[Verse 1]
It was not such a small town
In the antebellum north
Built on the factory sounds
Before that war
Time-clock faith in material
The tractors and contractors of wealth
Where they called the juleps Manhattans
And prejudice was called the help
[Chorus]
Who would believe naively
That these things are perpetual?
All of it's gone to hell
Perhaps it's just as well
[Verse 2]
Lost in the miniature teacups
The umbrella-shielded sun
Listening to thе piano boom
Napoleon's gathering guns
As I lay quietly quiltеd
On that screened-in porch I knew
Listening to the cicadas sing
Not knowing they were doomed
[Chorus]
Who would believe naively
That these things are perpetual?
All of it's gone to hell
Perhaps it's just as well
[Verse 3]
On the lawn they sipped their cocktails
Diversions of fair play
And talked of factories closing
While arguing grass or clay
With the elm trees slowly dying
On the stately avenues
The evening silence shattered
When the factory whistle blew
[Chorus]
Who would believe naively
That these things are perpetual?
All of it's gone to hell
Perhaps it's just as well
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 4]
But the bicycles got bigger
And the circles, they grew small
And the frantic voices beckoned
Somewhere beyond the wall
The seventeen-year locusts
Were leaving behind their shells
When the ice-cream truck bell
Tolled the garden to hell
[Chorus]
Who would believe naively
That these things are perpetual?
All of it's gone to hell
Perhaps it's just as well
All of it's gone to hell
Perhaps it's just as well
Landmark was written by Jack Hardy.