The Grey King and the Silver Flame Attunement

Lyrics

In the secret caverns underneath West Covina^[1]
Half desperate for peace
With the surface dwellers
But coming to no conclusions
And now we emerge
Sky grey and misty

The Grey King in his new Pontiac^[2]
Some of us sworn to the effort
Trying to get our shapes back
Teeth filed down to fine points^[3]
Framework too tight
Strain at the joints

And I'm hardcore but I'm not that hardcore
I'm hardcore but I'm not that hardcore
I'm hardcore but I'm not that hardcore
I'm pretty hardcore but I'm not that hardcore

Load into the Grand Am^[4]
Doomed sailors
Borne high by the waves
Wild with wonder
Leather and lace and good friends
Most of them good
Most of them friendly

The Grey King at the rail, sparks flying
Three of us in the car with him
Scared of dying
All eyes on the front seat
Assuming his form
Reborn in the heat^[5]

And I'm hardcore but I'm not that hardcore
I'm hardcore but I'm not that hardcore
I'm hardcore but I'm not that hardcore
I'm pretty hardcore but I'm not that hardcore

Banter

Live Performances

2017-11-12 Brooklyn Steel

Footnotes

^{1. A city near LA in California with a reputation for being boring.↩}
^{2. An American car maker, now defunct. Previously a part of GM. I don’t know much about cars and their relative coolness but Pontiacs aren’t on my short list of known “sexy” cars. Please correct me on critical Pontiac-related information. ↩}
^{3. The guy that inspired the song had filed his canines into fangs. 10 out of 10 dentists recommend that you don’t do this.↩}
^{4. The Pontiac Trans-Am Firebird (sometimes just called a Firebird? Again, working off minimal car knowledge here) was a relatively cool car produced in the US between 1967-2002. It had seats for the main character of this song and his three women companions - if it weren’t a true story, I would suspect an allusion to the three women vampires in Dracula. ↩}
^{5. The phoenix is a mythological bird that bursts into flame at the end of its life and is reborn from the ashes. (This may also be an allusion to the guy’s AC being broken and California being hot. JD @ me with that authorial intent. ↩}