The Mountain Goats

[fox69]

"Ice Cream, Cobra Man"

"Ice Cream, Cobra Man"



I have a hand disfigured by snakebite.
I have a couple of things that I really like
and I am heading your way all the time.

I'm going to move all my vital organs
to someplace outside my body.
The wiring is something you would not believe.

I feel no pain as I float across your ceiling, and I --
I have no shame.
I am in a thousand rooms all at the same time.
Yeah and I have a glass
filled with water and light, and I feel good tonight.
I am climbing up this mountain.
You can watch me. You can watch me.

 

[fox69]

"Idylls Of The King"

"Idylls Of The King"



This place with its old plantations
These roads leading out to the sea
This day full of promise and potential
More clay pigeons for you and me

All of them, all of them
All of them, all of them
All of them, all of them
All of them, all of them all lined up

Huge crows loitering by the curb
Our shared paths unraveling behind us like ribbons
And I dreamed of vultures in the trees around our house
And cicadas and locusts and the shrieking of innumerable gibbons

All of them, all of them
All of them, all of them
All of them, all of them
All of them, all of them all lined up

How long will we ride this way about?
How long 'till someone caves under the pressure?
My dreams are haunted by armies, armies of ghosts
Faces too blurry to make out, numbers far too high to measure

Your face like a vision straight of Holly Hobby
Late light drizzling through your hair
Your eyes twin volcanoes
Bad ideas dancing around in there

All, all of them, all of them
All of them, all of them
All of them, all of them
All of them, all of them all lined up

 

[fox69]

"If You See Light"

"If You See Light"



When the villagers come to my door, I will hide underneath the table in the dining room
Knees drawn to my chest
When the villagers come to my door, I will breathe shallow breaths from high up in my stomach
I'll ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah

Waiting for the front door to splinter
Waiting all winter

When the villagers come to my door
I'll be all tucked away with my face to the floor and my eyes closed
And no one knows how to keep secrets 'round here, they tell everyone everything soon as they know
And then where is there left for poor sinners to go?

Waiting for the front door to splinter
Waiting all winter

 

[fox69]

"In Corolla"

"In Corolla"



The day I turned my back on all you people
I felt an itching in my thumbs
Salt air like a broadcast from the distant dark beyond
When my transformation comes

I went down to the warm, warm water
Saw a pelican fly past
Waved once at the highway and then left all that behind me
I went wading through the grass

And no one was gonna come and get me
There wasn't anybody gonna know
Even though I leave a trail of burned things in my wake
Every single place I go

And it was cool and it was quiet
In the humid marsh down there
I let my head sink down beneath the brackish water
Felt it gumming up my hair

The sun was sinking into the Atlantic
The last time that I turned my back on you
I tried to summon up a little prayer as I went under
It was the best that I could do

And I said let them all fare better than your serpent
The reeds all pricking at my skin
Here's hoping they have better luck than I had down here with you
All that water rushing in

 

[fox69]

"In Memory Of Satan"

"In Memory Of Satan"



Got my paintbox out last night
Stayed up late and wrecked this place
Woke up on the floor again
Cellphone stuck to the side of my face

Dead space on the other end
Perfect howl of emptiness
Cast my gaze around the room
Someone needs to clean up this mess

Tape up the windows
Call in a favor from an old friend

Make some scratches on my floor
Crawl down on my hands and knees
In old movies people scream
Choking on their fists when they see shadows like these
But not one screams cuz it's just me
Locked up in myself
Never gonna get free

Something sacred something blue
Cannons in the harbor dawn
Crawled down here to dig for bones
One more season then I'm gone

Black drapes over the crosses
Call in a favor from an old friend

 

[fox69]

"In The Craters On The Moon"

"In The Craters On The Moon"



If the strain proves too much
Give up right away
If the light hurts your eyes
Stay in your room all day

When the room fills with smoke
Lie down on the floor
In the declining years
Of the long war

When the blood's in the water
And the shark's going to come
And we swim in the dark
Until our bodies are numb

Blind desert rats in the moonlight
Too far from shore
In the declining years
Of the long war

Empty room with a light bulb
When the phone starts to ring
Everybody gets nervous
Nobody says anything

The next day someone's initials
Show up on the door
I think I'm going to crack
Can't live like this anymore

Ugly things in the darkness
Worse things in store
In the declining years
Of the long war

 

[fox69]

"In The Hidden Places"

"In The Hidden Places"



Autumn came around like a drifter to an on-ramp
There were wet leaves floating in gutters full of rain
Took to walking barefoot around town
Melodies from grade school kicking in my brain

Saw you on the crosstown bus today, you were reading a magazine
I turned my face away and I shut my eyes tight
Dreamed about the flowers that hide from the light
On dark hillsides in the hidden places

The brakes howled and the bus pulled up near my house
And I got off at the corner
Pulled my sleeves down over my hands, over my hands
And I wished I was someone else and I wished it was warmer

And when I got home I thought about you
Like a desperate policeman searching for clues
And I almost passed out just then and I shut my eyes again
Headed for the dark hillsides, in the hidden places

 

[fox69]

"Insurance Fraud #2"

"Insurance Fraud #2"



Bag full of oily rags, fifty cent lighter
Dreams of retirement in Cancun burning ever brighter
There's a lot of ways to make money in this world
But i can't recommend insurance fraud.

Burned out shell of a Volkswagen,
Blood stains on the driveway,
Torn up Mercedes, by the side of the highway
Big plans, big plans
Let me tell you something sister,
You will never get away with it.

You were sitting in the recliner with the TV on,
When you said something evil and then you were gone,
Explosives in the water main,
A blown fuse
College graduation photograph
Splashed all over the six o'clock news
I won't be cashing in your policy,
'til i find out what it is you're trying to do to me

 

[fox69]

"International Small Arms Traffic Blues"

"International Small Arms Traffic Blues"



My love is like a powder keg
My love is like a powder keg in the corner of an empty warehouse
Somewhere just outside of town
About to burn down

My love is like a Cuban plane
My love is like a Cuban plane flying from Havana
Up the Florida coast to the 'Glades
Soviet made

Our love is like the border between Greece and Albania
Our love is like the border between Greece and Albania
Trucks loaded down with weapons crossing over every night
Moon yellow and bright

There is a shortage in the blood supply
But there is no shortage of blood
The way I feel about you, baby, can't explain it
You got the best of my love

 

[fox69]

"Isaiah 45:23"

"Isaiah 45:23"



If my prayer be not humble, make it so
In these last hours, if the spirit waits in check, help me let it go
And should my suffering double, let me never love you less
Let every knee be bent and every tongue confess

And I won't get better
But someday I'll be free
'Cause I am not this body
That imprisons me

I read the magazines somebody brought
Hold them to my failing eyes until my hands get hot
And when the nurse comes in to change my sheets and clothes
The pain begins to travel, dancing as it goes

And I won't get better
But someday I'll be free
'Cause I am not this body
That imprisons me

If my prayer goes unanswered, that's alright
If my path fills with darkness and there's no sign of light
Let me praise you for the good times, let me hold your banner high
Until the hills are flattened and the rivers all run dry

And I won't get better
But someday I'll be free
'Cause I am not this body
That imprisons me