things I'll find I can do
Not a single one's getting me to you
Well, I started out with a day job, straight nine to five
But when the land grew cold and boring, well I turned to the sky
You see there’s very little direction; time is ruled by sun and stars
Not by school clocks and church bells or when people hit the bars
I can fly over mountains, rivers, and plains
Make every day different even if it’s the same
But of all the things I'll find I can do
Not a single one's getting me to you
So whatya’ say my darling, a new life awaits
A little bit of mystery is a whole lot better than chains
We don’t have to travel long, or even wide or far
Realize not knowing where you’re going is often better than where you are
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2. |
Reginald
03:24
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All the kings of Western Europe and the presidential parades
Reginald kicks his feet back and turns another page
This place has been in the family for generations it seems
But he'd survive to leave it all behind
And there aren't that many things with the weight of someone else's dreams
Everything's discounted and the profits razor thin
He'd try about anything to get some folks in
Biographies of those come and gone, and then some made up prose
You don't have to buy, just take your time
Reginald leans back in his chair in his dusty bookstore in a fading town square
And he lights a lamp to see as he turns another page to read
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3. |
Devils in the Halls
03:46
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Tick tock watch the clock, eleven past ten
Improvement commenced today, it matters not to him
The leaves loosen, change their hue to orange, red, and gray
The sun subsides, the clock rolls back, the night drifts away
Devils in the courtyard, devils in the walls
Devils in the stairway, devils in the halls
The bronze bust oversees the garden in the trees
That preaches right from wrong and who you ought to be
The drunkard stumbles ‘round, bends the straw in his drink
To each challenge posed ahead he turns around and shrinks
Devils in the courtyard, devils in the walls
Devils in the stairway, devils in the halls
The princess watches all the drunkard’s antics with fear
She may have gone for it some other day, some other year
Not much in mind or in taste, but man he’s got the hair
To try and break the drunkard’s curse when he really doesn’t care
Devils in the courtyard, devils in the walls
Devils in the stairway, devils in the halls
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4. |
Call of the Trumpet
04:03
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It’s the call of the trumpet, and the bang of the drum
It’s the charge of the horses, and the crackling of guns
This might be your day, boys, but it might be our last
The sound of the trumpet and the meadows echoing back
Some of you will never see home again
And the call of the trumpet is the exclamation before your end
To make your sacrifice worth it, well, you might as well win
And bring an end to this madness until it all starts over again
It’s not the smoke in the fields, or the smell of the lead
It’s not the wounds or the scars, or the sight of the dead
It’s the sound of the trumpet, and the meadows echoing back
I’ll probably never see home again
And the call of the trumpet is the proclamation of my end
They say the sacrifice is worth it, because in victory
They’ll place you on the right side of history
This might be our day, boys, but it might be our last
And the call of the trumpet and the meadows echoing back.
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5. |
Brave
02:45
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I hail from San Angelo, in the lone star state
But I spent most of my childhood over in Spain
Started workin’ on the craft from an early age
Soon realized it was so much more than a game
Mother always told you remember lock the backyard gate
And if they’re swinging too early next time they’re gonna’ be late
But you're not to blame
Because the Mad Dog’s on the loose and it looks like he’s on his game
By ’94 I had more Cys than Raphael
Paintin’ corners while all them records fell
Hawks and Falcons weren’t much what I liked to be
but 28 mil found a lot of Brave in me
You’re counting on the 93-fastball blazing through
But then bam the change-up at 82
Groundin', poppin', swingin', lookin', you’ll find it’s all the same
It’s like a sniper from sixty-five feet taking aim
But you’re not to blame
You’re just the hitter in the picture on his plaque in the Hall of Fame
You can use deception to try and keep a man at bay
But there’s something to be said for telling him what’s coming his way
And gettin’ the grounder to second and the out all the same
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6. |
The New Attractions
05:08
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The only thing left on the side of the road is that low-hanging lantern light
shining off like the flash of a pistol frozen in time
we’re not moving our operation, no matter what they say
we’ll just bask in the glow at the edge of the road and wait for day
Set up our tents on the other side of this little rotting town
and set out the main attraction along that gravel road we’re travelling down
because folks they’re more likely to go the extra mile
to see something new and dangerous just to leave in denial
So please welcome the new attractions as the lifeblood of this town
and be the first to celebrate as we smash our stakes into the ground
while the others build up enterprise we’re just trying to survive
Three towns ago Amos met a girl and said she was passing through
he said “the sparks may fly with the butterflies, but son she ain’t for you”
the Reverend said she’d come again if I work and pray
“and if you do it right she’ll not just arrive, but son she’ll choose to stay”
Three shows a day, on the weekends four, is how we do it now around here
at least until the money dries and we’re up and out of here
but for tonight the money’s good, so up and raise a glass
because for one more night the curtains rise and our encore’s the best
So please welcome the new attractions as the lifeblood of this town
and be the first to celebrate as we smash our stakes into the ground
while the others build up enterprise we’re just trying to survive
The only thing left on the side of the road is that low-hanging lantern light
illuminating the tents and dreams we built but leave behind
we’re moving our operation to some more fertile spot
in the hopes to find the chance to survive and the girl I’m lost without
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