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Ballad of San Francisco

Written by: Derek Webb

Appears on: Long Line of Leavers

Lyrics:

So I’m walking down the street somewhere outside of San Francisco
And I don’t really know my way around
I’d love to stay a day or two and get into some trouble
But tomorrow I’ll be in another town

There’s at least one coffee bar for every single couple
And there’s at least a couple in this place
Strange the things you notice when the walls are closing in
And the walls are closing in on me today

So where oh where can I find someone, anyone
‘Cause there’s no way out of here
But here is where I live and so I guess that means
The carrot’s gonna dangle for at least another year

I love anonymity and I love being noticed
Just the same as anybody else
Years ago I told you how I loved to be alone
These days I’d be perjuring myself

So where oh where can I find someone, anyone
‘Cause there’s no way out of here
But here is where I live and so I guess that means
The carrot’s gonna dangle for at least another year

It’s like you gave me up just like I gave up drinking coffee
So I guess I would’ve done the same
So now I know I’m lost somewhere outside of San Francisco
But I’m still glad that I came

See also: MusicBrainz, iTunes.

2 Responses to “Ballad of San Francisco”

  1. Chris Hubbs Says:
    May 23rd, 2007 at 9:14 pm

    From the Author: “During a day off from the tour, I found myself wandering around San Francisco, California, looking for adventure. I soon realized that I was without companionship, without purpose, and without a map. In the time it took me to find my way back to the bus, I had written this song.”

    What it Means:

    The song is sort of a pre-cursor to the song “Mistake of My Life”. We can see Derek begin to grapple with the idea of moving to find Sandra in parts of this song, though we don’t see his resolve to actually do so until “Mistake of My Life”.

    “But here is where I live and so I guess that means the carrot’s gonna dangle for at least another year”…’here’ is not actually in reference to San Francisco, but Houston, where Derek resided when the song was written. Here we can see Derek begin to think about the idea of moving, or decidedly NOT moving, as this line would seem to suggest.

    “It’s like you gave me up just like I gave up drinking coffee So I guess I would’ve done the same”…No official word has come as to whom this line is talking about. Best guess could be either Derek’s ex-girlfriend (that moved to London), or possibly Sandra McCracken (Derek’s now wife), before they officially ‘got together’.

  2. Definitely RA | Audio memory Says:
    March 2nd, 2008 at 7:50 pm

    [...] course, the concert couldn’t include all of our favorites. “Ballad of San Francisco” would have taken me straight back to my dorm room, as I strained to plunk out power chords on a [...]

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