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The Death of the Punchline
The Hold Steady
Popularity ยท Low
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๐ฌ๐ง English ยท Original
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Lyrics
Original
Translation
Bilingual
The Gemini genuflects and says a Hail Mary
For his money on the Monday night game
The girl in the sequins let him buy her a Sea Breeze
But he still don't think she's using her real name
Me, I'm on the border with my back in the corner
The way it's been since we closed out the war
I've seen this whole scene play out here before
The Gemini flying high 'til he screams when he sees what the score is
ย
Back in my homeland, our heroes were hardcore
Mad on martyrs but the matinee shows
The theme of our prom was Band in DC
And the last dance was "We Gotta Know"
My date came in late wearing clove cigarettes
Like some uptown Dracula debutante
The sketch looked like extras from the set of River's Edge and the
Straights kinda seemed like old astronauts from back in the fifties
Floating freely on black and white TVs
Baring their teeth to sell junk in the ads before movies
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I got out of the service and got in some
Business with a guy that I met at Fort Jackson
He said Pensacola's under his cousin's control
But he could probably cut me in on some action
Long story quick, my partner got sick but
He showed me how to shake the right hands
Stayed in the biz, took a hit, did a bid
And now I'm trying to manage some bands
I'm looking for sad kids writing anthems for the big time
Hands in the air and a flag at half-mast on the grapevine
I'm mining the American dream at the death of the punchline
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I was watching the news and they showed me this
Dude who made two billion bucks playing videos
I printed up cards that said "Seeker of
Stars" for the people I don't already know
I haven't hit yet, but I'm sharpening my pitch
And this one guy brought me out to his restaurant
When he made the proposal to merge and go global, he
Was touching me under the table with his eyes on the TV
And his three points on the home team (Of a lifetime)
A gin in his blood from a lifetime in
Front of some bar keep (Of a lifetime)
The jokes in his head to break up the
Ice at the parties (Of a lifetime)
Trying to find someone to laugh after the death of the punchline
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