← more from
Royal Potato Family
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Patty's Diner

from You Only Get A Few by Upstate

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Upstate's 3rd studio album, 'You Only Get A Few,' on 180-gram classic black vinyl. Gorgeous deluxe packaging includes lyrics and photos with two panel poster insert.

    Includes unlimited streaming of You Only Get A Few via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $25 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

This was one of those rare tunes that showed up nearly all at once put together. It stemmed from a daydream I had driving past a vacant billboard much like the narrator Holly in the song. I right away got a vivid picture of who she was, and when I got home it felt like she wrote the rest of it and I was just taking dictation.

lyrics

There’s a vacant billboard sign
Out on mile forty-nine
I was sure by now somebody would’ve bought

‘Cause it’s a magnet to the eyes of anybody going by
And every time I get a glimpse I get the thought

That I ought to test my luck and finally sell my sister’s truck
It’s just been sitting in the driveway since she died

More that life keeps wearing thin
The more her dreams start creeping in
The image just gets brighter in my mind

Sayin’ “Come to Patty’s Diner
Where the coffee’s fine and the comp’ny’s finer”
With that picture of her grinning while the oven’s catching fire
I can see it now

There’s a spot I’m looking at used to be a laundromat
But it’s all been boarded up since early May

Bill can’t stomach the idea
Says “Holly, you’re not thinking clear,
And you haven’t done since Patty passed away”

Well it might be that he’s right
‘Cause I keep sitting up at night
With her talkin’ at our table late last year

And when the radio comes on
There’s an ad before the song
It don’t take all that long until I hear

Her pitching “Come to Patty’s Diner
Where the food is fine and the folks are finer”
And she’s laughing while she says it but she’s serious as hell
I can hear it now

I never did much dreaming on my own
Patty did the scheming for us both
And her eyes would get lit up
They would glow right through the walls
But now everybody’s living like she never lived at all

She was already pretty sick
And the treatment wouldn’t stick
You could tell by then what everybody knew

And I couldn’t understand
Why she would keep on making plans
She’d say “Holly what else am I supposed to do?”

It was hard to overlook that she was such a lousy cook
Man, she couldn’t fry an egg to save her life

But if you harbored any doubts, she knew how to talk ‘em out
Make you certain that it all would go alright

And that we’d open Patty’s Diner
Where the coffee’s fine and the company's finer
And the kids could wait the tables, me and Bill pick up the slack
I can see it now
I can see it now
I can see it now

credits

from You Only Get A Few, released March 31, 2023

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Upstate image

Upstate Poughkeepsie, New York

Melanie Glenn, Mary Webster, Harry D'Agostino, Dylan McKinstry

shows

contact / help

Contact Upstate

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

Upstate recommends:

If you like Upstate, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featured guests are the golden-voiced Baby Rose and psyche soulsters Brainstory.
listen now