We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

lyrics

Stations

We took the R to Times Square
Traipsed clumsily amongst the garish lights
Gawped in wonder at the somehow familiar sights
Swept along by waves of humanity
Swerved the contrived crap of the tourist traps
Anathema to those who abandon maps
Turned to spaghetti by the NY singularity

We took the G to Williamsburg
Ground zero of the hipster buzz
Plaid shirts and beards of elongated fuzz
And I felt strangely at home
Orange Juice played sweetly in the cafe bar
Surprised that something I loved could come so far
But you're always you, wherever you roam

We took the Q to Coney Island
Feasted on the faded grandeur
Laid bare our fears with brutal candour
Rode a rollercoaster that refused to die
Won cheap soft toys as complimentary prizes
Carnival games cloaked in traditional guises
A kitsch timewarp gone awry

We took the E to The World Trade Centre
Mass grave rendered as tourist attraction
Scale of death faded into abstraction
As the tourists took their selfies
On the memorial my name appeared again and again
Underlining the mortality of men
Bred to be selfish

We took the ferry to Staten Island
Small town America besieged by metropolis
An eerie quiet bearing down on top of us
And we wondered why anyone would live here
In the shadow of the greatest city in the world
Our incongruity and abuse we hurled
As we set out from the pier

We took the 2 to The Bronx
Lou Reed's prophesy fulfilled
My inner contentment distilled
Such a perfect day at the zoo
Amid the red pandas, tapirs and racoons
Lemurs, marmosets and baboons
A better day I never knew

We took the 7 to Flushing Meadows
Observed the baseball ritual as the rain formed pools
Consumed beer and hotdogs as we struggled to follow the rules
Dull sport transformed into spectacle
We confronted the Unisphere in all its flawed wonder
Forgotten folly of a world torn asunder
Symbol of unity reduced to receptacle

We took the N to Central Park
Collective backyard of all Manhattan
Where everything and nothing simultaneously happens
A sprawling lawn of oasis and calm
Re-appropriated suddenly as concert or rally
Then reclaimed just as quickly by pond or valley
A reminder that we hold nature in our palm

We took the M to the East Village
Where ethnic institutions dance in social flirtation
Character battles against gentrification
And this was why I came here
A constantly changing portrait of a city in flux
Of a community of individuals who do not give a fuck
A forgotten New York that some still hold dear

We took a plane from JFK
And in a haze we floated back to reality
Traversed the sky absent of locality
And I felt no lust to wander
Anywhere but that patchwork city
Where the streets alternate between resplendent and gritty
And we had our whole lives to squander

credits

from N​.​Y​.​C​.​E​.​P., released June 9, 2014

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Kevin P. Gilday Glasgow, UK

Kevin P. Gilday is an award-winning writer and spoken word artist from Glasgow, Scotland.

contact / help

Contact Kevin P. Gilday

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Kevin P. Gilday, you may also like: