The Home-Town Rule
(Words and Music by Doug Hoekstra)

Under an umbrella, never gettin’ wet
Everytime I swallow, it’s easy to forget
It’s easier yet
To wave a little finger and see what you can get

Short changed, rearranged, never givin’ back
I want what I need, don’t see what I have
The sense I lack
Is in the bottom of the ocean in a big brown sack

You know, I’ve read a little bit about Frank Lloyd Wright
I’ve read about the choices that he made in life
They seemed so right
Lookin’ down from the top of the Guggenheim

When I was done, I checked my pulse
When you’re not around, you can’t defend yourself
Dancin’ on a grave, diggin’ up the bones are
Third-rate writers that you didn’t even know at all

Is it fact? Or is it fiction?
Is it a matter of contradiction?
The home-town rule

Under an umbrella, never gonna freeze
What we rave about today, tomorrow we bereave
No one looks, no one sees
If it’s a cheap imitation or the real live thing

There’s a shadowy corner and an iron gate
A fan is hidin’ and he patiently waits
Is this the price of fame?
Well, what about the price John Lennon paid?

How many people really know
Where you’ve been and where you wanna go?
Up above or down below
It’s getting’ so expensive to put on a show

The public is waiting for a gentleman’s bow
The gentleman measures what the public allows
Anyhow
All of us expect too much somehow

Is it fact? Or is it fiction?
Is it a matter of contradiction?
The home-town rule

Walkin’ alone on a desolate path
The moon is brighter on my pocket map
Rich men, poor men, paupers and thieves
Will all come together in eternity

The home-town rule...

Mark Fornek – drums
Doug Hoekstra – acoustic guitars, lead & backing vocals
Steve Meisner – electric guitar, harmonica
Bill Murphy – bass
 
Engineered by Matt Allison, Windy City Recorder, Chicago IL
 
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