The Hold Steady - Sweet Payne Lyrics

Payne Avenue lives up to its name
Some nights it's painful and strange
The whole city seemed sane in the day
But some nights it seems distressed and deranged

The east side's where we met with those guys
That said they'd get us high, but that changed
Now they're down in the basement
And they're bashing out his brains
Kids are getting cut up with the motorcycle chains

And St. Paul had it all when we called
And they were maxing out on medicine
Shaved head and the blood on the bed
And those guys you recognize, they got the same tattoos as Gideon

Strong stuff and she had more than enough
And she was slumping over smiling and sailing off with cherubim
The cityscape skins are kinda kicking it again
They're gonna show these kids some discipline

Gideon's been living up in Bay City, Michigan
And he's been working at the Michelin
He got messed up with some messed up magicians

We got so high some nights Michigan looked just like a mitten
Some nights we got fried
Strung out on residuals and visuals and laser shows
Reach into the speaker and try to hold on to the quarter notes

I always dream about a unified scene
I always dream about a unified scene
Hey, there's James King and there's King James and that's James Dean
At a table in the corner of my unified scene

They want a double order of love and respect
They said they just got back from up in Hostile, Massachusetts
And girl, I've seen your friend, she looks nothing like Jada Pinkett
I think you got something in those cigarettes

Gideon was living up in South Minneapolis
He was the cowboy on the crosstown bus
And all the little phillies at the Yukon Club
Are gunning for the goldrush

We got tangled in electrical fences
We got wrapped up in the Indian fringes
All the little phillies at the Yukon Club
Are gunning for the goldrush
Yeah, they just can't get enough