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City With No Walls

from Follow The Moon by Jim Ballard

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lyrics

Ive Seen Bagmen under bridges
where the campfire girls make their deals
Where the taxis take no riders
and the angels ain't got no wheels

In the smoky hours of twilight frownin'
I hear my name called and I look down and
see my boots kick the concrete curbside stalls

Where the City's got no walls

All the dancin' eyed hobos
their pockets full o promises
find the answer to their hunger
in the cloud covered emptiness

They know it ain't no use to keep the doorman waitin'
they can smell the rain they know its gettin late n
the wind is gatherin' prowlin'
dancin' howlin' through the halls
Where the city got no walls

In the shadow of the canyons
in the alleys where the sun comes up blue
Written in the overcast
sleep the ones who keep fallin' through

And it hangs in the sky by gossamer webs
morning to night it flows and it ebbs
And its warm then its gone then its gone and that's all
Where the city got no walls

Then the sloe eyed drummer taps off
eight to the crowds delight
his brushes and his digits
beating wild in the black hole night

til he wakes to the dancers gathered all round
swayin' out of time to the steam grate sound
of the souls and the heels and the
underground waterfalls
Where the city got no walls

Now the blindman stumbles in the stairway as he taps his cane.
Hears footsteps up above in the dark and dusty sub terrain
And the doorways have dreamers days spent in dives
who's treasures are the flotsam of all the other lives
who's ironbound pillow carries no dreams at all

The famous gypsy wire walker
starts his journey in the evening air
He works without a net
as the crowd is gatherin' in the square

He knows he's rollin it all on this one trick
he ain't ever had a fall but now he's starin' at the bricks
while all the faces passin' by him down below him all begin to call
Where the city got no walls

Well now the girls by the fires
and the hobos starin' at the flames
Got one eye on the doorman
while the taxi drivers takin names

And the drummers rollin cadence in the alleyway
while the crowd in the square has all drifted away
And they're takin down the wires from the buildings that once were so tall

Where the city got no walls No Walls

credits

from Follow The Moon, released June 3, 2022
Bill Watson Bass
Joe Lang Drums
Tim Longfellow Piano/Organ
Wes McCraw Guitar
JB Guitar/Harmonica

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Jim Ballard Akron, Ohio

Jim Ballard
A native of NE Ohio, Jim Ballard has been, for many years a part of the recording/performing community. After touring and performing all over the country with artists from 10,000 Maniacs to Gordon Lightfoot,The Mekons to Pete Seeger, he moved into his studio, Skylyne. There, he has recorded and worked with artists from Michael Stanley to Don Dixon and Alex Bevan. ... more

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