Bagley Avenue
By Kevin Bulmer (SOCAN)
©2007 Kevin Bulmer Enterprises
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About the song: I have vivid memories of the first time my dad took me to Tiger Stadium. We had box seats on the third base line. It was one of many wonderful days I’ve shared with my original hero: my dad. Years went by, and I visited the “Corner” many more times. Often we would park on Bagley Avenue in Corktown for free, buy a $4 bleacher seat and watch the game. When the Tigers moved away from that stadium (an event that also coincided with my obtaining a career, family and responsibilities much bigger than following a baseball team), I lost interest for some time. Then, in 2006, I changed my mind and attended Opening Day with my great good pal Jimmy (the Tigers went to the World Series that year). This song is my story about going back. It is not a song about baseball. It’s about how baseball served as a conduit for something much more important.
Lyrics:
When a soul reawakens in a tunnel through time
It reminds just how far life has gone down the line
I remember the moment my heart returned true
On that April day’s drive down Bagley Avenue
As a boy filled with wonder and so much to know
Grandpa let the world in with an old radio
And I hung on the words, summer long, night and day
Sharing stories of color in a world shaded gray
And the ball awakes hope, like a dream ‘gainst the sky
Echoing voices of generations gone by
Our lives come together and don’t need to know why
And then it’s over in the blink of an eye
Though the corner at Michigan and Trumbull lay bare
There are ghosts of a century’s summers still there
It’s been almost as long since that team made a run
And the time drifts a gap between father and son
But the winter’s relief arrived early this day
And the bloom of the season had new things to say
Friends and family gathered again in the sun
In that way we knew our team had already won
And the ball awakes hope, like a dream ‘gainst the sky
Echoing voices of generations gone by
Our lives come together and don’t need to know why
And then it’s over in the blink of an eye
Driving home through the silent pitch October night
With one voice over air and my boys and my wife
40 thousand made breathless with a swing and a crack
In a moment we know that we’re all the way back
With a tear and a smile I then thought of my Dad
Having catch in the summer and the days that we had
When it all came back to me; my life cycled through
On that April day’s drive down Bagley Avenue
And the ball awakes hope, like a dream ‘gainst the sky
Echoing voices of generations gone by
Our lives come together and don’t need to know why
And then it’s over in the blink of an eye
I remember the moment my heart returned true
On that April day’s drive down Bagley Avenue
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