The Decemberists - On the Bus Mall
Posted on | August 22, 2009 |
The Decemberists’ On the Bus Mall opens with a soft acoustic strum which sets the scene perfectly for the amazing visual imagery this song creates for you. The Decemberists are amazing story-tellers and lyricists and On the Bus Mall has some of the best lyrics in their entire catalog. If On the Bus Mall wasn’t a song, it would be turned into a story.
The thing is, On the Bus Mall is a fantastic story. Listening to this song takes you through the same journey you take when reading a book. Books can be more powerful than movies because with books you can create your own visual imagery making the “experience” much more memorable and long-lasting. On the Bus Mall creates that same affect.
Anybody who has seen The Decemberists live revels in their theatrical decor and the sublime ambiance it creates. This song, On the Bus Mall, kicks your imagination into gear and creates that same theatrical ambiance with it’s lyrics.
Lyrics
In matching blue raincoats
Our shoes were our showboats
We kicked around
From stairway to station
We made a sensation
With the gadabout crowd
And oh, what a bargain
We’re two easy targets
For the old men at the off tracks
Who paid in palaver and crumpled old dollars
Which we squirelled away
In our rat-trap hotel by the freeway
And we slept in Sundays
Your parents were anxious
Your cool was contagious
At the old school
You left without leaving
A note for your grieving sweet mother
While your brother was so cruel
And here in the alleys
Your spirits will rally
As you learn quick to make a fast buck
In bathrooms and barrooms
On dumpsters and heirlooms
We bit our tongues
Sucked our lips into our lungs
Because we were falling
Such was our calling
And here in our hovel
We fuse like a family
But I will not mourn for you
So take up your make-up
And pocket your pills away
We’re kings among runaways
On the bus mall
We’re down on the bus mall
Among all the urchins
And old Chinese merchants
At the old town
We reigned at the pool hall
With one iron cue ball
And we never let the bastards get us down
And we laughed off the quick tricks
And the old men with limp dicks
On the colonnades at the waterfront park
As four in the morning
Came on cold and boring
We huddled close in the bus-stop enclosure enfolding
Our hands tightly holding
And here in our hovel
We fuse like a family
But I will not mourn for you
So take up your make-up
And pocket your pills away
We’re kings among runaways
On the bus mall
We’re down on the bus mall
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