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. |
Lightposts
03:36
|
|
||
|
Whether you’re stumblin’ out a wardrobe, or makin’ your way through the night
Whether you’re stumblin’ out a wardrobe, or makin’ your way through the night
In the meantime you better go around and get some advice
And not let those suckers out of your sight
But there’s a light post at the beginning of your path
And another at the very last
How you connect the two, well that’s really up to you
But there’s gonna’ be brighter and darker ways through
There’s gonna’ be other light posts at intervals along the way
There’s gonna’ be other light posts at intervals along the way
But you better go and take your tent and camp around the base
And you better get comfortable cause’ that’s where you’ll stay
There’s gonna’ be a time or two
When the temptation’s gonna’ reach out and it’s gonna’ drop you
Then you’ll go wandering in the dark
And when you begin you’re gonna’ forget where to start
|
||||
2. |
Metropolitan Guide
03:08
|
|
||
|
When you arrive in the city and you hop off the train
you don’t know all the back roads or the best ways to Main
You don’t know all the speed traps or how Mable Godfrey died
Not without your metropolitan guide
Some people are gonna’ tell you that you’re wasting your dime
While others will accuse me of just wasting your time
But when fifteen Starbucks sprout up in your cozy neighborhood
I’m the only one, yeah the only one that knows which one to choose
And which ones to lose
There’ve been many of times before when my services were true
Even Melville called me of course from Ishmael’s point of view
Or innocent little Phoebe helping Caulfield through the rye
With the help of a metropolitan guide
Are you gonna’ wait for inspiration to come around and show its face
Even Dante needed Beatrice to find his way through Heaven’s gate
It’s important to find a guide who will do more than sell
And they’ll teach you, yeah they’ll teach you all the ways to rebel
And how to do it well
Who’s gonna’ tell you which restaurants serve delicacies tonight?
Or which buildings are haunted, or which ones are alright?
What about the vagabonds on the corner of Fifth and Pine
Why of course it’s your metropolitan guide
Some people are gonna’ tell you that you’re wasting your dime
While others will accuse me of just wasting your time
As long as you know the street with the lighthouse is a dead end you’ll be fine
I’m the only one yeah the only one in town you’ll find
So where do I sign?
|
||||
3. |
The Lion's Den
02:55
|
|
||
|
Somewhere in a cornfield down Highway 99
The engine roared its bitter drone, prepared itself to die
But boy, there's no going back, no going back again
from the jaws of the lion's den
Like a child who thinks he's found his way to fly
Just to find gravity his kryptonite
but he's going back up, you can see it in his eyes
not deterred by failure or surprise
Abandoned in a cornfield like a deer out in the street
where survival depends not on wits but the speed of your feet
But boy there's no going back from your destination
or escaping all the dangers of your imagination
There's no going back, no going back again
from the jaws of the lion's den
The guitarist played his way through his invisible band
some disgusting karaoke mutation
With nothing of much value or variation
just awkward applause of hands
Like a child who thinks he's found his way to fly
Just to find gravity his kryptonite
but he's going back up, you can see it in his eyes
not deterred by failure or surprise
|
||||
4. |
The Balloonist
03:55
|
|
||
|
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
|
||||
5. |
A Poet's Interlude
01:55
|
|
||
|
There’s a poet lounging at his corner desk and describing what’s ahead
Juxtaposed the words on the page with the words all in his head
But he swears this is gonna’ be the masterpiece
That he told himself that he’d someday write
For the great ones all take time and often several tries
“I vow I’ll someday soon get it right, even if it takes my whole life”
On comes Thursday afternoon and the poet’s in a blur
No one cares about his poetry or the ones that never were
For people rarely care about the who, what, when, or where
They’ll sooner throw your words to the crowds
But the poet never weeps, just dreams another dream
He’ll surely have another in the morn; the day his masterpiece is born
|
||||
6. |
Brave
02:43
|
|
||
|
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 just 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
|
||||
7. |
Call the Rain Down
04:25
|
|
||
|
We gaze upon Poseidon as he towers overhead
Is this not your very kingdom from what all the legends said?
But we’ll continue treadin’ on your dignity for your crown
But for tonight, call the rain down
Lightning off the coast like a twelfth man on the field
Or an out of place stop sign that really should be yield
The unknown dangers of kicking soccer balls around
But for tonight, call the rain down
There’ll come a time when memories aren’t enough to carry on
And victory is easy to recall
They’ll realize it was the wrong station all along
But for tonight, call the rain down
The band made their way across the vast and dusty plains
Where the water was as scarce as a well-kept interstate
The band made its way through the congested little towns
But for tonight, call the rain down
The return trip was a little bit like gambling with ghosts
At least when you’re out there all alone, you win more than most
It wasn’t long until they saw their train had come and gone
But for tonight, call the rain down
|
||||
8. |
Lesser Tragedies
03:19
|
|
||
|
Hey there, Juliet, it's been the same old act for years
that fire we used to run on has all but disappeared
But it just can't be the same after so many shows
This entire act's getting a little worn and a little old
And that breeze beneath your windowsill is getting mighty cold
Do you recall opening night, with everything so fresh and new?
We didn't know what the hell we were doing and lines, well, we forgot a few
But it wasn't long 'til we sparked and made so many cry
But despite everything we found a way to make it by
Even when that meant that each and every night, we'd both just up and die
But c'mon now, Juliet, it's not the end of the world
For every great actor knows
When it's time for him to take his final bow
and let the curtain close
|
||||
If you like A Metropolitan Guide, you may also like:
Darkness begins to creep into the corners on the latest from Itasca.
go to album
Write The Soil Lighter
by Mother Juniper
“Write The Soil Lighter” is full of beguilingly mysterious folk-adjacent music, shrouded in shadow and atmospherics.
go to album
The Same Mistakes
by Hot Left Pole
Soft-as-a-whisper folk music, with spiderwebs of guitar and vocal melodies as comforting as a lullaby.
go to album
Crafting powerful songs about commitment and love, the Nashville singer-songwriter channels and subverts ’70s country and folk tropes.
go to album
The Bridge in The Mountain's Hands (A Travelog)
by Haotian
Combining Chinese folk music, ambient, & spoken-word poetry, Haotian has made a gorgeous, enveloping travelogue.
go to album
Whispery indie folk from the UK, “Hard Work” cradles soft and gentle vocal melodies in a nest of acoustic guitars.
go to album
Feel The Ground You Walk Upon
by Lewis McLaughlin
Old-fashioned fiddles harmonize with rippling synths on the Scottish singer-songwriter's latest collection of original folk songs.
go to album
