Arts Center

Lyrics

[Intro — instrumental only, no vocals]
[a baton taps the stand, an orchestra tunes and rises; the beat builds]
[Instrumental build — still no singing, let the groove settle in]
[Instrumental — the tuning strings carry it alone]

[Verse 1 — vocals enter at last]
Under the High where the canvases glow,
the Symphony tuning a row by row;
tap the baton, let the silence break,
Arts Center holding its breath for art's sake.

[Chorus]
Arts Center, Arts Center, tap and tune,
the orchestra rising in the afternoon;
hush, then the downbeat, here we go,
the heart of the culture on the northbound row.

[Verse 2]
Woodruff and Memorial and the Alliance stage,
a museum of a city turning the page;
every curtain rises on a held-breath night,
Arts Center trembling in the gallery light.

[Chorus]
Arts Center, Arts Center, tap and tune,
the orchestra rising in the afternoon;
hush, then the downbeat, here we go,
the heart of the culture on the northbound row.

[Outro — vocals stop here]
[Instrumental — the tuning orchestra rides out alone, no more singing]
[Long instrumental outro — the groove fades slowly all the way down to silence]