The Mountain Goats

[fox69]

"Sourdoire Valley Song"

"Sourdoire Valley Song"



Bang the small rocks on the big ones
'Till the small ones are sharp and clean
Catch something, kill something
New blade cuts real keen

And then the grass grows up to cover up the fire pit and the forge
Half a world away from the Olduvai gorge

Chew these roots for a toothache
Chew these ones for atmosphere
Dream the pleasant dreams that people dream
When they grow up down here

And then the grass grows up to cover up the fire pit and the forge
Half a world away from the Olduvai gorge

Take care of the old man
See if he's in pain
Have somebody stay with him
Comfort him when he complains

Keep to ourselves mostly
Few friends and fewer closer friends
Lead a long life if you're lucky
Hope it never ends

And then the grass grows up to cover up the fire pit and the forge
Half a world away from the Olduvai gorge

 

[fox69]

"Southwestern Territory"

"Southwestern Territory"



Small screen, July evening view
Up and down Grand Avenue
Where the legends get made
Out with the boys' brigade
Part of the motorcade
Flew home from Texas last night
Slept on the flight
Work like a dog all day
Born to chase cars away
Die on the road someday
I try to remember what life was like long ago
But it's gone, you know
Climb the turnbuckle high
Take two falls out of three
Blackout for local TV

Stand in that cold empty hall
Wait for your name to get called
Burn like hillsides on fire
In the squall of the ringside choir
High as a wire
Nearly drive Danny's nose back into his brain
All the cheap seats go insane
Keep my eyes open and try to think straight
No one drives on the 60 this late
Feel like the last person alive
Francisquito to Glenshaw Drive
I try to remember to write in the diary
That my son gave me
Climb the turnbuckle high
Take two falls out of three
Blackout for local TV

 

[fox69]

"Southwood Plantation Road"

"Southwood Plantation Road"



I got you
You've got whatever's left in me to get
Our conversations are like minefields
No one's found a safe way through one yet

I spent a lot of money
I buy you white gold
We raise up a little roof
Against the cold

On Southwood Plantation Road
Where at night the stars blow like milk across the sky
Where the high wires drop
Where the fat crows fly

All night long
You giggle and scream
Your brown eyes
Deeper than a dream

I am not gonna lose you
We are gonna stay married
In this house like a Louisiana graveyard
Where nothing stays buried

On Southwood Plantation Road
Where the dead will walk again
Put on their Sunday best
And mingle with unsuspecting Christian men

 

[fox69]

"Spent Gladiator 2"

"Spent Gladiator 2"



Like a spent gladiator,
Crawling in the coliseum dust.
Who can count on his remaining limbs,
All the people he can trust.
Like the one who stands behind him,
Cheering him on.
Ecstatic when he stands defiant,
Wild with abandon when he's gone.

Just stay alive.
Keep your eyes on the pay line.

Like a village on the step,
About to get collectivized.
When the men emerge with rifles from the haystack,
Everybody looks surprised.
Like the mice in the forgotten grain,
Way up on the top shelf.
Like someone who's found a small town to escape to,
Keeps one eye on his abandoned, former self.

Stay in the game.
Just try to play through the pain.
Like a fighter who's been told its finally time for him to quit.
Show up in shining colors,
And then stand there and get hit.

Like the clock that ticks in Dresden,
When the whole town's been destroyed.
Like the nagging flash of insight,
You're always desperate to avoid.
Like the bloody-knuckled gunman,
Still stationed at the breach.
Like that board game with the sliders,
And the children on the beach.

Stay alive.
Maybe spit some blood at the camera.
Just stay alive.
Stay forever alive.

 

[fox69]

"Spilling Toward Alpha"

"Spilling Toward Alpha"



I hear you moving in the hallway.
I hear you sharpening your claws.
I hear you polishing your teeth, sometimes.
but I don't mind.

and I hear you out in the garage.
I hear you messing with the motor.
I hear you tinker with the engine, sometimes.
but I don't mind.

and I hear you moving in the kitchen!
I hear you in there late at night.
I notice when you leave the gas jets on sometimes.
but I don't mind.

 

[fox69]

"Stabbed To Death Outside San Juan"

"Stabbed To Death Outside San Juan"



The winter's wet, and the summer's hot
Take a match in Puerto Rico, why not
Power and adrenaline flowing like amber
From the recesses of the earth, put on your waders
And twitch when the water runs high sometimes
Twitch when the tide ebbs low

See the sights, maybe go downtown
Sometimes you get some heat, sometimes it follows you around
When the blade hits the bone, everybody hears it sing
Shower room full of people, no one hears a goddamned thing
A twitch when the current runs wild sometimes
Twitch when the contact howls

All that racket out there in the arena
I’m on a stretcher, here come the cleaners
And the sky goes dark and there I am
Climbing down the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
I drop from the top of my tall steel cage
Drop to the concrete floor

 

[fox69]

"Standard Bitter Love Song #7"

"Standard Bitter Love Song #7"



You smile at me in total defiance of all decency
You've got it down to a science
That innocent look
You've got it practiced real good
But I know you'd kill me if you could stand the sight of blood
If I'd'a been a fly on the wall a little earlier
If I'd been one of the innumerable flies in this room
If I'd'a been a fly on the wall a little earlier
It woulda been real different around here

You try to speak but the buzz is too loud
And it's hard to make you laugh through the dense black cloud
That surrounds us both
It's just as well
You call the rope
Let the whole house go to hell

If I'd'a been one of these flies
I would have lodged myself firmly underneath your eyelid
If I'd'a been one of these flies a little earlier
It would have been real different around here.

 

[fox69]

"Standard Bitter Love Song #8"

"Standard Bitter Love Song #8"



I went down to lloyd center looking for you.
But a mouth full of anger blocked my view.
He took your hand there in the skating the rink.
God will give him blood to drink.

Saw the two of you leaving.
I didn't want to follow behind.
But I could see the rest of your evening,
Burning in my mind.

The sky's black. the moon's pink.
God will give him blood to drink.

I looked over the railing. ice was white
On the northeast side where I saw you and your boyfriend
On a friday night.
I went mining for gold. I struck pure, fresh zinc.
God, god will give him blood to drink.

Hey, hey, hey

 

[fox69]

"Standard Bitter Love Song Number 4"

"Standard Bitter Love Song Number 4"



well I see you've left me a photograph
of a leopard tearing an antelope in half.
what have you done? what have you done?
what have you done with our love?
what have you done?

well I see you've resorted to petty theft.
you try to take something from me,
but there's nothing left.
what have you done? what have you done?
what have done with our love?
where have you put it?

well I hear you calling from way over there
and I can't find it anywhere.
what have you done? what have you done?
what have you done with our love?
what have you done?

 

[fox69]

"Star Dusting"

"Star Dusting"



Toward the end of our first year in las vegas
You looked up from your little corner
And i saw that your face was getting a little brighter
And you asked me is it really getting warmer
Or is it just me
And then you started mumbling unintelligibly
So what are you saying anyway?

I thought i heard bells ringing
But then i remembered that i no longer knew what bells sounded like
I thought maybe we'd strike up a conversation
'till bad luck cruised by on his ten-speed bike

I got real cold
And i grabbed my coat
And i saw that the ringing was coming from your throat
What are you saying anyway?