The Mountain Goats

[fox69]

"New Britain"

"New Britain"



You had it up to here with my west country talk
You can hardly understand a word I say
The shortest tree around here is a hundred feet tall
It's gonna rain today

I try and tell you secrets until my face turns blue
I am not getting through to you
All the way across the ocean they're gathering their strength again
Lining up along the country's length again

This morning I know who you are
This morning I know who you are

On the river, the sun is bright gold
And the things you try to say to me make my blood run cold
But I hold you anyway
And we stare into the sun all day

And you're about to leave again, I've learned to read your movements
And I'm learning how to read your mind
The sun climbs the sky for us, above the Mississippi
And I can feel you in my arms but you're hardly even with me

This morning I know who you are
This morning I know who you are

 

[fox69]

"New Monster Avenue"

"New Monster Avenue"



Shadows on the broad lawn, canopy of trees
Sometime after midnight the ground is gonna freeze
Birds in the frosty air
What are they doing there?

Greenhouse full of butchers' brooms
Breezes at my back
Sometime before the sun comes up
The earth is gonna crack

I look down at my hands
Like they were mirrors

Fresh coffee at sunrise
Warm my lips against the cup
Been waiting such a long time now
My number's finally coming up

All the neighbors come on out to their front porches
Waving torches

 

[fox69]

"New Star Song"

"New Star Song"


I hung pictures of you from every lamp post in town
As the humidity climbed into numbers I don't care to repeat
The air was heavy and the sky was alive
And the pacific starlight train wasn't due in till 11. 45

[Chorus]
I thought about how cold you must be
I thought about things I thought that I'd soon be forgetting
I thought of you up in Canada as the lightning storm lit up
All downtown redding

There were teenagers in mini-trucks coming around every corner
You can taste the adrenaline, coming out through their skin
I came to the well-lit doorway of a sheet music store
Saw my face in the glass. sat down in the doorway and I settled in

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"New Zion"

"New Zion"



There were signs up in the sky
When we gathered by the garden wall
Everybody on his best behavior
Listening for the altar call

High priest of Salem in his robes
Ranting of the coming of the day
Ravens at the gates
Frightening all the visitors away

I lay down by the water
Dreamed a dream of where I come from
Old things made new
Waiting for you

There were wooden wind chimes rustling
In the trees above the anthills on the dunes
On the high winds, we could hear them
Old familiar tunes

The little bit of faith we had once
Like the memory of a movie
They got burned up in the great fire
Reassembling itself slowly by surely

I lay down by the water
Dreamed a dream of where I come from
Old things made new
Waiting for you

 

[fox69]

"Night Light"

"Night Light"



Pull my mask so tight,
Til it pinches my skin.
Nerves strung so high.
I am a mandolin.
Jenny calls from Montana.
She's only passing through.
Probably never see her again in this life, I guess.
Not sure what I'm gonna do.

Plug a night light in.
Leave the porch light on.
Because the small dark corners have designs on me.
Live like an outlaw.
Clutching gold coins in his claw.

Room full of ambitious young policemen.
Everybody trying to make his mark.
I was a red dot blinking on a screen up overhead,
And then the room went dark.
Dream of maybe waking up someday,
And wanting you less than I do.
This is a dream though,
It's never gonna come true.

Plug a night light in.
Leave the porch light on.
Because the small dark corners are establishing a colony.
Live like an outlaw.
Clutching gold coins in his claw.

Can't ever set aside the sweetness,
Of the days before the crews put up the border.
Fields full of wet rain.
Cling tight to their memory forever.
Think about Montana when I close my eyes,
Possibly Jenny's headed east.
Count a couple of stray hopes outloud,
May their numbers one day be increased.

Plug a night light in.
Leave the porch light on.
Because the small dark corners breathe like heavy animals.
Live like an outlaw.
Clutching gold coins in his claw.

 

[fox69]

"Night Of The Mules"

"Night Of The Mules"



The street lights gave off an yellow glow
On the holly and the mistletoe
You could feel the rain, coming down.
And quiet starlight, hardened the ground.
Till the street shone like a diamond

Look sister, here comes a new genuine disaster.
Clip-clop up the street,
See the rain, feel the sleet, yeah.

The cold air, unpredictable weather,
Ten or twenty of us, huddled together,
Hearing the braying, growing louder
Snowflakes falling fine white powder.

Here come, the new kings
The hooves clack and the metal sings
Clip-clop up the street
See the rain, feel the sleet, yeah

 

[fox69]

"Nine Black Poppies"

"Nine Black Poppies"



When I got home I meant to give you some sweet chrysanthemum
The wind chimes were ringing all wrong and you were standing
In the doorway singing along
And I tried to remember how nice it had been
A long long time ago
But I couldn't remember.
I honestly could not remember

And a package came for you today, from the hunan province
The postmark burning jet black in the summer sun
Someone was changing. someone was changing from the inside out
And I turned around to face you.

Sweet peas in the garden, all in full bloom
And I thought I heard the traces of an old song murmuring in the room
Like a half-remembered conversation, I let it slip away
And then I could not remember
I honestly could not remember

And a package came for you today, from the hunan province
The postmark burning jet black in the summer sun
Someone was changing. someone was changing from the inside out
And I turned around to face you

 

[fox69]

"No Children"

"No Children"



I hope that our few remaining friends
Give up on trying to save us
I hope we come up with a fail-safe plot
To piss off the dumb few that forgave us

I hope the fences we mended
Fall down beneath their own weight
And I hope we hang on past the last exit
I hope it's already too late

And I hope the junkyard a few blocks from here
Someday burns down
And I hope the rising black smoke carries me far away
And I never come back to this town again

In my life, I hope I lie
And tell everyone you were a good wife
And I hope you die
I hope we both die

I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow
I hope it bleeds all day long
Our friends say it's darkest before the sun rises
We're pretty sure they're all wrong

I hope it stays dark forever
I hope the worst isn't over
And I hope you blink before I do
And I hope I never get sober

And I hope when you think of me years down the line
You can't find one good thing to say
And I'd hope that if I found the strength to walk out
You'd stay the hell out of my way

I am drowning, there is no sign of land
You are coming down with me, hand in unlovable hand
And I hope you die
I hope we both die

 

[fox69]

"No, I Can't"

"No, I Can't"


You bought me some candy.
And you bought me some flowers.
And you bought me a sofa.
And you bought me a radio.

Thank you for the candy.
Thank you for the flowers.
Thank you for the sofa.
Thank you for the radio.

(now I have everything I need.) [x4]

You brought me a puppy.
And you brought me a lamp.
And you brought me some books.
And you brought me a filing cabinet.

Thanks you for the puppy.
Thank you for the lamp.
Thanks for the books.
Thanks for the filing cabinet
I don't know what I did without it.

(now I have everything I need.) [x4]

You came by. and you came in.
And you let the wind in.
It must be cold outside.
We looked out, through the sliding glass door.
But I'd forgotten what we were looking for.

Thank you for coming by.
It's nice to see you once in a while.
Thank you for the coat I forgot to mention.
I've been freezing in here.
I've been freezing in here.

(now I have everything I need.) [x4]
Yeah!

 

[fox69]

"Noche Del Guajolote"

"Noche Del Guajolote"



The glowing world, the bench backed up against the house
The chicken coops, the darkness surrounding everything
It was late and the night was moving slowly
We laid down on the ground because the world was lonely

If you keep quiet it will stay like this forever
If you'll just keep quiet it will stay like this forever
I feel certain of it now

And all the birds were sleeping in their perches
The little wind swaying birches
And the north American wild turkey that your father brought home
Woke up and came toward us

And the moonlight and the turkey waking up
And the night air and the moonlight on your skin
And the moonlight and the turkey waking up
And quiet yard and the turkey and the moon

Unimaginable
Unimaginable
Unimaginable
Unimaginable