Wickenden

While she’s at the mall

We’re going to get ourselves

Moved into the new place

On Wickenden

We’re going to pretend

We’re college kids

Coming to town

For the first time

It’s going to be like

Moving across the country

And it’s just three miles away

But see, back in the day

Three miles

And you were gone

You were disappeared

And nobody could find you

And nobody wanted to

Good luck to you

And your life

On the other side of town

My cousin came into some money

After an accident

At the soda factory

And he moved to the East Side

You would’ve thought

He was dead in the ground

The way we talked about him after that

Used to be harder

To get across the world

And the state of Rhode Island

Was no different

People talk about

Going to the beach

The beach?

You know what we had to do

To get ourselves to the beach?

To South County?

You think our parents

Were taking us down there

Every weekend?

Nobody bothered

Shouldn’t have been that hard

Money wasn’t everywhere

But it wasn’t that tight either

We could’ve afforded some gas

And a couple of towels

Made some sandwiches

But we just didn’t do that

I don’t know why

And living on the East Side

Wasn’t even a thought

In our heads

But one weekend

Me and my other cousin

We got bored and walked

All the way through downtown
All the way up College Hill

Just walked around

Looking at the houses

Couldn’t believe it

Like we couldn’t believe

It had been there

The whole time

I thought when we got back

We were going to get

Our asses handed to us

But for some reason

I just fessed up

And told my mother

Where we’d been

And wouldn’t you know

She wanted to hear all about it

And then she whooped our asses

I started looking for apartments

Awhile back

When I finally had some finances in order

And I couldn’t believe

I found a place

Cheap as it was

Not cheap cheap

But cheaper

Than I thought it’d be

And now they tell me

This neighborhood is turning around

Wouldn’t you figure that?

Soon as we all leave

The rich people are going to roll in

And make this

The nice part of town

And we’ll be in their old haunts

Right back where we started

That’s the way the world works, you know

That’s just how it is

But while Wickenden is still
The nicer part of town
I’m going to move me

And my kid into a little apartment there

She’s with her friend at the mall now

Not even knowing

That when she comes back

Her whole life is going to be different

Three miles

And nothing’s ever

Going to be the same

It’s like I heard once

On tv--

A little geography

Goes a long way