After our first successful run of t-shirts for Providence, RI band, The Low Anthem, the group came back and asked us to do another design for their song “Ticket Taker”. Designer Jay Hallstein interpreted the band’s poetic lyrics into an image of an ark boat sinking into a roll of tickets. The front ticket features the band’s name and a dove with an olive branch in its mouth, a symbol for peace and salvation. Small details, such as the same wave motif, connect the first run of limited edition “Charlie Darwin” tees to the second run of limited edition “Ticket Taker” tees. The shirts also feature hand printed and sewn labels that read “I will be your ark” and the stamped number of each tee. The lyrics to the song are listed below. Visit the band’s website for more information about their music.
TICKET TAKER by THE LOW ANTHEM
Tonight’s the night when the waters rise
You’re groping in the dark
The ticket takers count the men who can afford the arc
The ticket takers will not board
For the ticket takers are tied
For five and change an hour
They will count the passers by
They say the sky’s the limit
But the sky’s about to fall
Down come all them record books cradle and all
They say before he bit it
That the boxer felt no pain
But somewhere there’s a gamblin’ man
With a ticket in the rain
Mary Anne, I know I’m a long shot
But Mary Anne, what else have you got
I am a ticket taker, many tickets have I torn
And I will be your arc, we will float above the storm
Many years have passed in this river town
I’ve sailed through many traps
I keep a stock of weapons should society collapse
I keep a stock of amo
One of oil and one of gold
I keep a place for Mary Anne
Soon she will come home
