Auburn's Symphony: From Shout to Saxophone

Lyrics

[Intro]
Listen. Close your eyes.
Auburn Avenue, nineteen fifty-something.
The beat starts right here, on the pavement.

[Verse 1]
Shoes on the concrete, that's the high-hat.
A screen door slaps shut, that's the snare.
Inside the barbershop, the steady hum of clippers and the sharp snap of a hot towel.
A man's voice calls out, "Peaches! Sweet Georgia peaches!"
The sizzle from a diner vent, hot oil and onion in the air.
And under it all, the murmur.
The endless, hopeful talk.
The lifeblood of the sidewalk.

[Chorus]
This is the symphony.
From the curbstone to the steeple.
The shout and the saxophone.
The word of God and the word on the street.
It all plays together.
This is Sweet Auburn singing.

[Verse 2]
Then Sunday morning breaks.
The doors of Ebenezer swing wide open.
Daddy King's voice, a rolling thunder over the pews.
And the choir answers, a wave of sound that washes the dust right out of the air.
An "Amen" from the back row hits you in the chest.
A rhythm you can lean on all week long.

[Chorus]
This is the symphony.
From the curbstone to the steeple.
The shout and the saxophone.
The word of God and the word on the street.
It all plays together.
This is Sweet Auburn singing.

[Bridge]
Go 'round back of the Atlanta Life building.
Find the freight elevator shaft.
Nineteen forty-nine, Jesse Blayton in there.
Spinning records, sending our voice out over their wires.
WERD Radio.
A secret signal from a tiny room...
loud enough to change everything.

[Verse 3]
Then the sun goes down.
The streetlights bloom and the Royal Peacock comes alive.
The air gets thick with cigarette smoke and possibility.
Hear that?
That's James Brown hitting his knees.
That's B.B. King making Lucille weep and testify.
Sweat and perfume and the stomp of dancing feet on a worn-out wooden floor.
The night has its own sermon.

[Chorus]
This is the symphony.
From the curbstone to the steeple.
The shout and the saxophone.
The word of God and the word on the street.
It all plays together.
This is Sweet Auburn singing.

[Outro]
The saxophone holds a long note...
The choir hums...
The peaches are all sold...
Listen...
It's still playing...