Story Behind The Song

Before we moved to Rochester, MN, home of the "world famous" Mayo clinic, it was a place that we only came to when someone we knew was sick enough to have to go to the Mayo clinic. It was usually during the dead of winter, when all the colors were drained

Song Description

This is an exploration of how a place gathers meaning.

Lyrics

Grade A Gray Day

Hey, my friend Jay
Can you take the kids for a day?
Well I?ve got to go see my grandma
She?s in for another stay
And we don?t know what?s wrong
We?ve been hanging on the telephone
She used to say she could feel it in her bones
Now what do you know?

It?s always gray in Rochester
There?s a million gray geese in the sky
They?ve got elegant buildings
Full of silver-haired doctors
And you pay them all you?ve got
To keep your relatives alive

On a grade A gray day
On a grade A day
And I hate that town, oh I hate going down
Another round of tests,
Another pain in the chest
Another lump in the breast

It?s your uncle, it?s your wife
It?s the longest day of your live
They?ve got a jigsaw puzzle
In the waiting room
With no picture on it
Just the grays and the whites
It?s your sister, it?s your dad
It could be worse they tell you
But it?s still pretty bad
We won?t know for a day or so
Why don?t you go home?

You?ve got your flower,
You?ve got your card
You?ve got the polaroid picture
Of the kids in the yard
And you?ve memorized some nice things to say
You only wish that you could
Memorize a way to hold up your face.

On a grade A gray day
On a grade A day
And I hate that town, oh I hate going down
Another round of tests,
Another pain in the chest
Another lump in the breast
Another tube in the wrist
Another line on the list
Another pill for the stress
Another wish for the best
Another...
Another...
Another...