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Dinosaur

from TOY CITY by Toy City

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about

Dinosaur was the first song written on the album. The first scratch recording of the song is from 12 years ago. This is a song about the panic of approaching middle age, the feeling of irrelevance, and the fear of living a life that is not authentic. At the time, I was attempting to gather together the friends and musicians I had played with in Boston, only to find them too caught up in their lives to be able to commit to playing and writing new music. All the lyrics are direct references to these friends, our shared experiences as a band, and their current lives.

The sampled music in the intro and outro of the song is a recording I made of a Rara band marching through the streets of Gaspard, a mountain town in the Northwest Department of Haiti. I have spent many years shooting video and photos for various grassroots organizations in Haiti. To me, the one thing that captures the vibrant spirit of this fascinating country is Rara music. With its ties to Vodun, and the marching military bands of the Haitian revolution, Rara represents the indomitable spirit of a people living through almost unimaginable colonial conditions that in many ways persist to this day. The lyric in the first verse, “Always following the Rara music” captures the essence of the song: nothing matters more than to join the band as it marches through the streets.

--Paul Burke

lyrics

Days without sun
A brand new name
A culture of power
Small angels and big churches
All demand your best hours
Caribbean mountains where the coffee grows so fair and high
Fly my son like the wind
Always following the Rara music
Dinosaur
Dinosaur
Jump ship!
All this can be yours
On the left coast
Henchy’s house is gone
Stolen for a song
Sticking knives in our ears
There were chicks in your hair
Dirt in the air
Your definitely didn’t want to be there
Dinosaur
Dinosaur
Out in the avenues
Where the sky hangs low and gray
We all work in advertising
We’re all stuck on ladies rings
There’s no bears in the hills
Tigers in my head
Wolves baking bread in my backyard
It’s a big yellow truck
Get your own beer you fuck
It’s the Real World knocking on the door
Dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaur

credits

from TOY CITY, track released April 28, 2023
Written and recorded by Paul Burke & Steve Shaheen
Drumming by Anthony Vinciguerra
Mixed by John Russell
Produced by John Russell & Toy City
Mastered by Joe Lambert

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Toy City Brooklyn, New York

Toy City is songwriting duo Paul Burke & Steve Shaheen

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