Verse 1:
          A         D         A           D
There?s a backyard show where everybody goes
       A                       E
?cause everybody knows at this masquerade
        A              D         A            D
They wear strange costumes and heave water balloons 
     A                E                  A
and one kid?s dressed up like a deviled egg
               D                            A
That?s when I say, ? What?s this?  There?s something that I?ve missed 
                                        E
there ain?t nothing like this back in Upstate?
             A                 D               A      D
But ?When in Louisville,? they say, ?join the crazy ballet?
        A             E              A
So with blazing waterguns I join the fray


Chorus:
   F#m         A                Bm           E
Yes I learned on that day what local flavor means
     F#m         A                Bm            E
With a dinner made from dumpsters on Kentucky streets
   F#m           D               A             E
You won?t learn anything tied up in restaurant chains
   F#m           D               A             E  (dampen all strings)
Why bother traveling if it all just tastes the same?

Interlude: A,D x 3 E, Repeat.


Verse 2:
      A           D        A          D      
On the guidebook page a travel-weary sage 
   A                                 E
is sharing the best secrets from her latest trek
   A               D          A            D
Then the tourists come and money builds it up and
  A               E               A 
pretty soon the place is just a wreck
         D                       A
But when I hit the road I want pie a la mode 
                                   E
from a caf? where they don?t wear uniforms
           A           D           A           D
Where the salt of the earth season their hometown turf 
      A                 E              A
with art that you can?t find in any store


Chorus:
    F#m             A             Bm           E
Yes I know there?s nothing new out on the interstate
      F#m           A             Bm          E
And a journey?s pointless if the asphalt mediates
 F#m              D               A                 E
You won?t find anything if you?re tied with retail chains
 F#m            D            A                 E
Why bother traveling if it all just looks the same


Verse 3:( First five lines are a capella) 
There?s a warehouse show out in New Mexico and
films are being screened up on a Brooklyn roof
Basement galleries in Knoxville,
Tennessee and Tallahassee games under the moon
            D               A
So will you come with me to either shining sea 
                                 E
to cleanse the monoculture from our souls?
            A            D              A          D
Then we?ll roam town to town listening for any sound 
         A           E            A
that can tell us they?re having a show
(single strums) A           D           A            D
So raise a glass of your sweat to acknowledge the debt 
         A           E             A
that we owe to our most gracious hosts