Pittsburgh: The Neighbor to the East

Lyrics

[Intro]
They called it Pittsburgh.
Wasn't a joke, not really.
Just a name for the smoke.

[Verse 1]
The men on the Southern Railway run, they knew the real one. Up in Pennsylvania.
Said our morning air tasted of the same steel and coal.
The Pullman porters, the boys from the switching yard, coming home tired, coming home hard.
They gave us the name.
And it stuck.
Like soot on a Sunday collar.

[Chorus]
You're Adair Park, just over the line.
We're Pittsburgh, and we're doing just fine.
Same shared bus stop on McDaniel Street.
Same red dust on our tired feet.
A map tells you where the property ends.
Doesn't say a thing about your friends.

[Verse 2]
I remember summer mornings on Mary Street.
The smell of frying bacon and locomotive heat.
Kids walking home from school in a single line.
The Lee Street streetcar bell would chime, marking the hour.
Didn't matter if your porch faced Tift or Cooper.
Your shadow fell on the same hot concrete.
We walked together.

[Bridge]
George Adair, he made his plat for the streetcar folks.
A tidy grid, Queen Annes and bungalows.
We were the other side of that thought.
The shotgun houses the yard work bought.
But look close.
It’s a breath in, a breath out.
Adair Park and Pittsburgh.
Two strong lungs for the same southside heart.

[Chorus]
You're Adair Park, just over the line.
We're Pittsburgh, and a we're doing just fine.
Same shared bus stop on McDaniel Street.
Same red dust on our tired feet.
A map tells you where the property ends.
Doesn't say a thing about your friends.

[Outro]
The number 42 bus comes.
We get on.
You get on.
Same driver.
We all go home.
Same smoke.
Same sky.