__ __ _____ _ _ __ __ _____ _ __ | \/ | / ____(_) | | \/ | / ____| | |/ _| | \ / |_ _ | | _| |_ _ _ | \ / |_ _ | (___ ___| | |_ | |\/| | | | | | | | | __| | | | | |\/| | | | | \___ \ / _ \ | _| | | | | |_| | | |____| | |_| |_| |_ | | | | |_| | ____) | __/ | | |_| |_|\__, | \_____|_|\__|\__, ( ) |_| |_|\__, | |_____/ \___|_|_| __/ | __/ |/ __/ | |___/ |___/ |___/ --------------------------------------- -- Pontoon Bridge --------------------------------------- C F C My story begins in the scorching summer of 1862 C F C Lincoln hoped for God but he knew he needed Kentucky too Am F C But the ferries proved too slow Am F G To get the Union soldiers across the mighty Ohio So they hatched themselves a plan, and they built me, I'm a floating bridge on barges And I wobbled back in forth, but I always sustained the steady Union marches But civilians were turned away For my only purpose was to send soldiers to die another day Am G Please, please C Don't let me be a means to an end Am G Please, please C Let me be more than a soldier's story, serve more than the wars you're warring Am G Please, please C Don't sell me down the old brown river, keep me in your heart forever I'd split in two for you, until the mighty steam ships paddled through Tie me up and then, I could serve my purpose once again And the soldiers fought and died And the autumn came and went and so did my time Please, please Don't let me be a means to an end Please, please Let me be more than a soldier's story, serve more than the wars you're warring Please, please Don't sell me down the old brown river, keep me in your heart forever Am F C Then two years later, Roebling made the span Am F C I was chopped apart and sold to the lumber man Am F C That new suspension bridge no it ain't never seen no war Am F G And all the things I've seen been I thought that I could be something more But me, me I've always been just a means to an end Please, please Let me be more than a soldier's story, serve more than the wars you're warring Please, please Don't sell me down the old brown river, keep me in your heart forever Don't sell me down the old brown river, keep me in your heart forever --------------------------------------- -- Carew Tower --------------------------------------- D Am There's an old brown building and it stands downtown D Am It was the crown jewel in the queen city's crown D Am It's got chandeliered ceilings and marbled floors C Em D Was it wrong, was it so wrong to hope for more They laid the cornerstone in 1929 One month in everything seemed fine You start your life in depression and its straight to war Was it wrong, was it so wrong to hope for more E Am I'm just like you, my dear Carew E Am C Em D I'm standing here too, and I'm mostly vacant and very confused Yeah the observation deck holds a special charm You can see three states with needles in their arm Sipping on the trickle left us sick and poor Was it wrong, was it so wrong to hope for more I'm just like you, my dear Carew I'm standing here too, and I'm mostly vacant and very confused We're a little more grounded than we were before We don't build gold plated elevator doors We're just shitty shopping malls with empty stores Was it wrong, was it so wrong to hope for more I'm just like you, my dear Carew I'm standing here too, and I'm mostly vacant and very confused Was it wrong, was it wrong to hope for more Was it wrong, was it wrong to hope for more Was it wrong, was it wrong to hope for more Was it wrong, was it so wrong to hope for more --------------------------------------- -- Queensgate Yard --------------------------------------- E My mama she used to tell me, back when I was young When a train rolls above you on an overpass you get a wish my son Now I never ain't heard nobody, never wishing on no trains But now that I'm a grown man, I'm still wishing to this day A E Lord tell me, what the hell am I missing A G E I'm so damn, I'm so damn tired of wishing There's a train yard seven miles long, on the shores of the old Mill Creek Sorting cars all day long, sending them where they need to be When I'm driving down that way, there's a roundabout route I know It's got plenty of bridges, for plenty of wishes, but I'm always late to where I'm trying to go Lord tell me, what the hell am I missing I'm so damn, I'm so damn tired of wishing E Lord sort me out now, let me have salvation On the shoes of the Mill Creek, send me to a destination Lord sort me out now, let me have salvation On the shoes of the Mill Creek, send me to a destination Lord tell me, what the hell am I missing I'm so damn, I'm so damn tired of wishing Lord tell me, what the hell am I missing I'm so damn, I'm so damn tired of wishing --------------------------------------- -- Morgan Road --------------------------------------- Fm Fm6 Two men are sitting at the bar With the solution to the economy, the tech industry and war Through slurred speech they solve the great mysteries of life Then they stagger out the door after getting it all right C Fm The first man, he fumbles for his keys The second man protests, says please oh won't you please don't do this to yourself So he goes in for the tackle, to bring the first man down The first man escapes and drives to the end of town And the alcohol clouds his tired eyes And the rationalizations blurr his soggy mind Well he's so damn smart, he's fine every time Don't you know that dummies only cross the yellow line So he pulls into the driveway, puts his head on the wheel and he weeps For his actions don't line up with anything that he believes And he lies awake in bed, bleary eyed and reeking of beer And he thinks about someone he hasn't thought about in years C Am G G7 And if he could go back in time The first place he would go is seventh grade, find his lab parter by his side He'd whisper in her ear, darling you won't see your 23rd year, no Because it all goes down, it all goes down, it all goes down On Morgan Road And he tosses and he turns And he thinks about how it is not what she deserved 8AM in the morning, just headed off to the grind Head on collision with a kid drunk out of his mind And he's sure that morning the kids friends tried To stop the kid from driving, and he's sure that the kid replied Well I'm so damn smart, and I'm fine every time Don't you know that dummies only cross the yellow line And if he could go back in time The second place he would go is high school, find her cheering on the sideline And I'd tell her about the horrible things, he'd tell her about the wonderful things, He'd just tell her about everything that she would never see Because it all goes down, it all goes down, it all goes down On Morgan Road He aplogises for how the other night ended And what a shitty thing to do to a friend So he gets himself a beer, and thinks about the girl And he's a little less fucked up in a fucked up world So he's had a few drinks and calls himself a car Invites the second man in, even though it isn't too far The second man refuses, and isn't that the tradgedy That every single person must have their own epiphany And if he could go back in time The third place he would go would be earlier in the night And he'd rage about the selfishness, he'd rage about the arrogance And he'd scream in the faces of everyone there That you're not that special, you ain't that smart, and you're not God You can't even play the part There is no upside, and the only seeds you sow Will be memorial flowers on Morgan Road And it all goes down, it all goes down, some way or another It always goes down Yes it all goes down, it all goes down, it all fucking goes down On Morgan Road --------------------------------------- -- CDP --------------------------------------- Am C D The high school I went to it vanished in thin air Yeah they wiped that slate so clean it might have never been there No proof of marching band, old girlfriends, or my old minivan And they left no evidence of my education Legend holds the plot was a burial mound And my memories lay steeped in that sacred ground Until the church across the street said a parking lot they need And they paved right over top my salvation G C Am I come from a census designated place G C Am Its a place where brick and mortar memories come and go G C Am I tried to find some meaning in a census designated place And all I have to show Fmaj7 C G Is I'm tired of pretending that I know My middle school still stands but it ain't the same When the state they done and came and said they couldn't maintain It was something about funding the well had run dry And they couldn't afford the slightest renovation So the megachurch moved in with their water to the brim And they gutted that place so clean and washed it rid of its sin Now for 10% your pay they can wash your sins away But Lord they can't afford my salvation I come from a census designated place Its a place where brick and mortar memories come and go I tried to find some meaning in a census designated place And all I have to show Is I'm tired of pretending that I know Now my elementary school it survived a great flood But it couldn't survive a levy and budget cuts When they finally tore it down the only thing they left in town Was a bar a plastics plant and a gas station The bar has lived and died risen up so many times That I take my stool amoungst my local patrons Beer and liquor reconcile this muddy place in time And Lord I have found my salvation I come from a census designated place Its a place where brick and mortar memories come and go I tried to find some meaning in a census designated place And all I have to show Is I'm tired of pretending I'm so tired of pretending I'm so tired of pretending that I know --------------------------------------- -- NOTES --------------------------------------- On it's surface, My City, My Self is just another concept album about falling down buildings and deserted places. But after a year or so of this concept and the songs floating around in my head, I notice that the first four songs are more about people than of places. The last song sums up the concept well; physical places come and go, but the lasting impact of the people and ideas associated with them are ultimately what shape us as people. Brian Sauer 11-28-17