The Mountain Goats

[fox69]

"Family Happiness"

"Family Happiness"



As we cruised across
The Canadian border
You reached into your handbag
Pulled out a micro-cassette recorder

Started quoting Tolstoy into the machine
I had no idea what you meant
I guess I'm supposed to figure things out
Or maybe it's supposed to be self-evident

But I've gone feral
And I don't speak the language anymore
We're headed deep into the forest
I've got the pedal to the floor

The engine shudders like a dying man
When you reach out to grab my hand
You can bring out all your weapons
You can't make me go to war

Long, winding Canadian highways
Innumerable evergreens
Weather forecast on the AM radio
Says we'll be expecting highs in the low teens

When I mouth my silent curses at you
I can see my breath
I hope the stars don't even come out tonight
I hope we both freeze to death

Look at the person I've turned into
Tell me, how do you like him now?
No standards of any kind to break
No creeds to disavow

I am right here where you want me
Do what you brought me out here for
You can arm me to the teeth
You can't make me go to war

 

[fox69]

"Fault Lines"

"Fault Lines"



Down here where the heat's so fine
I'll drink to your health and you drink to mine
As we try to make the money we scored out in Vegas
Hold out for a while

We drink vodka from Russia, we get out chocolates from Belgium
We have our strawberries flown in from England
But none of the money we spend seems to do us much good in the end
I've got a cracked engine block, both of us do

Yeah, the house and the jewels, the Italian race car
They don't make us feel better about who we are
I've got termites in the framework
So do you

Down here where the watermelon grows so sweet
Where I worship the ground underneath of your feet
We are experts in the art
Of frivolous spending

And it's gone on like this, for 3 years, I guess
And we're drunk all the time and our lives are a mess
And the deathless love we swore to protect with our bodies
Is stumbling across its bleak ending

But none of the rage in our eyes
Seems to finish it off where it lies
I got sugar in the fuel lines
Both of us do

Yeah, the fights and the lies that we both love to tell
Fail to send our love to its reward down in hell
I got pudding for a backbone
But so do you

 

[fox69]

"Feed This End"

"Feed This End"


Ok
come here you
what?
I want you to be my love slave
yes master oh you [?]
who me?
it goes both ways
it does?
mmm yeah.
I'm gonna be your love slave?
uh-huh

stood near the cage of the prize-fighting cock
the sun cut through the clouds but the air pressure dropped
and I touched your hair for the very first time
I have that moment with me now
it's all mine
and you
showed me a thing or two about power in its purest form

a few minutes later you went back inside
and I stood near the clothesline where strips of beef dried
hanging in the noon-day sun
flies were buzzing nearby
and then your face in the window caught my eye
and you
showed me a thing or two about power in its purest form

things don't look much different now from where I stand
looking for you with camera in hand
someone's gone away
and someone's gotten taller
but the world stopped turning and the universe is much smaller
since you
showed me a thing or two about power in its purest form
yeah you
showed me a thing or two about power in its purest form

 

[fox69]

"Fire Editorial"

"Fire Editorial"



Two blinded in Detroit!
Something must be done
Jaws dropping at ringside
In the blood tide
When the fireball hits

Down Indiana way
Make 'em check their guns
Real tears when it's over
Smell the sulfur
When the dark vault splits

Lord of the hidden pocket knife
Tawdry dreams all come to life
Save yourselves
Save this town, save everything not nailed down

War in Ontario! Dead before the bell
Crushed hopes of the young breed
All the best bleed
All the proud boys break

Who will stand before the flood?
Who will mop up all the blood?
Who alone?
Skin, bone, steel, stone
Swim or drown
Save this town, save everything not nailed down

 

[fox69]

"First Few Desperate Hours"

"First Few Desperate Hours"



Bad luck comes in from Tampa
Bad luck comes in from Tampa
On the back of a truck
Doing ninety up the interstate

We have bad dreams the night he rolls in
We have bad dreams the night he rolls in
And we try
To keep our spirits high

But they flag and they wane
When the truck pulls up out front in the light spring rain
And they sag like withering flowers
Let the good times roll on through these first few desperate hours

The driver drops his cargo at the curb
The driver drops his cargo at the curb
And the sun peeks in
Like a killer through the curtain

And when cloven hoof prints turn up in the garden
Yeah, when cloven hoof prints turn up in the garden
We keep up the good fight
We keep our spirits light

But they drop like flies
And there's a stomach-churning shift in the way the land lies
And they lean like towers
On a hillside, struggling to stand through these first few desperate hours

 

[fox69]

"Flashing Lights"

"Flashing Lights"



I am wearing a white long-sleeve button-down
The pink colors behind the clouds tonight mirror the softer shades of your nightgown
As the neurotransmitters go crazy inside of me, you swear you're leaving town
Empty promises, empty promises

I am watching the way the wind seems to pass straight through your body
When you run your fingernail along my neck and you spill some water on me
You say you're as good as gone, well don't look now, but here comes the dawn
Empty promises, empty promises, empty promises, empty promises

 

[fox69]

"Flight 717: Going To Denmark"

"Flight 717: Going To Denmark"



your bright eyes render all discussion pointless
your bright eyes are gonna kill me for sure
i look at you and i know that the house will come down
because your burning eyes are bright and pure
but there's a room for us in a red brick building
by a bright green field in denmark

i've got a twitch in my leg and it makes me nervous
and i've got fifty cents in my watch pocket
and your name beating march time in my blood
putting pressure on the hollows of my eye sockets
there's a room for us in a red brick building
by a bright green field in a very old country

my mouth is open
so you can stuff the bright red roses in.
'cause i feel the california sky closing in.
there's a room for us on the third floor of a red brick building
by a green field with a stream running through it in denmark.
yeah!

 

[fox69]

"FM"
(originally by Steely Dan)

"FM"
(originally by Steely Dan)



Hurry the bottle, mama
It's grapefruit wine
Kick off your high-heeled sneakers
It's party time

The girls don't seem to care what's on
As long as it plays 'til dawn
No static at all

Give her some fucked-up music
She treats you nice
Feed her some hungry reggae
She'll love you twice

The girls don't seem to care tonight
As long as the mood is right
No static at all
No static at all

 

[fox69]

"For Charles Bronson"

"For Charles Bronson"



Catch a lucky break, try to make it last
Rig a blanket curtain up between the present and the past
Play my lucky numbers for most of what they're worth
Lie about my age right down to my last day on this earth

Set your sights on good fortune, concentrate
Pull back the hammer, try to hold the gun straight

Hit the gym each night, stay cool and seldom speak
Keep the heart of a champion, never let them see you're weak
And whatever they say on your page three mention
Focus on the parts that make you feel good, be grateful for the attention

Set your sights on good fortune, concentrate
Pull back the hammer, try to hold the gun straight

Try to hold the gun straight
And true and steady
Let the frame you
When the cameraman's ready

Work until I drop
Drift from place to place
Ehrenfield, Pennsylvania
Scratched into my face

Set your sights on good fortune, concentrate
Pull back the hammer, try to hold the gun straight
Try to hold the gun straight

 

[fox69]

"Foreign Object"

"Foreign Object"



Whipped like a dog, down on the cards
Square in the spotlight sweating real hard
All soaked in blood like a newborn babe
Sharp thing hidden in my hand shaped like an astrolabe

Gonna stick you in the eye with a foreign object
Gonna poke you in the eye with a foreign object

March through the red mist, never get my vision clear
Learn to love this kind of atmosphere
Strike funny poses, keep my weapon hand low
Whip my head around a little, get blood on the front row

Gonna jab you in the eye with a foreign object
I personally will stab you in the eye with a foreign object
Foreign object, foreign object, foreign object

Sink my teeth into your scalp, take a nice big bite
Save nothing for the cameras, play the angles all night
One of these days my legs will both snap like twigs
If you can't beat ’em make 'em bleed like pigs

I'm gonna jab you in the eye with a foreign object
I'm gonna stab you in the eye with a foreign object

Ba, ba da da, ba ba ba da, foreign object
Ba, ba da da, ba ba ba da, foreign object
Ba, ba da da, ba ba ba da, foreign object