Drag Me Around (shadow)
*by Lichen Throat

Liner Notes*
Spoiler"Semiprecious": Guy really likes trucking, even more that he likes his girlfriend.
"Drag Me Around": Guy gets disillusioned with trucking, moves to Detroit, hangs around with hipster artists, decides he wants to try to be a musician.
"Pareidolia": Guy's music is poorly received, but he vows to keep trying.

Headed west out of Reno over Donner Pass,
I knew that trip would be my last.
I called up Jenny to say goodbye;
Neither of us felt any need to cry.
I dropped off the truck and cashed my check,
No friends, no family, like Melchizedek.
I had no anchor and had no home,
Free to settle down or free to roam.
Drag me around, where you want me to go,
I’ll raise my sail and see where the wind blows.

Got a place in Detroit where the rent is cheap,
Got a job at Chrysler and an orange Jeep.
Still a few jobs haven’t gone offshore,
Repairing robots on the factory floor.
Free time on weekends and nights,
Going to farmers’ markets and open mikes.
I’m getting known in all the artists’ joints,
But I don’t feel welcome in Grosse Pointe.
Drag me around nighttime alleyways,
The stuff that thrives in urban decay.

It’s a different crowd what I left,
But they drink the same cans of Pabst.
No one cares if my shirts aren’t pressed,
And I can still wear my trucker hats.

One November night, the rain turned to snow;
I was sitting with hipsters, watching a show.
As I heard the notes reverberate,
I wanted not to listen, but to create.
I bought a guitar and rhyming dictionary,
Started scribbling lyrics on stationery.
I’ve got the guitar balanced on my knee.
Hey, how hard can this be?
Don’t drag me around until I learn to play;
But maybe you’ll see me on stage someday.