1. |
Out to Sea
05:33
|
|||
|
// VERSE 1 //
You have to break the tie and cast out towards the sun.
No one has it out for us so we don’t need your daddy’s gun.
Drum along the battered hulls, and find our way on through.
The tide will be fighting back, but there’s nothing we can do.
// CHORUS //
Out to sea.
Out to sea.
// BRIDGE //
We’ll make it there.
// VERSE 2 //
There past the open blue is the way to better shores.
Then we will kick it high, ice and silver, mine and yours.
Drop all the dead weight here; ditch this hick town for the sky.
Know you won't miss a thing, and I can say we'll never die.
// CHORUS //
|
||||
2. |
Lookin' Up on Fifth
07:01
|
|||
|
// VERSE 1 //
We must have missed Bel Aire by just a block or two,
but we’ll be back to see the palm strip.
I’ll bet the view is great from here up on the hill,
we’ve got time to take a side trip.
Stay cool, don’t act too tough now.
Don’t shoot that cryptic gaze around.
You might forget what you came here with.
We’ll be riding high, lookin’ up on fifth.
// VERSE 2 //
Those kids get rustled on the corners that we passed,
and need a lot more than a few prayers.
The man in charge takes names out on the block,
and takes his payment through the crosshairs
We see a convict rising,
to strike against the law.
These are the same streets that reinforce the myth,
of the outlaw king we saw, lookin’ up on fifth.
// CHORUS //
Gun it and break away.
Gun it and break away.
We’ll be on the street someday.
Gun it and break away.
// VERSE 3 //
The hipster charm we bring is fuel for their contempt,
and we can’t bank it on the thick cut.
We might just have to work for some ounce of respect,
and know just when to keep our eyes shut.
Stay calm, we’ll sneak right past them.
In time we’ll make it back here.
You might forget what you came here with.
We’ll be riding high, lookin’ up on fifth.
// VERSE 4 //
These concrete badlands are a gem among the sands,
that host a storm of chains and hot lead.
We waste away predicting affluent day dreams,
while our delinquent friends turn up dead.
We hear the faded lowlife,
call out as we move on.
These are the same streets who reinforce the myth,
of the outlaw king we saw, lookin’ up on fifth.
// CHORUS //
|
||||
3. |
Street Congress
07:11
|
|||
|
// VERSE 1 //
Swap the dice and don the colors, bump it twice and breath it in.
The cash flow calls out in the distance, the faint ambition stirs within.
They raise a cat-house on the Southside, while we haze the troubled springs.
Count the coins and ditch the bodies, sit and watch what struggle brings.
// CHORUS //
We fight to suppress
the dreams that we fear;
the need to impress.
We owe our success,
what little we know,
Street Congress.
// VERSE 2 //
Run the tonic out to Venice, check your trail for the heat.
We’re only safe when we’re on our grounds, our jurisdiction in the street.
We’ll cut our teeth on stints for Shorty, and climb the ranks while we take shape.
As we blend into the system, be sure to plan for our escape.
// CHORUS //
// VERSE 3 //
We’ll meet with Raymond in the city, and wait for answers at the gate.
He makes fun of civil justice, his life is taken by the state.
We had no choice but to join in, as all our brothers turn to fight.
There’s no need for second coming, they won’t make it through the night.
// CHORUS //
|
||||
4. |
Alhambra Shakedown
06:53
|
|||
|
// VERSE 1 //
Waiting in the dark while the greens decide our fate.
This Old English does the trick, but I just can’t shake this weight.
Layin’ low on the Impala while the keys sit in my hand.
When the young blood mixes wrong they may not understand.
It may be me that leads the law right up the chain.
I already sense their wrath, but we may escape the blame.
Stoke the fire and let it sit while we waste away the prime.
The young guns we have doomed to a life of ruthless crime.
// CHORUS //
Alhambra Shakedown.
Alhambra Shakedown,
what they never saw.
// VERSE 2 //
This quiet nerve disturbs me as I stare into the night.
This burner has no name, but it can turn the tide when we fight.
Meet me up at Roscoe’s when the blood begins to flow
We’ll take their land by force, and they may never know.
They might still find out who set up this whole town,
but if we settle in we can watch it all come down.
I’m not sure why you thought it wasn’t safe to hide,
as we hold the restless reigns through the rising of the tide.
// CHORUS //
// CODA //
It was him or me.
|
||||
5. |
Back in the Sun
05:21
|
|||
|
// VERSE 1 //
Thought we knew where each other stood,
but I've missed your face round the neighborhood.
You won't tell me how you took it in;
I admit life ain’t always good.
Busted runnin', tasting sin.
But we'll stick around like we said we would.
Found new triggers; game and set.
We’ll burn it in so they won’t forget.
Like we're headed for the dirt.
Still the stiffs look through us yet.
Getting paid, getting hurt.
This little man's gonna take his bet.
// CHORUS //
Young sailor look and run.
See what's left to be won.
Why we stay once we're done.
Find our way, back in the sun.
// VERSE 2 //
I can't tell you what life's about,
but we ain’t ones for steppin’ out.
Bottomed out and took their turn.
We're bouncing back without a doubt,
in their wake; we felt the burn.
Close our eyes, and hear them shout.
All patched up and re-supplied.
Set up shop on the other side.
Did you get those special dues?
Went off the scene now we'll bust it wide.
Cruisin' young, makin’ news.
The only time we're brushed aside.
// CHORUS //
// VERSE 3 //
Stuck in that same point of view.
When all you reached for has fallen through.
No one chose how they were born.
The past is brewin' and houndin’ you.
You were there, you were warned.
My life has taken a darker hue.
// CHORUS //
|
||||
6. |
Tent City
08:47
|
|||
|
// VERSE 1 //
5th Ave is the last place that I want to be,
but it’s the only place that'll shelter me.
// CHORUS 1 //
Did you see the fire that brought the vision down?
They searched all night, but they never found
our handiwork.
We got lucky LA’s finest never saw.
We tread a thin line on the frontier of the law,
and we get nothing.
// VERSE 2 //
I suppose we were never meant to carry this weight,
that would disguise the eyes that twist our fate.
// CHORUS 2 //
Lefty makes the rounds collecting all the dues.
Hesitating, persuading with a generator fuse.
The money floats up.
This town’s got room for one unrivaled patron saint,
unsympathetic and he wields a .38,
and he knows our names.
// VERSE 3 //
Our sunken pipe dreams were quick to fade away.
A life of crime that fades into a haze of gray.
// CHORUS 3 //
Mikey’s playhouse was the sandlot on the green,
I could have sworn I heard him scream.
Then we saw the news.
His clientele hides in a spring mattress chateau,
on the side of town where the cops will never show.
That’s Tent City.
|
||||
7. |
One Last Trip
07:58
|
|||
|
// VERSE 1 //
The sound of silence fills my mind,
as the dust gives way to sand.
We are the flow in the afterglow,
as we cry and we raise our hands.
// CHORUS //
Run the Sun Down.
One last trip through town.
Run the Sun Down.
Watch the colors blend into sound.
// VERSE 2 //
A wave of envy caves the walls,
around the ones too weak to stay.
Technicolor storms recall a time,
of a nation in decay.
// CHORUS //
// VERSE 3 //
I lived a vivid dream today;
a cloud of fire consumed the sky.
My altered mind has left me here,
in the place that I’ve come to die.
// CHORUS //
|
||||
If you like TopHat, you may also like:
Total Recall 2012
by Aja West & Friends ft. Reggie Watts
In the wake of his passing last month, celebrate the life of musical polymath Aja West with this ’07 masterpiece.
go to album
Something Evil
by Ghost Funk Orchestra
Swinging smooth psychedelic funk from NYC.
go to album
featured on Bandcamp Radio Feb 6, 2024
go to album
Art Between Minds
by E. Lundquist
featured on Bandcamp Radio Jan 16, 2024
go to album
Single Collection Vol.16
by Various Artists
featured on Bandcamp Radio Jul 31, 2023
go to album
Fusion Global Sounds (1970-1983)
by Various
featured on Bandcamp Radio Apr 19, 2022
go to album
Eu Sei / Flutuando
by Ricardo Bomba
featured on Bandcamp Radio Jul 20, 2021
go to album
