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The Invasion of Chelsea

from Love, Money & Revenge by Shandy Lawson

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lyrics

“It was our darkest hour,”
Is what everyone said
The day the town of Chelsea
Got turned on its head
When the whole world gazed
Bewitched an amazed
At the miracle that laid at their feet

Widow Johnson’s Chevy—
One wheel in the grave
Took to losing oil
At a most alarming rate
And it left a stain
A mark on the terrain
That forever changed little Chelsea

Upon returning home one day
Widow Johnson saw the stain
In a most familiar shape—
The face of the Virgin Mary

She called out to her neighbors
And they called out to theirs
And before you could say a Hail Mary
The whole town was there
And it filled the street
The sound of shuffling feet
They all came out to see her blessed driveway

The pretty girl from the evening news
And the kid from the Chelsea Press
Took turns asking questions
About which driveway was blessed
And it made front page
It was all the rage
Folks of every age came to Chelsea

By noon the hotels all were booked
Widow Johnson’s whole house shook
They were on the roof to get a look
At the face of the Virgin Mary

And maps to the scene were sold on every corner
You can take the walking tour for twenty bucks
Replicas for sale are all hand-painted
And guaranteed to bring you divine luck

“Binoculars for rent, only five dollars—
And guaranteed to provide immaculate perception.”

The excitement reached a fever pitch
Until someone in the crowd
Said “The stain looks less like Mary,
And more like Charlie Brown.”
And they all went quiet
Someone said, “You’re right.”
And they receded into the night
Until the street was empty

The sun came up on Chelsea
Widow Johnson surveyed the scene
That oil stain on the driveway
Would take all day to clean
And she swept the street
Cleaned up the debris
It was back to the old routine in Chelsea

credits

from Love, Money & Revenge, track released January 1, 2006

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about

Shandy Lawson New Haven, Connecticut

Formerly of Los Angeles, Tampa, and NYC, Shandy is a New Haven, CT-based performing songwriter. But really, he'll play pretty much anywhere.

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