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

[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

[J Wong]

Wait how do you know theyre gay? I thought they were both girls.

[Lauren French]

I first heard this song back in 8th grade, I'm so glad my teacher put me onto music other than radio Disney.

[john wrath]

In the comments it seems people have some sort of need to minimize the references to underaged gay prostitutes, that its just about friendship or freedom or what have you. I love the fact that its about teenage runaways who turn to gay prostitution to survive but form a bond in spite of a hostile world in which they are constantly raped and strung out. Its kind of grandiose and realistic at the same time.

[john wrath]

Same chords. Cmaj7-g-etcetcetc

[Aleesb]

Me neither.



[Kyle Brogan]

the decemberist were singing about prostitutes before ed sheeran made it cool