The Mountain Goats

[fox69]

"Orange Ball Of Pain"

"Orange Ball Of Pain"



When I saw it on the bakery carousel
I knew I had to have it for my own
I eased it out and I brought it home

Why don't you try some?
I already had some myself
Is that the most delicious thing
You ever tasted in your life?

Is that the most delicious thing
You ever tasted in your life?

And then the cold sorrow gripped me by the throat
And then I felt the colder sadness taking hold
I knew I had to have it for my own

Why don't you try some?
Why don't you try some?
Is that the most delicious thing
You ever tasted in your life?

Is that the most delicious thing
You ever tasted in your life?

And then I saw the snow against the window
And I saw the snow hit the window
And I saw the snow brush against the window
And I saw the snow in here

 

[fox69]

"Orange Ball Of Peace"

"Orange Ball Of Peace"



they wanted me to be a lawyer.
they wanted me to work in a machine shop.
they wanted me to be a designer,
but I came out on top.
I'm a fire-man.
I'm a fire-man.

stand and watch the smoke.
see the flames rise to the sky.
I stand and watch the flames climb higher.
I feel the smoke get in my eyes.
I'm a fire-man.
I'm a fire-man.

 

[fox69]

"Original Air-Blue Gown"

"Original Air-Blue Gown"



Rain all burned away
The horseflies are an irridescent green
Plums boiled down to a pulp
Drying on a screen

Bright red air inside the house here
I can barely draw breath
Dark blue shapes pop behind my eyelids
I am not afraid of death

And on the television
Black and white footage of the young Cassius Clay
My god, my god, my god
He was something

Fists flashing as he comes toward the screen
Sailing headlong into nothing
And disappearing, reappearing
Out there in the clearing

Floating down the slight breeze
That plays along the edges of the leaves
It's you, it's you
It's you

 

[fox69]

"Outer Scorpion Squadron"

"Outer Scorpion Squadron"



If you really want to conjure up a ghost
Cultivate a space for the things that hurt you most
Rake the sands until they surface
Bind their tiny eyes

Stake out your position, let your armor fall
Stay put 'till they find you, it won't take long at all
Rake the sands until they surface
Up they come, gone translucent

They're coming up no matter what
Fools rush in and the doors slam shut

Ghosts of my childhood, stay with me, if you will
Find a place where there's water, hold you under 'till you're still
Rake the sands until they surface
Don't let anybody call them ugly

 

[fox69]

"Ox Baker Triumphant"

"Ox Baker Triumphant"



I will rise from the swamp where they dumped my private plane
I'll be clutching the life preserver in my teeth
And I will find the highway
And I will flag down a truck
Worry lines on my forehead, blank stare underneath

And when I come back to town
I'm gonna cast my burden down
A little worse for wear
Practically walking on air

I will thank my ride and crawl my way back inside
To the guts of the building where my enemies
Hide in the dark like roaches
And I will signal the camera crew and everyone will do
What he's been trained how to do
Sweat dripping from my face as my moment approaches

Click your heels, count to three
I bet you never expected me
A little worse for wear
Practically walking on air

 

[fox69]

"Pale Green Things"

"Pale Green Things"



Got up before dawn
Went down to the racetrack
Riding with the windows down
Shortly after your first heart attack

You parked behind the paddock
Cracking asphalt underfoot
Coming up through the cracks
Pale green things, pale green things

We watched the horses run their workouts
You held your stopwatch in your left hand
And a racing form beneath your arm
Casting your gaze way out to no man's land

Sometimes I'll meet you out there
Lonely and frightened
Flicking my tongue out at the wet leaves
Pale green things, pale green things

My sister called at 3 AM
Just last December
She told me how you'd died at last, at last
And that morning at the racetrack was one thing I remembered

I turned it over in my mind
Like a living Chinese finger trap
Seaweed and Indiana saw grass
Pale green things, pale green things

 

[fox69]

"Palmcorder Yajna"

"Palmcorder Yajna"



Holt Boulevard, between Gary and White
Hooked up with some friends at the Travelodge, set ourselves up for the night
Carpenter ants in the dresser, flies in the screen
It will be too late by the time we learn what these cryptic symbols mean

And I dreamt of a house
Haunted by all you tweakers with your hands out
And the headstones climbed up the hills
And the headstones climbed up the hills

Send somebody out for soda, comb through the carpet for clues
Reflective tape on our sweatpants, big holes in our shoes
Every couple minutes someone says he can't stand it any more
Laugh lines on our faces, scale maps of the ocean floor

And I dreamt of a camera
Pointing out from inside the television
And the aperture yawning and blinking
And the headstones climbed up the hills

If anybody comes to see me
Tell 'em they just missed me by a minute
If anybody comes into our room while we're asleep
I hope they incinerate everybody in it

And I dreamt of a factory
Where they manufactured what I needed
Using shiny new machines
And the headstones climbed up the hills

 

[fox69]

"Papagallo"

"Papagallo"



you were standing near the water, when the wind ripped through.
heard your throat open up like a champagne bottle
i heard the one perfect song pouring out of you,
there was a darkening sky reflected on the river.
there was no way of determining where we were

low hills, colors gone crazy,
you standing like a ghost with the water behind you.
it's hard to grab ahold of some things sometimes,
like you need me to remind you.

you were standing near the water.
and i was looking at the water.
then you went down in the water,
and the river began to boil.
there was a minute when i thought i knew what you were about,
and then you opened up your eyes and the lord came out

low hills, colors gone crazy,
you rising from the water like a bird,
you had a pure song possessing you from shoulder to hip
and i recognized every single word.

 

[fox69]

"Peacocks"

"Peacocks"



I hear them squeal
I see them preen
Fans all spread out
Neat and clean

Grab hold of the morning
Head out to the porch
Feel the wind stopping
Feel the sun scorch

I fear for my safety
You can see it in my eyes
In an hour or two
We will rise

Then a sharp breeze kicks up
I hug myself hard
How come there's peacocks
In the front yard?

Sun's all prickly
On my neck
When the helicopter passes
We both hit the deck

Hands grasping and groping
Seizing opportunity right where it lies
The sky will fall
We will rise

 

[fox69]

"Philippians 3:20-21"

"Philippians 3:20-21"



The path to the awful room that no one will sleep in again
Was lit for one man only, gone where none can follow him
Try to look down the way he had gone
Back of the closet whose depths go on and on and on

And nice people said he was with God now
Safe in his arms
But the voices of the angels that he heard on his last days with us
Smoke alarms

Well, the path to the palace of wisdom that the mystics walk
Is lined with neuroleptics and electric shocks
Hope daily for healing, try not to go insane
Dance in a circle with bells on, try to make it rain

And nice people say he had gone home to God now
Safe in his arms, safe in his arms
But the voices of the angels singing to him in his last hours with us
Smoke alarms, smoke alarms