Magic City

Lyrics

[Intro]
Blue light on chrome.
Smell of lemon pepper wings, hot from the kitchen.
And baby oil.
You know the address without looking.
You know the night.

[Verse 1]
Twenty-four sixteen Piedmont Road.
Since 1985.
Before the city remade itself around this building.
Just a vision from Michael Barney.
A dark room that held a promise, heavy in the air like humidity.
They weren't building a landmark.
They were just building a place to go...
when Monday felt like the only night that mattered.

[Chorus]
Magic City.
Make it rain.
Let the ceiling get heavy with respect.
Future on the speaker, and a future in the room.
This ain't a club, baby.
This is the bank.
This is the unofficial A-T-L treasury.

[Verse 2]
I saw a girl named Diamond, or maybe it was Star, hold the whole loud room quiet just with her eyes.
Gravity works different on that stage.
It bends toward the work.
I saw a kid from Zone 6, lean and hungry, make a call on that old pay phone by the bar.
Booking studio time with a pocket full of wrinkled singles.
Told his boy, "I got the one."
And he wasn't lying.

[Chorus]
Magic City.
Make it rain.
Let the ceiling get heavy with respect.
OutKast in the memory, and a future in the room.
This ain't a club, baby.
This is the bank.
This is the unofficial A-T-L treasury.

[Bridge]
They write about the spectacle.
They don't write about the art.
The muscle memory, the silent count, the strength it takes to make it look so easy.
Every bill that flutters down...
that's a vote of confidence.
A prayer sent up to the bassline.
An investment in the native sound of this whole city.
From the ground up.

[Outro]
Just the sound of paper... kissing the floor.
The blue lights get brighter.
Monday's almost over.
But the work is never done.