The Mountain Goats

[fox69]

"Song For An Old Friend"

"Song For An Old Friend"



The garter snake passed lazily through the tall yellow-headed sourgrass
There was cold, clear water in a tall, clean glass
The sunlight hit the sides and it came through the water tilted
I saw the condensation on your hand
I could feel the glaciers melting

And a warm, soft wind
Covered up everything
On the day your love came screaming through me

You had oranges and lemons in a canvas bag beside you
And seven different kinds of light welling up inside of you
You smeared citrus pulp all over me, it felt okay
Good old east rutherford three thousand miles away

I felt the warm surge blast my mind
Coming in from behind
On the day your love came screaming through me

In the fresh light of day
I felt something falling away
On the day your love came screaming through me

 

[fox69]

"Song For Cleomenes"

"Song For Cleomenes"



73 years before the advent of the christian era,
as rome was taking over any land within reach,
setting up proxy governmnents in the conquered lands,
there lived one such man given just such a job.
gaius verres. go.

a praetor held a position which operated on trust.
he was to govern instead of the emperor himself.
it was an easy easy privilege to abuse.
and verres did so.

he was the governor of agrigentum which we now know as sicily.
and he stole everything that wasn't nailed down,
took improper advantage of other men's wives.
the list goes on. trust me.
cicero wrote it all down.

at syracuse verres welcomed a band of pirates.
they all drank and danced and sang on the shore,
and when the husband of one of verres's paramours
came bringing a fleet of boats with him,
verius, clever, if diabolical, gave him a job.
and enlisted the pirates to burn the whole fleet down.

the boats burned in the sicilian harbor
the flames rose hundreds of feet into the air
we stood on the shore watching them burn we stood
on the shore, we heard the old songs. hey!

 

[fox69]

"Song For Dana Plato"

"Song For Dana Plato"



The 3 month ride sticks in your mind
As though the insides of your head were a big screen.
And coming in on a evening wind.
It's the unmistakable scent of brilliantine.
What kind of memory serves, what kind of world is it,
That comes headlong at you, then swerves at the last possible second?
It's this one. it's this one.

And it's easy to slow down.
And it's easy to slow down.
And it's easy to just lie out by the blue pools
In the squinting sun and slow down.
And it's easy to slow down.

And in situations like these, it's sometimes useful to
Think of life as one long continuous evening
That never turns into night.
Hey hey!

 

[fox69]

"Song For Dennis Brown"

"Song For Dennis Brown"



On the day that Dennis Brown's lung collapsed
Spring rain was misting down on Kingston
And down at the harbor
Local cops were intercepting an inbound shipment

And for a while there it was chaos
As they handcuffed and then roughed up some sailors
On the day my lung collapses
It's not going to be much different

On the day that Dennis Brown's habits caught up with him
School children sang in choirs
And out behind the Chinese restaurants
Guys were jumping into dumpsters

And the stench was overbearing
But they were past the point of caring
On the day my habits catch up with me
I'll be down among the jumpers

And when the birds come home in spring
We will fill them full of buckshot
And jets of contaminated blood
Will cloud the rivers and the lakes

It took all the coke in town
To bring down Dennis Brown
On the day my lung collapses
We'll see just how much it takes

 

[fox69]

"Song For John Davis"

"Song For John Davis"



the day we set sail from england
the wind behind us was fair
the day we set sail from england
there were smiling faces everywhere
and the snow came down on new hampshire today
and the snow came down on new hampshire today

the day we put the grain into the ground
there were smiling faces all around
and underneath the trees we planted when we landed

when i was a child
i spoke with the language of a child
but when i became a man, i put away childish things
and the snow came down on new hampshire today
and the snow came down on new hampshire today

 

[fox69]

"Song For Lonely Giants"

"Song For Lonely Giants"



No one washed
Behind my ears
High in the trees
Alone for years

Practicing my solitary scales
'Till they rose like balloons
Watching them go
Where they will go

Face in the leaves
Song in my throat
Fall through the air
Hoping to float

Practicing my solitary scales 'till they grow heavy
Too heavy to carry
Watching them go
Where they will go

 

[fox69]

"Song For Mark & Joel"

"Song For Mark & Joel"



i opened up the window and the cold air came in.
and i saw a bird on a branch outside
that i had never seen before.
he looked a robin, but it had an upside down v-shaped
red mark on its chest.
and i had a special feeling in my mind
and i had a special feeling in my mind
i had a certain glint in my eye,
on the morning trouble came by.

there was a map of the american-midwest on one wall.
and there was a map of the american-west on another wall.
and there was a map of rome on the third wall.
and there were maps in all direrctions.
i was looking at them pondering connections
when trouble came by.

then i stuck my head out the window.
i had to stick my head out the window.
it was much colder than i'd imagined it would be.
it was much much colder than i'd imagined it would be.
it was much much colder.
it was much much colder and trouble came by.

 

[fox69]

"Song For The Julian Calendar"

"Song For The Julian Calendar"



Sun twinkling on the river this evening
I tasted chocolate on my tongue
Darkness climbing up the ladders to the sky
Rung by agonizing rung

I heard firecrackers popping next door
Wondered what it was I'd bargained for
When I laid quiet on the floor
And you were knocking

Let me be your witness
Let me walk out on the edge
The sun refused to shine on my backyard today
Darkness climbing up the house, coming through the window ledge

I saw the firecrackers bursting on the sidewalk
Heard you talking your baby talk
Saw the bright lights again and I
Felt the shock when you were knocking

 

[fox69]

"Song For Tura Satana"

"Song For Tura Satana"



Doll squad's at the drive-in
it's 1973
the fruit is full and fat this year on the orange trees
which grow in clusters
the city sixty miles away
as the sunset tries desperately to break through the gray
and the stardust came down, royal blue
as the san bernadino sky showered over you

coming home early is always a mistake
but when you see that woman on the sofa something in you breaks
you've got a celluloid tendency to flare out and blaze
and the report sounds once like a failed hymn of praise
and the stardust came down, royal blue
as the san bernadino sky showered over you

 

[fox69]

"Source Decay"

"Source Decay"



Once a week I make the drive, two hours east
To check the Austin post office box
And I make the detour through our old neighborhood
See all the Chevy Impalas in their front yards up on blocks

And I park in an alley
And I read through the postcards you continue to send
Where as indirectly as you can, you ask what I remember
I like these torture devices from my old best friend

Well, I'll tell you what I know, like I swore I always would
I don't think it's gonna do you any good
I remember the train headed south out of Bangkok
Down toward the water

I always get a late start when the sun's going down
And the traffic's thinning out and the glare is hard to take
I wish the West Texas Highway was a mobius strip
I could ride it out forever

When I feel my heart break, I almost swear I hear it happen, in fact, clean and not hard
I come in off the highway and I park in my front yard
Fall out of the car like a hostage from a plane
Think of you a while, start wishing it would rain

And I remember the train headed south out of Bangkok
Down toward the water

I come into the house, put on a pot of coffee
Walk the floors a little while
I set your postcard on the table with all the others like it
I start sorting through the pile

I check the pictures and the postmarks and the captions and the stamps
For signs of any pattern at all
When I come up empty-handed the feeling almost overwhelms me
I let a few of my defenses fall

And I smile a bitter smile
It's not a pretty thing to see
I think about a railroad platform
Back in 1983

And I remember the train headed south out of Bangkok
Down, down toward the water