Lyrics for Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Resto... as interpreted by drinkmilk

Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Resto... Lyrics
Once a great place, now a prison
All I can say, all I can do
People mover: bad decision
From suburban, now a prison
All I can say, all I can do

From the trembling walls, it’s a great idea!
Everything you want, it’s a great idea!

Once a great place, now a prison
All I can say, all I can do

Henry Ford, Henry Ford
Public trans, public trans
Pontiac, Pontiac
Feed the poor, feed the poor
City Hall, City Hall
Windsor Park, Windsor Park
Saginaw, Saginaw
After dark, after dark
Tigers game, Tigers game
Eighty-four, eighty-four
Industry, industry
Unemployed, unemployed
Gun control, gun control
Wolverine, wolverine
Iroquois, Iroquois
Industry, industry
Public trans, public trans
Auto cars, auto cars
Jefferson, Jefferson
Michigan, Michigan

From the trembling walls, it’s a great idea!
Everything you want, it’s a great idea!
From the Renaissance, it’s a great idea!
Everything you want, it’s a great idea!
Throw them all away, it’s a great idea!
From the Renaissance, it’s a great idea!
Everything you want
(Hesitate to burn the buildings)

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  • 14 Comments
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avillato
09-23-2008

Rated 0 
I Love this Song..such a great tribute to what once was a great city. "The Paris of the West" Detroit! who boomed during the industrial revolution...but later collapsed because of white flight and suburbanization. I love how Sufjan still has hope for detroir which is great city with so much history as oppose to the lame and boring suburbs

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LeopoldSampsonite
06-28-2008

Rated 0 
iroquois is a streat in detriot with very nice houses i think. I'm guessing it is a very rich part of Detroit.

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bbqamazing
06-11-2008

Rated 0 
unless i am really concentrating on listening to this song, it becomes EXTREMELY obnoxious. but when i really listen, i like it.

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willlliw
11-18-2007

Rated 0 
why does he mention the iroquois? they're from upstate new york , not michigan

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rkaram88
09-17-2007

Rated 0 
I really love this song. I attended university in Detroit and lived there last year. I hated living there, I found it isolating and deadening.
I believe the line about trembling walls is about the demolition of the JL Hudson building in 1998. It was heartbreaking for many to see that building go.

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fursoftasfur
12-09-2006

Rated 0 
sufjan talks about this song, or at least detroit, in his interview on pbs (after acl). i think he said something about how it affects him; how he feels a connection with the town.

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Yalegirl03
12-04-2006

Rated 0 
I love the line "once a great place, now a prison." To think such a catchy song could be written about urban decay. As a student of urban studies, this song rocks.

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arianek
11-01-2006

Rated 0 
Do it up Detroit. DO IT UP! I love sufjan.

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Ails123
08-02-2006

Rated 0 
Well as someone who grew up but a mere river's width from downtown Detroit I'll offer my take on this song: modern Detroit is kinda a tragic place in that it doesn't have much life in it and all attempts to revive it have failed because they were misguided.

For example, "From the Renaissance, it's a great idea!" Is an example of sarcasm. The Renaissance Center in DT Detroit is a huge multiplex that was built with the idea that it would draw people to downtown Detroit and breathe some life back into it (hence "Renessaince"), but it failed because the people who go to the Renaissance centre drive in from suburbia, fulfill their days work and head home without even walking a block into the actual city.

I think the whole song is sacrcastic...not "great ideas!", bad ideas. Bad ideas that lead Detroit even further astray.

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salsa shark
05-19-2006

Rated 0 
>People Mover: Bad Decision.

AND HOW!

>"Tigers game / Eighty-four" makes me grin like crazy every time, though >that too can be seen as a symbol of Detroit's decline- from World Series >champions to the Tigers of today.

Hey, they Tigers are in first place now! Heh.

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AlmightyChrissy
04-15-2006

Rated 0 
"Tigers game / Eighty-four" makes me grin like crazy every time, though that too can be seen as a symbol of Detroit's decline- from World Series champions to the Tigers of today.

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poseurcore
03-19-2005

Rated 0 
http://www.detroitrenaissance.com/index.html

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Raving Lunatic
03-02-2005

Rated 0 
It seems like this song is mostly just an account of the decline of Detroit. I'm confused by the chorus os "From the trembling walls. It's A Great Idea!" as well as "Everything you want..." and "Throw them all away" and "From the Renaissance." Any ideas anyone?

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kemekongka
12-01-2004

Rated 0 
the repetition and melodic focus in this song is lovely, really, it adds depth to lyrics that might be considered bland in another context.

sufjan sure knows what he's doing, eh?

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