Verse 1:
          A5         D5         A5           D5
There?s a backyard show where everybody goes
       A5                       E5
?cause everybody knows at this masquerade
        A5              D5         A5            D5
They wear strange costumes and heave water balloons 
     A5                E5                  A5
and one kid?s dressed up like a deviled egg
               D5                            A5
That?s when I say, ? What?s this?  There?s something that I?ve missed 
                                        E5
there ain?t nothing like this back in Upstate?
             A5                 D5               A5      D5
But ?When in Louisville,? they say, ?join the crazy ballet?
        A5             E5              A5
So with blazing waterguns I join the fray


Chorus:
   F#5         A5                B5           E5
Yes I learned on that day what local flavor means
     F#5         A5                B5            E5
With a dinner made from dumpsters on Kentucky streets
   F#5           D5               A5             E5
You won?t learn anything tied up in restaurant chains
   F#5           D5               A5             E5  (dampen all strings)
Why bother traveling if it all just tastes the same?

Interlude: A,D x 3 E, Repeat.


Verse 2:
      A5           D5        A5          D5      
On the guidebook page a travel-weary sage 
   A5                                 E5
is sharing the best secrets from her latest trek
   A5               D5          A5            D5
Then the tourists come and money builds it up and
  A5               E5               A5 
pretty soon the place is just a wreck
         D5                       A5
But when I hit the road I want pie a la mode 
                                   E5
from a caf? where they don?t wear uniforms
           A5           D5           A5           D5
Where the salt of the earth season their hometown turf 
      A5                 E5              A5
with art that you can?t find in any store


Chorus:
    F#5             A5             B5           E5
Yes I know there?s nothing new out on the interstate
      F#5           A5             B5          E5
And a journey?s pointless if the asphalt mediates
 F#5              D5               A5                 E5
You won?t find anything if you?re tied with retail chains
 F#5            D5            A5                 E5
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
            D5               A5
So will you come with me to either shining sea 
                                 E5
to cleanse the monoculture from our souls?
            A5            D5              A5          D5
Then we?ll roam town to town listening for any sound 
         A5           E5            A5
that can tell us they?re having a show
(single strums) A5           D5           A5            D5
So raise a glass of your sweat to acknowledge the debt 
         A5           E5             A5
that we owe to our most gracious hosts