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The Decline of America Part 3: Silence in Brooklyn

by Tyranny of Dave

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1.
A plaque with the names of dead people for company While soft moon dust covers me up Did you know this was not what was planned I’ve disappointed the man who created me Fostered bad feelings among those who aided me I’m all alone here while you fight about what I am And you don’t know what I’ve become I wait here patiently, pull at your oceans Deliver the night to you, heightened emotions And down there on earth you look up but you never see You’re all too distracted by all the activity People...animals...plants No one ever alone But Artemis, Lona, the moons of mythology None of them come by to offer apology Nobody comes by at all noone knows who I am Who I am A tombstone, a gateway for star bound humanity A somber reflection. A reason for vanity I lie here a form so abstract I don’t know what I am Did you know that the things far above you can’t help but love you That’s why they want to come down and crash into you But you don’t know what I’ve become And sometimes your planet feels wrong like I’ve forgotten it’s been down there all along
2.
The waters rose. That’s just how it goes. There was nothing to do Though we were pretty sure we were warned not so long ago But no one scrammed, they just found dry land And watched it all on the YouTube There were so many filmmakers floating around the Slope. Everybody learned how to fish Acted like they were on a mission to keep Brooklyn alive Even though all that they knew was gone Sure some fled to the Jersey side Gave their homes to the rising tide But most stayed inside Silence in Brooklyn We were all in a stew Didn’t know what to do Whatever anyone said it seemed like it was too late But some knew how to jibe Raise sails and read tides And they were giving free lessons out on Gowanus Lake Reputations were on the line Politicians came out to whine But they said something about something about something else. Tourist boats came in every day Docked their yachts down at JFK And then went their way Silence in Brooklyn How do you know not to go when the going’s good? How can you stay when the waves have erased every trace of your neighborhood? Everything was turned upside down Hipster cowboys were paddling ‘round Singing “Yo-de-lo-de-lay-hee, yo-de-lo-de-lay-hee, yo-de-lo-de-loo-hoo” And before things could disappear BHS* bought some scuba gear We’re staying here Silence in Brooklyn The waters rose. That’s just how it goes. There was nothing to do. And now we’re pretty sure that this new town is all our own They thought we’d fall, thought we’d drop the ball after all we’d been through But as it turns out there’s no other place that we feel at home. Everyone said we’re doing fine “Gonna party like it’s 1999”. But I was there in ’99 and the parties weren’t this good. Now there’s a BBQ after dark All your friends up on Sunset Park There’ll never be silence in Brooklyn *Brooklyn Historical Society
3.
Ardent signs with warm and willing pleas Sending out a wave of vagaries That travel ‘cross the ocean, carrying the new debris Lock me from the things that I can see I open up for every random key Baby I don’t need it Darling I don’t want it Honey won’t you set me free They float on brightly colored waters All the things I don’t want Parade the fairest of their daughters In front of things I don’t want I’ll feast like a lamb before the slaughter On all the things I don’t want
4.
Lost Canal 03:36
A restless night You woke up halfway out the door You struck a match and tossed it at your feet And once you start, you find you’re quicker than before You’re starting fast and always gaining speed A crowded street You push past folks who’re in the way And slip through cracks that noone else has found You jump the steps. And the street slowly fades away You never needed it to get around Did you push the cars away Did you pour new concrete beams Did you speed along the city’s span Did you cross the lost canal Find the stations underground that show the place from where this city sprang With each new park, you think that you might take a break But nothing beats the calm of moving fast You jump up high and take a photo of the tops of all the buildings that you worked in last Did you push the streets away Did you ever break your stride Did it bring you to the water’s edge And when you found the lost canal Did you tell everyone you know and march them all to see the other side
5.
Storm 04:24
Keep talking loud Keep driving fast Keep keeping cool Keep acting strong Keep flowing through the world like it’s the perfect backdrop for your song The morning’s bright, the coffee bold but soon the night will come along Keep making vows Keep fighting fights Keep writing laws Keep feeling true Don’t stop to think. Just pump the gas and hit the road. Get in the groove Soon every thought is just as real as all the things you’ve never proved. Settle down or settle up you’ll still settle for the things you save Seeds are waiting for the rain and oceans don’t stop making waves. And you don’t need nothing You just carry on Like a calm thinking there’s no storm coming on You might be surprised, my friend There always are storms They blow into town until all the maps are redrawn I’ve heard it brewing through centuries of sound Winds carry the echoes buried deep in our ground Thought some were fading but those melodies just keep coming ‘round And that might just do it That might just ruin us by itself That might just do it We won't even need something else And that might just do it on it's own That might just ruin us by itself Keep driving fast. One eye asleep. One hand to tune the radio You fight to stay awake until you get the things that you are owed And you can rest as soon as car and road and country all explode Whether you settle down or settle up you’ll still settle for the things you save Seeds are waiting to shoot upwards. Oceans don’t stop making waves.
6.
All This 4 U 04:16
What will you wear and what will you do When all tomorrow’s parties are spread out before you The walls starts to pulse and the music slips through And you realize it’s all for you You’ve got it made Didn’t you know Candy wants to know what you have to say But the drums are so loud that they shut out the day Your dress is out of style but it’s all OK Fall into the beat, lose the street in the crowd and And you’ll sleep for a thousand years It’s all for you You’ve got it made Didn’t you know You linger on in the pale blue highs Feeling totally at home and nonplussed Those big decisions you used to hate Are now the only situations you trust As the buildings around you fall into dust Don’t get confused. Just move with the change It’s turned around but it still sounds the same A Sunday morning where the light’s rearranged and it’s all a delight Take what you want. Take what you need The future is past and your fruits are still seeds Put on your boots, your dress and your beads This is your time ‘cause your sign is ascending So dance through the unending night It’s all for you You’ve got it made Didn’t you know
7.
There was a cabin in Montana got shipped to way down south Locked away in a warehouse with this bad taste in my mouth In my mouth Well you can take that road from Lincoln To where there ain’t no telephones But you’ll always be under a hole in the ozone Under a hole in the ozone Now everything in old America Got locked away in that warehouse of shame So the sun will shine on this new America That flatfooted land where no one is to blame In a court in Sacramento the math professor sits The sad, pathetic scapegoat for all the sins that we commit So you take that road to Helena where Atlas gave up the fight Get out of the car and find yourself in a burnt over district tonight In this burnt over district tonight Now everything in old America Got locked away in that warehouse of shame So the sun will beat down on this new America That flatfooted land where no one is to blame Who has clipped the lion’s wings Fleaed his rump and pared his claws
8.
Utah 05:37
Took a walk through a desert or two Signal blinking in and out like morse code letters Couldn’t get a message to you Here’s hoping somewhere out there you are feeling better now Sometimes it’s hard to understand things are exactly how they seem So I don’t need to tell you sometimes memories get tired and wander off to where it’s green So where does that leave you? Wandered aimless for an hour or two Kept landing on a site where all the links are broken Got another message from you Kept looking for the part where something’s left unspoken now Sometimes we’re singing to a satellite that’s many miles away I don’t need to tell you sometimes melodies get broken, sometimes rhythms go astray So where does that leave me? So while the night’s still young I rip an old LP and send it to the cloud Sit back and pray for rain Hoping just one song will find itself a new home in your heart Prove we’re not drifting apart and we can turn things back It’s like hiking through a valley where you never get to touch the ground No controlling where you’re going ‘cause you can’t put your foot down But I never worry ‘cause I know I’ll always end up far above your town Sometimes it’s hard to undo all the future things that we will say When it seems that they’ve been said so long ago And the coordinates you’re transmitting from two thousand miles away Are still telling me that we are not alone So though the night is young I look for the LED that lights up when you’re home But the satellites are down And every signal that we send has found itself a new home in the stars Free from mountains, wires and bars Never coming back So where does that leave us?
9.
Sat in the corner and looked kind of sad as she watched everyone go home Then she brightened. Reached in her bag and started messing with her phone No one can even agree on what makes a good song So when we gather together we do it alone I have a yearning to hear something and so I grab it from the air If I’m lucky when I reach up my hand I will also find you there inside a 21st century jukebox Came in on the tail end of an age whose last day was overdue Never had a chance to know about Elvis before I said goodbye to you Now I kinda hope for the trouble that comes with the new So grab my hand and start pulling me inside a 21st century jukebox

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released November 9, 2018

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