Rose City (Live)
[Verse 1]
We wrote our names up in the tunnel back when
Coos Bay was as far away as we'd ever been
Pine trees climbing up rolling hills
Fishing boats and paper mills
[Verse 2]
Multnomah County's where I come from
It's the hometown to Bigfoot and the Burnside bums
Rain clouds hangin' down low and grey
God knows how I wish it would have rained today
[Refrain]
Tonight I've got those old Rose City blues
Tonight I've got those old Rose City blues
[Verse 3]
Tonight I'm ridin' through some other town
I got the radio on, windows down
Old song comes on from a long time ago
How on earth did that DJ know?
[Refrain]
Tonight I've got those old Rose City blues
Tonight I've got those old Rose City blues
[Bridge]
Rain, rain, rain
Pouring rain doesn't bother me
[Spoken Interlude]
This is a song about Oregon. I don't know if any of y'all have ever been out there, that's where I'm from. I come from a town called Beaverton, Oregon
Do you got a half-hour, an hour or so? Can I tell you this? Thank you, it'll make more sense
This song, is, I guess the word is "inspired"? That's what people say when they make shit up? Back in my hometown, there's this tunnel called the Multnomah Country Tunnel where, when you're a senior in high school, you're supposed to go down there at night and get out of a car and write your name in the tunnel. You don't have to use paint to do it because it's a tunnel, so all the exhaust fumes create all this dirt, and you can just take a rag and clean your name into the side of it. It's not really technically vandalism. But it's dangerous, and it's an exciting thing for teenagers to do. And when I was a teenager, I did that. I wrote––you could write anything, you could just write your name, or you could write your school name, or you could write that you ruled, or that you kicked ass––in fact, I chose "Todd Snider rules," and then I also put "Class of '85 rules."
Then I went on and became a folk singer, started traveling around. A few years later, I guess a long time later, I was a folk singer and I would come through my hometown every once in a while. Back then I didn't have my buddy Elvis with me–not that I made this up, Elvis is the guy that's helping me out tonight. Yeah, good guy
Back then, I had this guy named Spike, and he wasn't even a guy. He's a chick. But, he was a girl that really looked like a guy. Took us a long time to figure out that it was a girl. I'm for that type of stuff––I'm for that type of stuff––in any way, shape, or form; that's not even where this story's goin'. But, one night I was comin' home to play a hometown show and I was ridin' through the country with old Spike, and we came up to the Multnomah County Tunnel and I said "Spike, when I's a kid, I'd come down to this tunnel my senior year and I wrote that I ruled." And she said "eh."
And then that night, we did the show, and a bunch of my old friends from high school were at the show, and we decided to go out after the show. And they all were into karaoke at the time, so that's what we did, and I sang "Sweet Child of Mine" karaoke. And we drank, and there was pitchers of beer, and they weren't very expensive and we went through 'em, man
And the, the next morning I get up, and we gotta get down to California, and Spike gets me in the old van and we start headin' down and we start comin' back through that Multnomah County Tunnel. And as I get closer, I can see there's somethin' written in there. And I get real close, and it says "Todd Snider rules." And I said, "Spike, tell me that I didn't do that." She said, "You don't remember doin' that?" I said, "Goddamnit, Spike. You think you're out here 'cause I give a shit if I'm in tune? This is what you're s'posed to do! I'm almost forty! I shouldn't be writing that I rule in tunnels! And I blame you, frankly, thank you."
Anyway, I guess it was a few months later I got back home when the tour was over, and I had a phone call from an old friend of mine that was out of town when the show happened. She said, "How was your show?" I said, "I think it went pretty good." She said, "It must've gone pretty good, because one of your fans went down to the Multnomah County Tunnel and wrote that you ruled!"
[Verse 4]
We wrote our names in the tunnel back then
And last night we went down and did it again
One sip too many from that old loving cup
Rose City people never do grow up
[Refrain]
Tonight I've got those old Rose City blues
Tonight I've got those old Rose City blues