There’s a backyard show where everybody goes ‘cause everybody knows at this masquerade They wear strange costumes and heave water balloons and one kid’s dressed up like a deviled egg That’s when I say, “ What’s this? There’s something that I’ve missed there ain’t nothing like this back in Upstate” But “When in Louisville,” they say, “join the crazy ballet” So with blazing waterguns I join the fray
Yes I learned on that day what local flavor means With a dinner made from dumpsters on Kentucky streets You won’t learn anything tied up in restaurant chains Why bother traveling if it all just tastes the same?
On the guidebook page a travel-weary sage is sharing the best secrets from her latest trek Then the tourists come and money builds it up and pretty soon the place is just a wreck But when I hit the road I want pie a la mode from a café where they don’t wear uniforms Where the salt of the earth season their hometown turf with art that you can’t find in any store
Yes I know there’s nothing new out on the interstate And a journey’s pointless if the asphalt mediates You won’t find anything if you’re tied with retail chains Why bother traveling if it all just looks the same
There’s a warehouse show out in New Mexico and films are being screened up on a Brooklyn roof Basement galleries in Knoxville, Tennessee and Tallahassee games under the moon So will you come with me to either shining sea to cleanse the monoculture from our souls? Then we’ll roam town to town listening for any sound that can tell us they’re having a show So raise a glass of your sweat to acknowledge the debt that we owe to our most gracious hosts