The Decemberists On The Bus Mall

In matching blue raincoats
Our shoes were our show boats
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've paid in palaver
And crumpled old dollars,
Which we squirreled 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 were rallied
As you learned quick to make a fast buck.
In bathrooms and barrooms,
On dumpsters and heirlooms,
We bit our tongues.
Sucked our lips into our lungs
'til 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 off your makeup
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
Of 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--
The old men with limp dicks--
On the colonnades of the waterfront park.
As 4 in the morning came on, cold and boring,
We huddled close
In the bus stop enclosure enfolding.
Our hands tightly holding.

But here in our hovel we fuse like a family,
But I will not mourn for you.
So take off your makeup
And pocket your pills away.
We're kings among runaways
On the bus mall.
We're down
On the bus mall.
We're down
On the bus mall.
Down on the bus mall.
Oh ooh oh

On the Bus Mall by The Decemberists off their album Picaresque

If you love them like I do, please visit their site and support the band. http://www.decemberists.com/

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Picaresque
• Decemberists
• On
• The
• Bus
• Mall
• music
• rock
• folk
• alternative
• indie
• shins
• new
• awesome
• song
• underground
• Colin
• Meloy

[laughitoff23]

stumbleupon, ftw. <3

[milkandholywater]

People keep asking here how a song that is about prostitution and vagrancy can make someone happy. Really, the truth is that this isn't a song about prostitutes but about human stories, like most of the songs that this band plays, and while yes it is about prostitution in that it's mentioned, what the song is really about is taking freedom where you can get it in a world where there is no escape from exploitation in any direction. True Freedom being impossible, we take it where we find it.

[DylanNes]

Ï have yet to find out why "Gingers do have souls" is in the suggestion box

[nactan]

@YesYouAreIgnorant uh... what? i meant they are willing to sell themselves to be able to stay together, which is irrelevant to the question of whether they decided before or after. you don't need to know what "love" is to be in love just as you don't have to know what "inebriation" means to end up drunk. also, i don't get your objection to my characterization of the song as "beautiful".

[JordanThomas1011]

"We're kings among runaways" Love that lyric :-)

[be4ter93]

This song reminds me about my bestfriend .. She once shared this song with me.

R.I.P Lene.. I still miss you <3

[123MIURA]

I'm proud I was born in December.

[BecauseAlexWasBored]

The song is about two boys who ran away from home because they hated their home and school lives. They sleep in ratty hotels and they make money by hanging around bus malls and performing entertainment acts, gambling on billiards at pool halls, and "turning tricks" which is dressing up as women and prostituting. One boy (whose point of view Colin is singing from) talks about how they both aren't getting by very well and how they want to give up, but they've already gone too far to go back.

[MIKKIROX9]

This song made me fall in love with the Decemberists. Three years later, and they are still my absolute favorite. Forever and always. ♥

[Travis7060312]

@YesYouAreIgnorant i think its about two young gay males who sell themselves to make money

[umbreonespeont6]

These lyrics remind me of a book I read. Love this song!!! :P :P <P <P