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The City Phenomenal

by Billy Cromb

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1.
Across The Prairies 02:19
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We rented the cheapest, smallest U-haul that we could We got it seven hours later than they said that we would We loaded as much furniture, books and kitchen stuff as we could manage in I left my old bicycle in the alleyway We set off across the prairies the next morning We made good time, our hearts were pumping in our chests We smuggled our pet lizard into a motel room in Regina Because we were scared they'd try to charge a pet deposit When we arrived it was drizzling rain and our new landlord was on the highway On his way home from his cottage at the lake We grabbed dinner at the neighborhood pub and deli You ordered grasshopper out of loyalty to home By the time we got the keys to our new apartment, it was pouring The place was buzzing with mosquitoes inside We carried all of our belongings up the narrow Wolseley stairs And collapsed into our mattress on the floor
2.
Home, Sick 02:16
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I used to have this recurring fantasy Every time I crossed the Glenmore dam I wondered what would happen to someone like me If I fell in, would I sink or swim? Now I slow down my bike every time that I approach the thing And pedal myself across so cautiously My eyes take in every little crack in the pavement of the path I don't look out I don't look down I don't look back Now I get on and off of every wrong bus in Winnipeg And walk around lost like I used to do, back home Sometimes I end up far from where I started from But some days it's just nice to be alone There isn't that same terror living with no relief I feel it maybe existentially It's more metaphorical than real, you see If winter doesn't, summer will kill me
3.
Palliser's Triangle 02:51
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Don't you know I tried to call you From the highway on my way home But the cell tower Reception isn't so good Even when all the signal has Is bald prairie to cross There's a distance we can't bridge I squint my eyes against the sunlight And look out across the badlands Scanning the horizon for a sign of life Maybe somebody understands The sun is high in a cloudless sky The horizon is clear on all sides There's a distance we can't bridge Remembering back when I was so naive I thought we'd all stay grounded in the same place Now even with thousands of kilometers of highways and railways and infrastructure Distance is a barrier that we can't break down, that we can't ignore So yeah I tried to call you From the highway on my way home I was wondering if You're gonna be in town this summer anytime I crumble the dry, lifeless sand Of Palliser's Triangle in my hand There's a distance we can't bridge
4.
Darryl 02:14
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When it gets cold, Darryl warms up in the plus-15s He knows all the spots that the cameras can't quite see And the security guards will sometimes drag him out to the cold streets but They never get too rough where the lunchtime crowds might see So he sleeps through the day Oh, and he roams the city at night He's scrounged enough change For three small coffees at Tim Hortons Those will get him through until the morning And he's lucky tonight They won't call the police or ask him to leave when it's this cold And it's the same cat and mouse game with cops and with prospective employers You know, they'll only pick a guy with a cell phone these days and some social worker told him that he couldn't afford one He's exhausted waiting in line at the temp place By ten AM it's apparent there will be no work today anyways So he sleeps through the day Oh, and he roams the city at night He's scrounged enough change For three small coffees at Tim Hortons Those will get him through until the morning And he's lucky tonight They won't call the police or ask him to leave when it's this cold
5.
Overnight Lows 03:35
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It's getting colder I can see the ice fog Off in the distance Coming from the river, blown by the wind It's getting dangerous Outside, out there I heard on the radio it takes an absurdly short time To freeze exposed skin And me, well I'm on One of my worts overnight lows Overnight lows and windchill warnings Last night I dreamed the cops came and kicked my door in Pulled me out of bed by the collar of my PJs And left me to die in the snow Overnight lows and windchill warnings I could leave it all behind for a life that's boring In a place warm and serene Simple and predictable I'm losing perspective Or at least depth perception Oh, who am I kidding I can't see a damn thing My glasses are frosted over It gets me paranoid Looking over my shoulder Straining my ears to hear anything Over the howl of the wind
6.
Artificial Lake 02:24
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You were trapped out in the middle Of that artificial lake You believed the ice was thick enough But it could not hold your weight They sent in the helicopters They managed to resuscitate you But you haven't been the same person since The doctors said that you were dead for close to half a minute The freezing water still holds some piece of you Trapped out in the suburbs Amidst all the banality Far from home, now Far from the life that you now lead Alone in the winter With empty recreational facilities Warm and wanted in the summer months
7.
Intermission 04:02
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A washed out green aurora illuminates the night It's like a giant put a magnet next to a TV in the sky Sometimes it is so magical just to see the northern lights, but it's as if A shabby imitation took its place tonight They're revving engines in the McDonald's parking lot They're getting ready for 3 AM street races up and down Bow Bottom Trail They're lining up just before close at the Liquor Barn Ferrying last minute beer runs home to house parties in Deer Run And If I wait long enough I'll be alone with the howl of the wind And the hum of the streetlights on these sidewalks I call home I imagine every darkened house as the set of some great tragedy In intermission with these dim green houselights up I walk along the ridge just taking in it all I walk along the ridge just trying to recall Did I ever have an identity that wasn't wrapped up in nostalgia For experience I hated at the time?
8.
The Weather as a Metaphor 03:37
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There's always a new chinook around the corner Or another storm of golf ball sized hail Hanging over your shoulder Like a cartoon devil and angel The weather as a metaphor Or is it a school of sorts that made you this way? The way that you live The instincts you have The trouble that you borrow And refuse to give back The fight that you put up When the wolf is at the door The absence of comfort Always wanting more The weather as a metaphor There's a new war on in the middle east And you know what that means for the price of oil For some it'll mean an opportunity But it'll mean tragedy for more
9.
I love the city 02:16
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I love the city but it don't love me I miss the way things used to be Sometimes I just drive around Remembering Before The bulldozers came took away the landscape I knew There's where the cafe was, a few years back That was our friends place, but don't look back It's an empty gravel lot inside the fence Soon they'll put up something I won't comprehend With this backwards-looking ball in my head I want answers the city can't give me I want a home that stays the same for just a little while I love the city but it don't love me We've got a complicated relationship you see There's the city, the streets the buildings then there's me We both expect the other to be something we can never really be
10.
Somebody owes Roy Rogers an apology 02:56
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They sing happy trails to you, at the end of the thing every year and it always leaves a bitter taste in my mouth Is there a peaceful goodbye, for the folks that they put out of a home? Is that new casino close to worth it at all? And the teenage kids at the grandstand sing a rousing song The fireworks will be starting soon From scotsman's hill folks watch, with a sense of awe and wariness As if it was a nuclear test Brace yourselves Until we meet again Brace yourselves Keep smiling until then They sing happy trails to you, Even the rodeo clowns are waving goodbye, to you Don't be fooled by their smiles, they're painted on They need to conceal, their terror when they're in the muck Being chased by angry livestock But the message of the song is clear get into your cars if you're not too drunk Or wait with the drunks at the train platform Head on home and please don't come back till next year You don't want to see what they've been doing with the neighbourhood Brace yourselves Until we meet again Brace yourselves Keep smiling until then Well no ten gallon hat can hide the bald spots where they ripped it up It's a parking lot now I hope they're happy now, the heart of a heartless new west Cutting off the head to spite the cowboy hadt the teenage kids at the grandstand sing a rousing song The fireworks will be starting soon From scotsman's hill folks watch, with a sense of awe and wariness As if it was a nuclear test Brace yourselves Until we meet again Brace yourselves Keep smiling until then
11.
Know by Now 03:06
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I'm dissapointed my friend You missed the point again You should know by now You should know by now that There's no such thing at all in this world As an easy way out It's not on a highway sign It's not on a railway line You should know by now You should know by now that There's no such thing at all in this world As an easy way out There's all sorts of people that will try to sell you an escape But honestly there is only one way Just the hard work of living we do The only way out is through Look up at the stars in the sky Under their pale light You should know by now You shuould know by now
12.
City Traffic 03:21
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I love the city traffic I know that everyone says they hate it, but I love the way it passes I love the rising dust It's like an ocean crashing It's like a hand of god It gets my heartbeat racing Where else can you get that danger today? We're just like ancient sailors We leave don't know when we'll come back Your heart's a lump in your throat each time you pass The wreck of a crash What washes up on these shorelines Ditches, highway medians Bits of shredded tire, abandoned hubcaps Shattered pieces of shatterproof glass I love the city traffic

about

I've spent the last two years slowly learning more about recording, writing songs, and recording them in my living room. This album is the result. It's about my complicated relationship with my home city, Calgary, Alberta.

You can find more of my music at my homepage, billycromb.com

credits

released November 10, 2012

All songs by Billy Cromb, all instruments played or sequenced by Billy Cromb. Postcard in album art courtesy of Peel's Prairie Provinces (peel.library.ualberta.ca), a digital initiative of the University of Alberta Libraries.

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Billy Cromb Vancouver, British Columbia

DIY recording artist in Vancouver.

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