Three Sheets to Kishkiyya · Track 71 · middle
York
VOLUME III — being SICK, the small-hours reckoning at the porcelain. The idiom and the song's title hook: "York". Its true history: US, Pennsylvania regional — a regional synonym; the colorful 'holler New York!' variant. Render this beat of the night as the band's affectionate, funny, celebratory tribute — the idiom itself is the chorus hook.
Lyrics
[Intro] Well gather round, you snollygosters, hear a tavern tale! [Verse 1] Down in Pennsylvania, where the applejack runs pale, We drank a flummoxed river on the Lehigh Valley trail. The fiddle played a racket and we lost what we were saying, My belly did a somersault, the wooden walls were swaying. I knew I had to pay the toll and leave the dancing floor, And make a quick skedaddle to the little painted door. [Chorus] To go and holler New York! Down the porcelain wishing well. Yeah, you gotta holler New York, When your stomach rings the bell. It's a Pennsylvania custom when the midnight gets too grand, Just lean into the basin and address the Empire land. Shout York! [Verse 2] Now some folks call it tossing out the heavy ballast stone, Or singing to the badger with a rumbling baritone. But out here in the Keystone state, we do it with a grin, We give a geographic yell for all our joyous sin. My boots were moving cattywampus on the tavern tile, To send a little greeting up the turnpike for a mile. [Chorus] And holler New York! Down the porcelain wishing well. Yeah, you gotta holler New York, When your stomach rings the bell. It's a Pennsylvania custom when the midnight gets too grand, Just lean into the basin and address the Empire land. Shout York! [Bridge] Oh, the echo in the plumbing is a mighty wondrous sound, Like a big rambunctious bullfrog waking up the muddy ground. I tipped my hat to Albany without a lick of grace, And left my fine intentions in that cool and hollow space. [Outro] So holler New York! Give my regards to the city... And leave the applejack right there on the tile. Just shout York!