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Detroit City Boy

by Mighty Joe Nolan

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about

A mythopoeic memoir of a child of Detroit

lyrics

"Detroit City Boy"

Born for death, I took one long breath
and screamed all covered in red
On the day I was born and pulled like a thorn
from my mother in her birthing bed
Pale sick baby born three months early
blowin’ incubator steam
I tried to die in the bed where I’d lie
dreamin’ tranquilizer dreams

And all my nights were lit by the lights
of the highway hoi polloi
And I survived on junk and jive
like a Detroit City boy

I grew up and I grew hard
baby I got cool and wise
I stomp these streets in victorious defeat
like a Jesus that refused to rise
Never understood the bad or the good
or the difference between right and wrong
On a downtown day while the working girls sway
to another Stevie Wonder song

Like Devil’s Night my rage burns bright
cuz I love what I must destroy
Jump back Jack I’m the Cadillac heartattack
Detroit City boy

I don’t know
Where to go
I can’t see
You from me

Pipe bomb bangs and the drugstore gangs
are busy doing nothing at all
I’m on a nowhere ride as the pimp ‘vettes glide
past scabs on a tenement wall
I need a narco nap from this death trap wrap
I need something to put me to sleep

And I feel like I could weep

I’m the mean machine in this gasoline dream
never known pride or joy
You’re the smiling sucker, I’m the bad motherfucker
Detroit City boy

credits

released April 8, 2024
Produced by Jean-Paul Lilliston
Co-produced by Mighty Joe Nolan and Jerry Hager
Recording/Mixing/Mastering engineer, Jerry Hager

Joe Nolan on vocals
Jerry Hager on bass and organ
Justin Amaral on drums and percussion
Jean-Paul Lilliston on guitars

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about

Mighty Joe Nolan Nashville, Tennessee

Joe Nolan is an intermedia artist based in Nashville, TN. His diverse practice includes photography, multimedia paintings, public radio poetry broadcasts, live performances, musical releases, public projects, and his critical writing about art and film. ... more

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