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American Time

from Hail Bohemia by John Shakespear

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lyrics

Tommy and I moving slow through the American night
Weaving back and forth under endless streetlights
Summertime sticks to our American skin
When I think about it man, I don’t know where to begin

A cigarette lit in his left hand tracing
Float like a firefly down to the station
Cop a couple seats on the midnight train
Ride it to the edge of the American plains

Oh we used to think that we could live forever
Sipping on the gold in the American weather
But the gold it was stolen from the sacred earth
And no-one really knows what the hell it’s worth
Oh even if we ride all night
We’ll still be living on American time

Tommy and I we got a rock ‘n’ roll band
But I don’t think we’re ever gonna understand
The blood underneath all of these swimming pools
Or the pills Tommy takes for his whitewashed blues

But I can still remember back when we were young
The radio told us maybe we could run
Outrun our demons, outrun our myths
30 miles high on that American bliss

Oh we used to think that we could live forever
Sipping on the gold in the American weather
But the gold it was stolen from the sacred earth
And no-one really knows what the hell it’s worth
Oh even if we ride all night
We’ll still be living on American time

But there’s heroes in the cracks
And lovers in the basement
And everyone I love
is in the backroom getting wasted
Tommy’s in the back screaming hail bohemia
I swear it almost made me a true believer

Early in the summer of our great decline
Well the ship was sinking but the ship was mine
Janey met us down at the local place
And just for a second, we all felt safe

credits

from Hail Bohemia, released May 17, 2023

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John Shakespear Brooklyn, New York

John Shakespear writes albums that tell a story from start to finish. The next one, 'Hail Bohemia,' comes out on May 17.

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