The Decemberists - On the Bus Mall Meaning

On the Bus Mall Lyrics

In matching blue raincoats
Our shoes were our showboats
We kicked around
From stairway to station
We made a sensation
With the gadabout crowd

And oh, what a bargain
We're two easy targets
For the old men at the off tracks
Who paid in...

1. anonymous

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   May 31st 2012 !⃝

   "On The Bus Mall" seems to be told from thpoint of view of a male street hustler, reminiscing about his early days on the streets with another boy. They went to school together, ran away together, and started turning tricks on the streets to get by.
   
   The narrator firmly places the entire story in past-tense; when he refers to the present, he says "I will not mourn for you", which (to my ears) implies that his companion is dead, and probably has been for a while now.
   
   It seems to me that the song is less about sex and prostitution than the bond that forms between the boys as they struggle to survive. The sense of freedom that pervades the song is thrilling; the narrator seems to have a sense of humor about their predicament, which makes it sound to me as if the events he describes happened many years ago.
   
   The key to the song seems to be in the chorus:
   
   Here in our hovel we fused like a family,
   But I will not mourn for you
   So take up your make-up and pocket your pills away;
   We're kings among runaways
   On the bus mall
   
   It seems as if the narrator is mixing tenses here, starting in the present and ending up in the past. Throughout the song he describes the bond between himself and the other boy; it's left vague, whether their bond was sexual or just emotional:
   
   And we laughed off the quick tricks--
   The old men with limp dicks--
   On the colonnades of the waterfront park.
   As 4 in the morning came on, cold and boring,
   We huddled close
   In the bus stop enclosure enfolding.
   Our hands tightly holding...
   
   The song lends itself well to either interpretation, as the narrator takes pains to describe their love for one another through prostitution, drug use, pool-hall hustling and (possibly) the death of one of the boys.
   
   This is probably my favourite Decemberists song; the melody is bouncy but surprisingly poignant. It stays with me, and always (ironically) seems to brighten my mood.