Palo Alto from The Birds by Beechlord

When I think of
Letting go
When I think of
Letting go
I don't

The golden hills
The anxious pills

This is not a train song
Though it may shake like one
This is not a rain song
The rain never comes

If you ask me
Where I'm from
If you ask me
Where I'm from

I'll say
I'm from
Nearby
San Francisco

This is not a train song
We all know the sound
This is not a rain song
The hills aren’t gold they’re brown

I don't want to feel ashamed
To call my home by its name
We can blame front lawns and rap songs and education
But home is not to blame

I'm from
Palo Alto
I grew up in
Palo Alto

The skyline view
Cal Avenue

This is not a train song
The chain link fence
The penny on the track
It never made sense

And grass itch and basil and pine nuts and soap and ping pong

When I think of home
I think of kick ball
When I think of home
I think of the light
In the summer
At 7pm
And the clouds we discovered
Were moving

When I think of home
I think of the Jay’s collide
The cracked window
I don't think of suicide

And catching the football
Mom in the kitchen blaring NPR
Dog shit and songs in the backyard
In the living room in the shed
And the stories we made
And the stories we still pretend

I don't want to feel ashamed
To call my home by its name
We can blame test scores and teenage and bored
And locked doors
But home is not to blame

• Alternative
• electronic
• folk
• indie
• Pakse