Watching the Stampede fireworks is always a strange experience. It's an incredible show, and one of the rare times you'll find everyone in a neighborhood all together, at the various spots around the inner city that give you a good view. But it always makes me think of the homeless people I met who got evicted when the Stampede bought up and tore down an enormous swath of East Victoria park. A lot of Calgarians treat any crticism of the Stampede as an attack on the city itself, but what do you do when the stampede attacks the city?
lyrics
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
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