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Arizona Sky Lyrics

The Arizona sky
The sky is bigger there
It took my breath away
That doesn't happen every day

Manhattan's music, man
On every avenue
You hear the greatest sounds
Too much can get you down

Decorate, paint it for the union
No reason to give up on the illusion
Take comfort and possession of yourself
No reason to give up on the illusion

Venice is sinking fast
Looks almost upside down
Under a spell we fell
There's far too much to tell

Decorate, paint it for the union
No reason to give up on the illusion
Take comfort and possession of yourself
No reason to give up on the illusion

Uptown in Paraguay(?)
Beneath Chicago moon
Spend every dollar saved
As much as we have made
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Cover art for Arizona Sky lyrics by China Crisis

Possibly a kind of ode to the United States by a band touring from the UK, recounting the highlights of their time in the U.S. From the amazing sky in Arizona, to the amazing music on the streets of Manhattan, to a (brothel? bar? nightclub?) in uptown Chicago where they overspent.

"Venice is sinking fast" may be alluding to the fact that they enjoyed Venice, but that it paled in comparison to the excitements to be found in America. "Decorate, paint if for the union" may mean, "paint the scene" of their experiences of America, for the "union" in this case being listeners back home in the United Kingdom, the union of Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In this vein, "Take comfort and possession of yourself" and "No reason to give up on the illusion", are possibly self-affirmations along the lines of, "We can make it here", "We can maintain the illusion of being exotic British rockers", even though we really have imposter syndrome in the face of all this wonder.

[Edit: Made some additional changes.]

Cover art for Arizona Sky lyrics by China Crisis

Not sure of the song meaning, but having been in Arizona many times there is no doubt that the sky is incredible - it seems to go on forever. I know that sounds ridiculous - how can it be different than the sky anywhere else - but it just is.

@fenwicksfather yes, the band were once on tour with Santana in the 1980s, and whilst driving through Arizona at night, their bus driver stopped and showed them the stars…

Cover art for Arizona Sky lyrics by China Crisis

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