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. |
Sunrise
01:17
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2. |
Good Morning, Lakeside
03:45
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Good morning, Lakeside
Is Mallory Hill still the same? And do the children still come around
And dig down, down, down?
Using that old treasure map and just like us they’ll figure that
it’s a place to hide away
What did they hope to find digging down, down, down into Lakeside?
Good morning, Lakeside
Across Coronation Street, the criers cry and the gallows swing
Swinging down, down, down
The merchant looks around his shop, he thinks a bit before he stops
“It’s a good time to call it a day
For it’s a bad day for business, every time the gallows swing, here in Lakeside”
Pull the wool over your eyes
And you’ll know that you’ve arrived
On the darker but the better edge of Lakeside
Good morning, Lakeside
There’s been a few too many times when the waters wane and your skeletons arise
And dig down, down, down
Down to where they shouldn’t be, out from closets, graves, and seas
it’s a good time now to walk away
Fill the closet with our bones and tonight we’ll drink alone, here in Lakeside
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3. |
Reginald
04:14
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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
But the weight of the world just don't compare to a dusty bookstore in a fading town square
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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4. |
The Center of Our Town
03:12
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Pianos from the windows, couples dancing in the streets
And the Grand Revolution lit up like a Christmas tree
That was when the square here was vibrant and alive
But now it's slowing fading, crumbling a month, a week, a day at a time
It's the center of our town
McCrae says revolution is the only path we have
And if you're not breaking boundaries, then brother, you may as well be dead
But It's not about replacing what's ancient and old
Just replacing what you think is wrong with what you think you already know
It's the center of our town
It's the sculptures of nothing in particular
And the clock tower with the dying flowers scattered around
That makes the center of our town
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5. |
The Escapist
04:16
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The curtains draw back
The cheers erupt from the rafters and out to the sky
He's who the children want to be, and who the parents take as make believe
But the heartbeats will rise as the water comes rushing in from either side
As the hands fall away from each and every eye, he'll rise
Because he's the Escapist and today is not the day he dies
The lights fade away
Sold out shows from Boston to Chicago and beyond
He's exactly where he wanted to be, he's wanted this since the age of three
But his heartbeats still rise when the water comes rushing in from either side
But when the interviewers ask him about his confidence tonight, he'll smile
Because he's the Escapist and today is not the day he dies
The curtains draw back
Another standing ovation just like every time before
The cheers begin to escalate as he takes a bow and leaves the stage
He'll be back again tomorrow and he'll escape again in the nick of time
When the interviewers ask him, like they do every night, he'll sigh
Because he's the Escapist and today is not the day he dies
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6. |
Train City
03:35
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I was born in the train city between the rattle and the clang
and the constant roaring of the whistles of the passing train
But for years and years, we worked our fingers to the bone
and we know everything there is to know
Those that have been around, you'll never see 'em break
for their confidence is pounded in like a railroad stake
It takes a special man to surrender his dreams
and to plug 'em in tightly to this machine
But brother I hate to be the one to break the news to you
But this precious train city that you thought you knew
It don't belong to you
You just showed up yesterday and you think you're gonna’ go
convincing us that your concern's not just for show
Go on back home, your concern is for the birds
we'll take all the music, you can keep the words
There's gonna' be a few here to convince you otherwise
but those are the ones who think success come to those who try
We're here to tell you that that ain't gonna' fly
any more than this train here taking to the sky
You can hear that train a-comin’, it's roaring down the tracks
but soon enough it'll fade away just like the facts
Next stop, conductor, train city's on the route
your last chance to reconsider if you want out
But brother I hate to be the one to break the news to you
But this precious train city that you thought you knew
It don't belong to you
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7. |
Last Call
04:52
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Everything’s drenched in that pale, yellow light
It’s the same all around, a different sort of bright
I wish that I could say it’s the reason why
This place is gonna’ be empty again tonight
I suppose, I suppose that I could shut it all down
There’s surely something better that I could do in this or some other town
But the stage there in the corner with the Christmas tree lights
Has seen its share of stardom on those transcendent nights
Like in 1987, or 1995, or that unforgettable encore in 2009
I’d like to think that it’s meant something fine
So it can come back again in something else’s prime
But If this place could live just one more time
Its echo would be like a fine bottle of wine
Sweeter and more valuable given a little time
Last call, to you loyal band of brothers, last call
Last call
I suppose, I suppose that I could shut it all down
There’s surely something better that I could do in this or some other town
When you make your way out, tap the sign above the door
The one that says something about always wanting more
Take it with you to the alley and out into the street
For tomorrow it’s coming down for it’s of no use to me
Last call, to you loyal band of brothers, last call
Last call
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8. |
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If the blue lights of the Cavenbury fade tonight
And the sails on the Navigator pass beneath the edges of the waterline
They'll open wide the doors of the church painted red
Offering solace to a weary few and judgement to the rest
The smoke is permeating the Golden Gooseneck stage
Lionel's standing behind the bar holding a glass up to his face
"This place looks much better through the panes of this glass
with only blurry figures passing by it's easier to stay detached”
It may not be the change we need, but it'll do just fine
for the grand revolution of Lakeside
If the condition of our little town scares you away
Think of it as a mirror, given only echoes of your finer days
Lakeside's fading like our love in the wee small hours
Those finer days come and gone just the same as ours
It may not be the change we need, but it'll do just fine
for the grand revolution of Lakeside
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