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Cul-de-sac anomie


rsadasiv

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Passing Don Julian Elementary

On the first day of school

In the hottest August

Anybody here remembers

Drive each morning through this valley

Past the strip clubs and the landfill

As the longest summer of our lives

Slouched on toward September

You, weighed down by nascent life

And I, by crushing expectations

Of performance that could live up

To a gaudy résumé

Waiting at a stop sign, I breathe

In the scent of oleander

Mixed with the diesel exhaust that

Takes an hour off my life each day

 

Ancient bougainvillea cascade

Over rusty chainlink fences

That don't seem to be a barrier

To the local chickens today

Now here comes the old vaquero

With his boots, spurs, and sombrero

Rides a brown horse down Third Avenue

Every morning that I come this way

Tonsured men with tattooed biceps

Hold the hands of six-year-old girls

Wearing blue Queen Elsa backpacks

Far too laden for their age

One day soon, I'll be one of them

Fatter and with slightly less ink

Then before I know it, I'll be watching

Her walking across a lighted stage

 

Mark the passage of time by the

Strip club billboards by the freeway

Monarchs, Synn, and Spearmint Rhino

Gaudy sirens at the roadside

Springtime brought hopes of transcending

All my {censored}up inclinations

And a richer, happier life

Here where we could spread our wings wide

But the summer showed me that I'll

Never stop failing you and my

Self in every way that matters

'Til we've reached the end of days

Guess I will just have to muddle

Take it one long day at a time

That's what I tell myself as I

Drive on through the brownish-yellow haze

 

Passing Don Julian Elementary

On the first day of school

In the hottest August

Anyone remembers

 

 

- Peter McFerrin

 

 

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Passing Don Julian Elementary

On the first day of school

The hottest August

I can remember

 

Morning drive through the valley

Past the strip clubs and the landfill

Slouching on toward Bethlehem

And LA in September

 

Bougainvillea do cascade

The rusty chainlink fence

An old vaquero

Boots and sombrero

Rides Third Avenue

 

Monarchs, Synn, and Spearmint Rhino

Gaudy sirens at the roadside

Fall from summer showed me that

I can’t stop failing you and my

Self each way that matters

 

'Til we've reached the end of days

It’s all a daily muddle

Take it one day at a time

With a brownish-yellow haze

 

Passing Don Julian Elementary

On the first day of school

The hottest August

I can remember

 

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Passing Don Julian Elementary

On the first day of school

In the hottest August

Anybody here remembers

Drive each morning through this valley

Past the strip clubs and the landfill

As the longest summer of our lives

Slouched on toward September

You, weighed down by nascent life [don't say nascent]

And I, by crushing expectations

Of performance that could live up

To a gaudy résumé

Waiting at a stop sign, I breathe

In the scent of oleander

Mixed with the diesel exhaust that

Takes an hour off my life each day

 

 

 

Love these lines...just saw you didn't write it...oh

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Yes, not mine, but a WIP by an internet buddy (and former HC member) - http://panoramacity.bandcamp.com/album/mobility

 

Lemme get this demo'ed up in the next week or so and I think you'll see what I'm getting at. It's a 2:3 clave rhythm, with three 32-bar verses with 8-bar interludes and a 16-bar double-time bridge. Definitely gonna be a little bit too jäzz for some.

 

Passing Don Julian Elementary

On the first day of school

 

is actually

 

Pass-ing Don Hoo-Lee-Ann Ell-eh

Men-tuh-ree on the first day of school

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