Zoo Atlanta: The Circus Left Town

Lyrics

[Intro]
Eighteen eighty-nine.
The air thick as molasses.
The cicadas were screaming summer.

[Verse 1]
The big top slumped, a tired canvas ghost.
S.H. Barrett’s name peeling on the posters.
The popcorn was stale, the music was gone.
Just a hyena laughing at the silent dawn.
The train tracks sat gleaming, empty and hot.
No money for the ticket, that was the plot.
Stuck in Grant Park, a story untold.
A lion, a tiger, too broke to be sold.

[Chorus]
The circus left town, but the circus stayed.
A strange new menagerie, accidentally made.
The posters came down, the wagons were gone.
But a lion still roared in the Atlanta dawn.
Yeah, the circus left town, but the circus stayed.
On a patch of green grass, a foundation was laid.

[Verse 2]
Then along came a man named George V. Gress.
Didn't see a disaster, didn't see a mess.
He saw two monkeys, a bear in a cage.
And decided to turn a brand new page.
Wrote a check for the whole forgotten crew.
Said "Atlanta, these animals are a gift to you."
No ringmaster cracking a whip in the air.
Just a home for the tiger and the black bear.

[Chorus]
The circus left town, but the circus stayed.
A strange new menagerie, accidentally made.
The posters came down, the wagons were gone.
But a lion still roared in the Atlanta dawn.
Yeah, the circus left town, but the circus stayed.
On a patch of green grass, a foundation was laid.

[Bridge]
The railroad that stranded them, a dead-end line.
Became the first chapter, a curious design.
Soon came Charlie the elephant, taking a walk.
A new kind of legend for the neighborhood talk.
From a bankrupt show, a city's new prize.
Right here in the green, a wild surprise.
A home built on failure, a beautiful mistake.
For goodness, for fortune, for pity's sake.

[Chorus]
The circus left town, but the circus stayed!
A strange new menagerie, accidentally made!
The posters came down, the wagons were gone!
But a lion still roars in the Atlanta dawn!
Yeah, the circus left town, but the circus stayed!
On a patch of green grass, a foundation was laid!

[Outro]
They left the lion.
They left the tiger.
They left the monkeys.
And a roar echoes through the trees.