A Grand Parade

[Pigfarmer Jr]

A Grand Parade
T.C. Elliott

I thought about the tambourines playing in the band
I thought about the elephants bowing to the stands
I thought about the penguin queen on her throne of ice
I thought about the healing springs of the Osage tribes

A grand parade of idle thoughts are keeping me awake
I think those giant cups of coffee might be my worst mistake

I thought about the garden gnomes and what they do at night
I thought about my blue-green Ford pulling to the right
I thought about a new guitar that costs a bit too much
I thought about my stupid dog digging up the shrubs

A grand parade of idle thoughts are keeping me awake
I think those giant cups of coffee might be my worst mistake

I thought about the front door lock and how it sometimes sticks
I though about the time I fell and somehow sprang my wrist
I thought about my nice green lawn and the moles in the ground
I thought about those awful moles tearing mountains down

A grand parade of idle thoughts are keeping me awake
I think those giant cups of coffee might be my worst mistake

I thought about my poor mom and how she passed away
I can't help but think about that truly awful day

[Heine]

A Grand Parade
by heine

Watch out! There's a grand parade
Can't you hear the drums?
Watch out! There's a grand parade
Don't you hear how the brass hums?
You'd better be home before nightfall
Or you will never come back at all

Watch out! There's a grand parade
They try to steal your heart
Watch out! There's a grand parade
And don't go out too far
You'd better be home before nightfall
Or you will never come back at all

Watch out! There's a grand parade
And the Pied Piper's out there
Watch out! There's a grand parade
He wants your soul - better take care.
You'd better be home before nightfall
Or you will never come back at all

Watch out! There's a grand parade
They will rip out your flesh
Watch out! There's a grand parade
Then sold as sausages for cash
You'd better do what Daddy says
You'd be better off to stay alive, I guess

[jimtyrrell]

A Grand Parade
Jim Tyrrell

Another morning ride
Out the door at dawn
There’s so much going on that we don’t see
It leaves me wondering
Sitting here with you
Just what would I do if I were me

I can see when you’re
Talking to me
That it’s never really what you want to say
Waiting in line for the
One thousandth time
And I’m always caught behind a grand parade

Detours and back roads on
A Banker’s holiday
We ride in silence all the way through town
We change the subject but
It’s still subject to change
Until it feels too strange to hang around

We may be here indefinitely
And I can’t believe that this is where we’ve stayed
Never looking up
Just trudging through the day
Until we find we’re caught inside a grand parade

I can see when you’re
Smiling at me
There’s something in your eyes gives you away
Waiting in line for the
One thousandth time
And I’m always caught behind a grand parade

[shoehornTC]

A Grand Parade - ShoehornTC

It's a grand parade
In the back of my brain
And frame by frame
I think of you….

You're every float
And every band
Every piece of candy
In my sticky hand

I sit in my chair
In the middle of town
Can't help but stare
As the sun beats down

You're the beauty queen
With the awkward wave
It's a crazy scene
Yah a grand parade….

[gizo]

A Grand Parade - Stacking Theory

Spoiler

This song was written as a response to Joy Sitler's beautiful SpinTunes 22 Round 1 song, 'Parade'

yeh

Joy, I'd like to make this clear
our world's a grand parade
and grander when you're here
I'd rather walk in your rain
than feel the sun and watch you slowly, slowly disappear

and I would write a thousand songs
about hope and love and sadness
and our need to get along
yeah I would write a thousand songs
and I would write them all for you
I would write them all for you
I would write them all for you

hey

[the panna cotta army]

A Grand Parade
The Pannacotta Army

Roll out a grand parade
The medals and gold braid
Flamboyantly displayed

Waving the flags aloft
We won’t be written off
We’re showing we’ve not gone soft

Hey world, we’ve got lots of muscle
Hey world, so don’t give us trouble

Here comes a grand parade
Of all our armed comrades
Get ready to be amazed

It’s all a show of strength
Marching in tight sequence
Tanks and ICBMs

Hey world, we’ve got lots of muscle
Hey world, so don’t look for trouble

This is the Day of the Sun
To celebrate Kim Il Sung

[arby]

A Grand Parade (LW | RG)

Constantine digs ditches for the man
he tries for Gold but he'll only be a Silver
sweating in the heat while mosquitoes eat his flesh
he wants to marry but she doesn't need a man

Alexander sells Hoovers door to door
sometimes the housewives beg him for more
he gives them what they want but they don't return it
he has to go to his boss and say he didn't earn it

when I die
when I die
when i die
they better give me a grand parade

Geraldine is sick of waiting
for Constantine to get his shit together
two children under five, she’s barely alive
leaves them with her mom and flees the country

Caledonia was only seventeen
when she married Alexander
ninth of thirteen, she had to get away
he offered an escape and she took him up on it

when I die
when I die
when i die
they better give me a grand parade

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES:

Spoiler

These are loosely based on a few of our ancestors' stories (I am a hyuuuge genealogy nerd). For example, Christoper Constantine Burton worked on the Panama Canal in the 1910-20s. The "Gold" and "Silver" refers to the workers' classifications - obviously Gold status paid more, but were more management roles reserved for whites, whereas the Black rank and file workers were only given a Silver classification. For further reading, see "Dying to Better Themselves" by Olive Senior and "The Silver Men" by Velma Newton.

[seemanski]

A Grand Parade
See-Man-Ski

I thought life would be this grand parade
but I'm left with a thousand reasons
it ain't this way
and I was hoping you could tell why

I thought time would pass by easily
but I'm looking an hour glass for company
and the company I keep
has left me dry

and I beg and I plead

I thought life would be this grand parade
but I'm always looking for a reason to end the day
staring at a blank wall or shuffling my feet

I thought that everything would fall into place
if I just pushed on through and then kept my face
I could watch the world disappear
underneath my feet

and I begged and I pleaded

and all the while I just needed you
to listen

[<3]

A Grand Parade
by <3

I do not want you going outside right now
There are so many things to see
It’s going to overwhelm and how
You will not be very happy

The giant duck is gonna quack
And the dogs are gonna bark in back
And the Marshall of the big parade
Doesn’t care if you feel safe

and the TV man is gonna say
it is such a lovely sunny day
and I know you want to go out and play
but I want you to say inside

I do not want you going outside right now
There are so many things to see
Why not stay inside and meow?
I just want you to be happy

The clowns will juggle and the bands will play
And the noise will scare you far away
So let’s stay cozy all the day
Inside where we are safe

I do not think you will want to be
Outside out there away from me
So let’s just drink a cup of tea
In the morning we will play

I do not want you going outside right now
There are so many things to see
I am feeling overwhelmed and now
I just want to be happy

[DutchWidows]

A Grand Parade
The Dutch Widows

A grand parade of geeks and freaks and goons
Getting high on patchouli and cheap perfume
Getting high cos there’s nothing here to do

Something soothing in the way we choose to move
Little steps slowly spinning to confuse
Little steps holding hands is what we do

Every day we’re getting closer to the sun
Such a waste it’s like we’ve only just begun
Every day we’re getting closer to the sun

A grand parade of weirdos, freaks and nerds
Call us names, it looks like no-one heard
Call us names, you seem a touch absurd

Every day we’re getting closer to the sun
Such a waste it’s like we’ve only just begun
Every day we’re getting closer to the sun

Every moment is a precious little moment that I wished I’d saved in a jar
All this is fleeting and I know this is fleeting and life just doesn’t seem to go that far

A grand parade of loonies, geeks and freaks
We hold our ground as if we own these streets
We hold our ground, we’re doing what we please

Every day we’re getting closer to the sun
Such a waste it’s like we’ve only just begun
Every day we’re getting closer to the sun

And we all know who you are
And we all know who you are
And we all know who you are now
It’s safer in a crowd

[Heather. Redmon.]

A Grand Parade
The Hell Yeahs

A hundred at a time, a klepto conga line
Those Bucherons and BVLGARIs are mine
Ninety-nine and me, all uniformed identically
Clearin’ out the counters so efficiently

All that glitters, take it with us

Got the best plans laid for a grand parade
A hundred strong and we’re not afraid
A single-file swarm invade

Got the best plans laid for a grand parade
Yves St. Laurent and Cartier
A single-file swarm invade
Then back into the night we fade

Like trick or treatin’, or maybe finders keepin’
Take one and pass it back
Relax! Attack! And put it in the sack

Smashin’ and grabbin’, I’ll have what she’s havin’
Two hundred handfuls happen,
Gimme that and that and that and that

All the glitters take it with us

Many hands tend to lighten the load
And this love of luxury is contagious
We’ll take the lot, and we’ll get it to go
Cuz we’re truly truly truly outrageous

Marchin through the mall, they could never stop us all
Keep it moving, confident and cool and casual
A human millipede feasting on your jewelry
All for one and one for all and Tiffany for me

All that glitters, take it with us

Got the best plans laid for a grand parade
A hundred strong and we’re not afraid
A single-file swarm invade

Got the best plans laid for a grand parade
Yves St. Laurent and Cartier
A single-file swarm invade
Then back into the night we fade

[Caravan Ray]

A Grand Parade
caravan ray

I will be walking down this road
I will be walking down this path to salvation
Join me on this lonely road
Will you follow me?

Follow me
Follow me

Bring your baggage, bring your scars
Every story, every star
Every journey near or far
Find out who we truly are
Bring your burdens, bring your fears
Bring your laughter, bring your tears
Bring your burdens, bring your fears
We will break down the frontiers

Forget the plans you've made
Join my grand parade
Let all around you fade
and follow me

[glennny]

A Grand Parade -Glennny

Verse One:
Ladies and Germs,
it might be unspoken
you may follow along
if you're damaged or broken
if you’ve lost all your friends
and you need a commotion
don't sit around sad
just take this promotion

Pre-Chorus:
Just follow us
And strut your stuff

Chorus:
it’s a grand parade of love and spectacle
freaks and geeks and pseudo intellectuals
a grand parade to melt your oculars.
torture and pain administered jocular.

Verse Two:
Dragons and Wyrms
If you’re dressed in drag and
You’re needing to learn
How to fit your fit in
You’re coming to terms
With the sermon or serpents
Don’t be concerned
Just fall in formation

Pre-Chorus:
Just follow us
And strut your stuff

Chorus:
it’s a grand parade of love and spectacle
freaks and geeks and pseudo-intellectuals
a grand parade to melt your oculars.
torture and pain administered jocular.

Bridge
If you're tired of being wholesome
come join us here on Folsom Street

Pre-Chorus:
Just follow us
And strut your stuff

Chorus:
it’s a grand parade of love and spectacle
freaks and geeks and pseudo-intellectuals
a grand parade to melt your oculars.
torture and pain administered jocular.

End-Chorus:
a grand parade
of rainbows and robots
you're in San Francisco
in case you’re misplaced or forgot

[HeuristicsInc]

“A Grand Parade” by Heuristics Inc.

Do your part for the Party
Do your best to do your duty
Any job the chief gives you
Even if it's something you hate
And if you're ruthless and lucky
You can be the chief
And

Chorus:
If you survive
You can wave at the grand parade
If you don’t die
You can wave at the grand parade

Fly under the radar
Don’t become a target
Watch out for the Purge
And Investigation
If you don’t go to Siberia
You just might be the chief
And

[Chorus]

Old before your time
You could take the cure
But will that make you strong
Or will it make you weak

[Chorus]
[Chorus]

[ElaineDiMasi]

by Miss Fancy Pants
---

if music be the food of love,
now beat the drum and tabor
offer a prayer to our patron saint
and a curtsey to our neighbor
through town we wend our lines
til a pageant we have made
o the ringing of our voices makes a grand parade

with pageantry we celebrate,
we know tableau vivant
with past and future on display,
to devils we say: avaunt!
through town we wend our lines
til our homage we have made
and our patron saint he smiles upon our grand parade

[AJOwens]

You’re gonna find my band in the Grand Parade

The Grand Parade began to march two dozen years ago
To find the vanguard that’s how far ahead you have to go
Some bands have been there from the start and some joined near the end
But everybody has a part, and all the bands are friends
Welcome to a grand parade

Not every band is famous and yet all of them are stars
With brass and woodwinds, synths and drums, and plenty of guitars
Some use Logic, some use Reaper, some are more Audacious
Some of them are Tascam-y and some are more Cubaceous
Welcome all to a grand parade

They’ve been through flames, they’ve been through floods
They just keep marching on
Nothing’s gonna stop them now
Not even “meta” songs (but AI’s coming on. . .)

Welcome to a grand parade
You’re gonna find my band in the Grand Parade

[slyeli]

A Grand Parade
Sell Crazy

I can’t take it
It’s getting harder to breath
Don’t you tell me
It’s just the way that I perceive
I can’t take it anymore
I wanna know what you’re trying to score

I can’t fake it
I’m not wired to deceive
I won’t back down
’til this union starts to bleed
I can’t take it anymore
I wanna know what you’re trying to score

You drink a little a lot
We live in arguments forgot
And no-one’s leaving here
Alive

A grand parade of me and you
All the things that we’ve been through
But every second word was
A lie

I won’t break this
There’s too many memories here to grieve
Gimme some tough love
I’ve been aching to receive
I can’t take it anymore
I wanna know what you’re trying to score

[Pigfarmer Jr]

A Grand Parade
Dead Ambassadors

Listen to their promises
But don't believe a word
Snakes and liars and hypocrites
Politicians are absurd

Don't believe their lies
Don't believe their tales
Don't believe a word they say
A Grand Parade
A Grand Parade
A Grand Parade

Snake oil sales and tall tales
Marketing 101
When in doubt they'll start a war
Watch them bang their drums

Don't believe their lies
Don't believe their tales
Don't believe a word they say
A Grand Parade
A Grand Parade
A Grand Parade

[bgm]

A Grand Parade
by bgm
you ruin everything you see
it’s like some twisted jamboree
you smile at the lyrics and chords
of the total destruction you’re marching towards
behold, the great mess you have made
It’s your grand parade

a cavalcade of your mistakes
you promenade while your life breaks
all of your fragmented pieces might fit
if you’d only stop prancing around like a tit
behold, the great mess you have made
It’s your grand parade

even a Grand Marshall sometimes forgets
but your mind is all popcorn and proud majorettes
so we’ll sweep up confetti at dawn
and try to move on

you smile at the lyrics and chords
of the total destruction you’re marching towards
behold, the great mess you have made
It’s your grand parade
Behold, the great mess you have made
It’s your grand parade

[Phil. Redmon.]

A Grand Parade
by Abominominous

This line, selling the time to your mind
If number go up everything will be fine
These guys, drivin’ the crime
Pullin’ the wool, bear and the bull, “it’s alive!”
Awright, infinite growth is a joke
It’s blood from a stone and it’s Tony Bologna
The line that they shown ya’

Hand over hand, funneling “worth”
As everything everywhere worsens
It circulates upward
Parading from your person

All rise, nickel and dime your behinds
The more you can give’ll be good for the line
Get by, we all gotta sac-a-ri-fice
Nobody knows why, tale the same age as time
All blind, progress is best for “their kind”
You know them dudes i’m alluding to
The dudes that are screwin’ you right over

There’s a line in the sand every mornin’
And we cross it with impunity
In the basket, you put the lotion
‘Cuz they threaten you with poverty
Grind away and pay protection
Every bill is a threat
Every hope is a bet
Are your eyes getting wet
Have you guessed it yet?
Make a check to consent
All the blood you can let
Everything they can get
Everything they can get
Everything they can get

Good Grief, they’re selling us right to sleep
Chanting “i got mine” just to feel some relief
Say what? It’s a pay up, a shut up, a shut out
A get out or turn your fuckin’ pockets out
This course is beggin’ to be corrected
The system, hate to say it, buddy, pretty infected
Of course “It’s A Good Life If Your Don’t Weaken”
An’ I’m hopin’ that the rich’ll get eaten

[Paco Del Stinko]

A Grand Parade - Paco del Stinko

A thousand fools deep every lecher and creep
March by my window each day
I watch through the glass as they make their way past
And wonder how they ever lost their way

Break out the band
Join the parade
It's just oh so grand
Even if you get played
And you will oh yes you will
You will get played

They stumble ahead frothing and braindead
Spittle and drool from their mouths
Beckoning and pointing I'll never be joining
As they endlessly move by my house

Jonestown didn't have a parade
And not everyone wanted the Kool-Aid
But they drank it anyway
They drank it anyway

Ingested thoughts of the herd from vile scabrous words
Like lemmings without a cliff
Locusts eating the crops pesticides cannot stop
The putrid stench from the very first whiff

[Ross]

They drew the shades today
Not a cloud in the sky
And they rolled me right up to the window
Cause I’m a very important guy
Can’t wait for the bands to come by
They say that there’s a parade today
Bu I can’t remember why

And I’ve got a window seat
For the Grand Parade
With music and bright colors
And a princess and her maids
And men on tiny motorbikes
And clowns in masquerade
I’ve got a front row seat, for the grand parade

And maybe once I could have been the Grand Marshall
Everyone calls me sir around here
I could have sat in the back of a convertible Corvette
And waved to all my fans from far and near

Or maybe it was me, the great drum major
With pomp and circumstance and baton aflight
The battery awaits my every whistle
And the woodwinds making sure that every single note is right

Instead I’ve a window seat
For the Grand Parade
With music and bright colors
And a princess and her maids
And men on tiny motorbikes
And clowns in masquerade
I’ve got a front row seat, for the grand parade

They’re throwing candy I can’t catch
Can they see me waving back?
Or saluting to our boys in navy blue?
The parade is passing by
And though there’s not a cloud in the sky
I’ll still be here behind this window when it’s through

So somehow I’m sure I must have been a clown
Made a fool and laughed at by all the crowd
With selzer in my face, and a run-around for chase
And a tear below my eye, all mime, no sound

But I’ve got a window seat
For the Grand Parade
With music and bright colors
And a princess and her maids
And men on tiny motorbikes
And clowns in masquerade
I’ve got a front row seat, for the grand parade

They drew the shades today
Not a cloud in the sky
And they rolled me right up to the window
Cause I’m a very important guy
They tell me clowns and bands came by
There was a parade today
Bu I can’t remember why

There was a parade today
Bu I can’t remember why