Ode to the Faces (At Least I Got to Hang Out With You)

by CJ Coolsen

Verse--
Alabama, was where you used to throw your hat on the floor
You're too capricious, for a world in pieces
when the Kaiser's got an arm in the door
Here comes the boy with aspirations
living off the fountain of youth
We skip to Times Square, short hair, New Year's party
drinkin' from a champagne flute

Chorus--
What a Sign of the Times
It's great to be alive, kickin' out the old for the new
The last to arrive, 'cause all the people inside
always see the day as a small price to pay
And if this ever gets boring, I'll just take a bow and burn it out
But if you ever went crazy, I might die
I don't know what I'd do, but at least I could say
I got to hang out with you
At least I got to hang out with you

Verse--
Trip Fantastic, a proclamation for the state that we're in
I'm superstitious, but it's so delicious
when you're drownin' in a bathtub of gin
So now I'm reachin' up to heaven, and I'm flippin' off the Lordy
and I'm never gonna stop, well at least 'til 1940
Then we take the A train across the ocean
until the end of this revolution

Bridge--
Don't write down anything I can live without
But where's my protection when you scream and shout
And how'd we come to the Great White Hunter
everything that could put us under
Can you remember when it used to be sugar and spice
on This Side of Paradise

Verse--
Culture babies, we used to break the rules on a whim
The Great Depression is the word in session
for the nation goin' out on a limb
And now the fat cats, in top hats, are messin' with my money
and all we did was dance the Lindy, well I guess it's pretty funny
So I'll take it in the way I do, as long as I still have you

Chorus--
What a Sign of the Times
It's great to be alive, kickin' out the old for the new
The last to arrive, 'cause all the people inside
always see the day as a small price to pay
And if this ever gets boring, I'll just take a bow and burn it out
And if we ever went crazy, we'll just fade away
But at least they could say
I got to hang out with you
At least I got to hang out with you



Sittin' in a cafe, I think we finally landed
and we're talkin' 'bout the freedom that we used to take for granted
'cause we're strangers in a foreign land,
where all the people sing:
OO LA LA
OO LA LA LA LA
OO LA LA
OO LA LA LA LA

Liftin' up the hemlines, bullets on St. Valentines
Chaplin on the big screen, Time has got a magazine
Nazis in the beer hall, hopin' for the big fall
Jazz in the backroom, jammin' out the new boom
Calvin's keepin' quiet, while the Klan is at the Hyatt
And the women that we're goting, gettin' sick of never voting
If you're taken what is given, you could lose your inhibitions
But it really doesn't matter,

OH MY GOD, IT'S PROHIBITION!!!!


(What I wouldn't give to hear CJ sing this again...)