This City is Red

Written by Duncan Mercredi; Music by The Broken Songs Band
Produced by Glenn Buhr;   Mixed and mastered by Jamie Sitar;   Design by Bereket Hailemariam; Photo by David McLeod
Recorded in Winnipeg; Released on 15 May 2023; Copyright © 2023 DreamPlay Records

The Broken Songs Band:
    • Glenn Buhr, guitar/keyboard
    • Margaret Sweatman, harmonica
    • Al Beardsell, guitar
    • Gilles Fournier, bass
    • Daniel Roy, drums/percussion
    with Duncan Mercredi, vocal

~~~

        this city is red

built on the bones of a thousand generations
this city is main street each generation with its own stories
told in the back alleys and city core, hells kitchen, little Chicago
cracked blood filled sidewalks
tell tales of broken bodies and defeated minds
nightmares released with each bottle emptied
inhaling a bag full of poison with visions
just to live another day
muting out the voices that hold your memories and enemies

        this city is red
north end country song red
a promise followed down from a northern road
seeking a dream armed only with hope
walking down portage to wolsely to st james
then north again
with the same answer, no room, no job
don’t bother me, I’ll call the cops
shoulders lowered we carry on
finding solace in a pipe full of dreams
watching a liquid filled needle enter vein
fill with blood then empty again
spinning, spinning always out of control
the room goes round and round
it doesn’t seem so bad now
there’s always tomorrow
a brighter happier day
these are only dreams
we can’t fly

        this city is red
full of lies deceit and false promises
full of fumbling bumbling young suburban men
in fancy cars with fancy ideas
full of hate and venom
they cruise Selkirk, low track, Higgins and main
in cover of darkness
they hunt the weak and the poor
who spit out your semen and take your cash
but they leave a little bit themselves in you
regardless of your misplaced anger
and you disgust yourself
you’ll be back
your hate doesn’t hide your need

        this city is red
it can be ugly and beautiful at the same time
pure white snow of winter hides the needles and the pain
sound of the drum muted by walls
regalia full of colour flash across a gymnasium floor
the song echoes off the walls
slips through the crack of the door
and travels main and Selkirk
west to st james
bouncing off portage to tuxedo
blinds close to mute the sound
nothing changes but the year

        this city is red
ceremony red
silent witness to the past
held in darkness
waking the bones that hold memories
rattle and the drum speak the old language
song is older than this memory
voices whisper through the ghost dancer
wrapped in blankets
he breaks free and he speaks the old way

        this city is red
i can walk it at night
hidden in shadows
my footsteps echo yours
you walk/run to avoid your fear
that fear is me
daytime finds me invisible
you see only what you want to see
venting your rage in the local rag
haven’t we paid enough what more do they want
get a job
work like everyone else
an eyesore better dead than red

        this city is red
a colour divided only by imaginary borders
afraid to cross
hiding our faces into ourselves
but some of us sneak across those invisible lines
we tell stories we laugh
we cry we heal
we dance we sing
our heartbeat is the drum
we wake the bones
we rattle your hate
this city is dirty
but it’s farmer dirty
blowing in from the prairies
white skin browned by the sun
knows this land
they are my neighbours
this city hides its hate
but we have felt it for so long
we know it’s there
buried beneath the manicured lawns
behind the drapes
inside your gates
the shadows hold your fears
holding onto your lies

        this city is red
main street red, white blue
sirens criss cross its face
the hunter becomes the hunted
covering his tracks and scent with the stink of back alleys
no one ventures there after dark
we speak to ghosts that live there
dumped outside the city limits
we become bones
part of a forgotten story
one line in the pages of this city’s past
filed away as a statistic
an unfortunate ending to a heartbeat

        this city is red
a blood red history you have chosen to ignore
and when you become dust
i will dance on your ashes
and when the seed of a new flower blossoms
where your ashes have settled
becoming one with the soil
i will dance again