Those Days/These Days

it was a small town
a seaport town
built in the hollows of the Puget Sound
and the birds flew by
in the rainwater sky
and the biggest thing goin’ was the Fourth Of July
in the old days

it was a slower pace
not much of a rat race
and every other stranger was a friendly face
it was a little unknown
half grown
stuck up in the corner all on its own
in the old days
in those days

but money is as money does
and the facelift fashions the strange
standing on the corner by the market place
sayin’ “look at how it’s changed
look at how it’s changed”

now there’s a hole in the ground
down town
where they’re diggin’ ‘em up and they’re stakin’ ‘em down
for the office stalls
the Taj Mahals
and the vast expanding shopping malls
these days

and there’s limousines
and magazine dreams
and doe-eyed youths in fashion jeans
electric guitars
in the sushi bars
where astrologers thank their lucky stars
these days
strange ways

strange to say that the money just seems to
grow right out of the ground
you hear the jingle of the commerce
you see the wheels spinnin’ around
spinnin’ around

now, it’s a grand illusion
this great profusion
you can draw your own conclusion
is it a blinding flash
of balderdash
or a mother load of cash
these days

save me a seat
in the front row suite
that looks out onto the market street
we’re changing faces
it’s a day at the races
get out of our way, we’re going’ places
these days
and I’m amazed

like Rip Van Winkle took the cure
and he woke up out of his nap
and somebody said, “hey wake up Rip
we’re gonna put this place on the map
we’re gonna put it on the map”