Atkins Park: The Tavern That Outlived Prohibition

Lyrics

[Intro]
Nineteen twenty-two.
North Highland Avenue.
Warren 'Pop' Atkins lays the floorboards down.
Says, 'This'll be the best damn bar in town.'

[Verse 1]
The mahogany bar arrives, dark and deep.
Secrets it's already learning to keep.
The smell of sawdust and fresh-poured beer.
Before the whispers of a dry new year.
The law came down, a righteous, sober thunder.
Tried to pull this whole neighborhood under.

[Chorus]
But the lights stayed on at Atkins Park.
A steady candle in the coming dark.
They poured the near beer with a knowing glance.
Gave this old corner a fighting chance.
A hundred years of ghosts and cheer.
The tavern that refused to disappear.

[Verse 2]
The politicians made their speeches, loud and long.
Said a glass of whiskey was morally wrong.
But community's a thirst you just can't kill.
So Pop kept the kitchen grill sizzling still.
He served the plates, he poured the brew so weak.
And listened to the secrets the floorboards speak.

[Chorus]
And the lights stayed on at Atkins Park.
A steady candle in the growing dark.
They poured the near beer with a knowing glance.
Gave this old corner a fighting chance.
A hundred years of ghosts and cheer.
The tavern that refused to disappear.

[Bridge]
Then nineteen-seventy, a new hand on the door.
Ralph and Pat DiOrio, asking for more.
More nights, more stories, more laughter, more life.
They polished the bar, they weathered the strife.
That old tin ceiling has seen it all.
The rise and the stumble, the stand and the fall.

[Chorus]
And the lights stayed on at Atkins Park!
A steady beacon in the city's heart!
They poured the real stuff with a welcoming glance.
Gave this old corner its victory dance!
A hundred years of ghosts and cheer!
The tavern that refused to disappear!

[Outro]
So pull up a stool.
Order a round.
For the oldest tap in this whole damn town.
To Pop Atkins.
To the DiOrios.
To the next hundred years.
Yeah, here's to here.