Lyrics for On the Bus Mall as interpreted by EyesSoBright

On the Bus Mall Lyrics
In matching blue raincoats
Our shoes were our showboats
We kicked around
From stairway to station
We made a sensation
With the gadabout crowd

And oh, what a bargain
We're two easy targets
For the old men at the off tracks
Who paid in palaver and crumpled old dollars
Which we squirelled away
In our rat-trap hotel by the freeway
And we slept in Sundays

Your parents were anxious
Your cool was contagious
At the old school
You left without leaving
A note for your grieving sweet mother
While your brother was so cruel

And here in the alleys
Your spirits will rally
As you learn quick to make a fast buck
In bathrooms and barrooms
On dumpsters and heirlooms
We bit our tongues
Sucked our lips into our lungs
Because we were falling
Such was our calling

And here in our hovel
We fuse like a family
But I will not mourn for you
So take up your make-up
And pocket your pills away
We're kings among runaways
On the bus mall
We're down on the bus mall

Among all the urchins
And old Chinese merchants
At the old town
We reigned at the pool hall
With one iron cue ball
And we never let the bastards get us down

And we laughed off the quick tricks
And the old men with limp dicks
On the colonnades at the waterfront park
As four in the morning
Came on cold and boring
We huddled close in the bus-stop enclosure enfolding
Our hands tightly holding

And here in our hovel
We fuse like a family
But I will not mourn for you
So take up your make-up
And pocket your pills away
We're kings among runaways
On the bus mall
We're down on the bus mall

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Imposs1ble
01-24-2005

Rated 0 
I love this song so I have to be anal and make some corrections. Sorry.

"our shoes were our showboats"
"we made a sensation with the gadabout crowd"
"we're two easy targets"
"who paid in palaver"
"your parents were anxious" i think
"one iron que ball"
"and we laughed off the quick tricks"
"the colonnades"

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odalisque
01-24-2005

Rated 0 
what you said ^

sweet, this song is amazing.

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EyesSoBright
01-25-2005

Rated 0 
Thanks for the corrections, I almost regret posting these lyrics. I was very excited to just hear it, and nobody had posted the lyrics yet, so I thought I would give it a try. Normally, I know the differenct between too and two, it was just the excitement...I swear.

I'll edit it as needed, thanks!

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Imposs1ble
01-29-2005

Rated 0 
Hey Eyes, I wasn't getting on your case or anything, I think it's great you took a chance and posted the lyrics, don't regret it. Just thought I could provide some insight.

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hamessyrath
03-14-2005

Rated 0 
Beautful song, I could cry listening to it. I wonder though, specifically, is she a prostitute? I adore the Decemberists. Does anyone suggest any bands like them?

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3 Replies
tuff ghost
03-17-2005

Rated 0 
this is one of those songs, for me, that i could listen to over and over and never get tired of. it's one of my favorites from them.

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pumkinhed
03-22-2005

Rated 0 
this is sort of like a part three to what I call the travel series: "Grace Cathedral Hill" "Los Angeles I'm Yours" and this. They all seem to be about trips. First with a significant other to San Francisco, then solo to L. A. and then with another significant other, or else the same one to an unknown city. Really lovely.

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pumkinhed
03-22-2005

Rated 0 
Or else it could be a sort of sequel to "Clementine", in which the couple found themselves a place to stay in the "rough part" of town. Still really lovely though.

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Imposs1ble
03-27-2005

Rated 0 
It really makes no difference, but the characters in this song are males.

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a sin coming on
03-28-2005

Rated 0 
i think the song tells the story of a strong bond between two young urchin-type boys who, together, rule the streets (kings among runaways) and work as prostitutes (the old man...who paid in palaver and crumpled old dollars).

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morbot
04-02-2005

Rated 0 
It's 'cue ball', not 'que ball'.

Imposs1ble, I don't see how you can be so certain about what gender the people in this song are.

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2 Replies
alphabet-town
04-03-2005

Rated 0 
I think it's pretty obvious that these two characters are male. The most obvious reason being, "We're kings among runaways."

I love how this song is so sequential. It seems to start out the first night they left home and go on from there. They were two naive teenage boys ("We're two easy targets for the old man at the off tracks") at first. By the end, they're famous around the streets, but they've lost their innocence.

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lawofmotion
04-04-2005

Rated 0 
Colin has also said in an interview that this song was about (or rather, he said a song on the album was about) male prostitutes in portland. This is an amazing song on it's own, but I'm a big fan of songs with portland references in them, so a little added bonus for me.

alphabet-town, I like your sn.

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hamessyrath
04-05-2005

Rated 0 
well maybe it is about male prostitutes, but it seems like love to me. whether romantic or otherwise. i picture it two teenagers traveling and theres just a connection there. The way Colin talks to and about him so delicately. It's just a comforting and beautiful song.

"as four in the morning came on cold and boring
we huddled close at the bus stop
enclosure enfolding
our hands tightly holding "

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1 Reply
Courtney.25
04-07-2005

Rated 0 
"...and pocket your pills away."

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nonnycries
04-15-2005

Rated 0 
one of my fravorite songs on the album. really catchy and emotional.

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megggan
04-25-2005

Rated 0 
"and we laughed off the quick tricks
and the old men with limp dicks
on the colonnades at the waterfront park"

I will never look at portland's waterfront park the same way again. old men with limp dicks will come to my mind every time I try.

I didn't get the impression that this was a song about teenage runaways / whores at first. But now I do. this at all linked to the fact that, last I heard, Portland had one of the highest rates of teen runaways / homeless?

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type44
08-01-2005

Rated 0 
Yeah, this song is about prostitution. I don't know about the genders but I can tell it's about protitution.

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AmericanSuperHeros
08-07-2005

Rated 0 
there are a few clues to the characters being male:

"slept in sundays"
"your brother was so cruel"
"two easy targets" "sucked OUR lips into our lungs"
"kings among runaways"

but the definitive answer is the picture in the album booklet

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joelseph
11-05-2005

Rated +1 
The Decemberists are from Portland. There is a bus mall in Portland, which is is where, on 5th Ave and 6th Ave between SW Jefferson St and NW Irving St, public transport runs constantly and for free. The male prostitutes in this song are not travelling, so much as whoring around by using the free part of the public transit system to get around.

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r0usku
12-08-2005

Rated 0 
Exactly what Joelseph said.

Also, I find it interesting that after people here what this song is "really" about (though of course it can be argued that the songwriter’s view of what he has written is not the only possible interpretation), they feel the need to go on about how the song still feels to them as if it were abut love. ...Because of course, male prostitutes and love cannot possibly be found in the same context.

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benfoldsxox
12-22-2005

Rated 0 
my favorite song.
"were kings among runaways, on the bus mall"
AMAZING. theyre gods.

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Imperialove
12-29-2005

Rated 0 
Much agreed, r0usku. I'm also of the belief that the song is about love between the two male prostitutes... I don't know if its necisarrily a romantic love, it could also just be about the very strong bond they share from living together. I don't see why people are so hesistant to accept that the song could be about a gay relationship. I mean, the album also has people being eaten by whales, a suicide pact between lovers seperated by class, an infant monarch, a ghost story, a spy epic... but two male prostitutes falling in love is somehow too rediculous.

In any event, its a beautiful song, possibly my favorite song on the album.

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hab204
01-05-2006

Rated 0 
I'm unsure about the genders, but I'll tell you that "as four in the morning .... tightly holding" is a great great line, and also their use of the Cmaj7 chord is astounding with that melody.

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hamessyrath
01-13-2006

Rated 0 
"Because of course, male prostitutes and love cannot possibly be found in the same context."

I meant that whether or not they're male prostitutes there's love. so really its irelevant what the song is "really" about.

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