SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WANTS TO BE WESTERN NEW YORK (Dar Williams)
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[actually in Bb; capo 3.]
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[intro]
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There's a part of the country could drop off tomorrow in an earthquake; Yeah it's
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out there on the cutting edge, the people move, the sidewalks shake; And there's
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another part of the country, with a land that gently creaks and thuds; Where the
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heavy snows make faucets leak in bathrooms with free-standing tubs; they're in
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houses that are haunted, with the kids who lie awake and think about
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all the generations past who used to use that dripping sink
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And sometimes one place wants to slip into the other just to see what it's
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Like to trade its demons for the restless ghost of Mrs. Ogilvey; She
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used to pick the mint from her front yard to dress the Sunday pork; Sometimes
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southern California wants to be western New York
It wants to have a family business in sheet metal or power tools
And it wants to have a diner where the coffee tastes like diesel fuel
And it wants to find the glory of a town they say has hit the skids
And it wants to have a snow day that will turn its parents into kids
And it's embarassed, but it's lusting after a SUNY student with mousy-brown hair
Who is taking out the compost, making coffee in long underwear
Southern California says to "save a place, I'll meet you there"; And it
tried to pack up its Miata, all it could fit was a prayer
Sometimes the stakes are bogus, sometimes the fast lane hits a fork; Sometimes
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southern California wants to be western New York
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Tempe, Arizona thinks the Everglades are greener and wetter and
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Washington, D.C. thinks Atlanta integrated better; But I
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think that southern California has more pain than we can say; 'Cause it
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wants to travel back in time, but it just can't leave L.A.-ay-ay-ay-ay
But now I hear they've got a theme park planned, designed to make you gasp and say
Oh I bet that crumbling mill town was a booming mill town in its day
And the old investers scoff at this, but the young ones hope they'll take a chance
And they promise it will make more dough than Mickey Mouse in northern France
And the planners got an op'ning day, the town historian will host
And the waitresses look like waitresses who want to leave for the west coast
And they'll have puttering on rainy weekends, autumn days that make you feel sad
They'll have hundred-year-old plumbing and the family you never had
And a Hudson River clean-up concert and a bundle-bearing stork
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And I hear they got a menu planned, it's tres western New York
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^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ . ^ .
[ending] western New York
- transcribed by Adam Schneider, http://adamschneider.net/