The Mountain Goats

fox69 · 02.05.2016

"Until I Am Whole"

"Until I Am Whole"

Sunset on Snohomish.
Burn the tree line down.
Hold my hopes underwater,
Stand there and watch them drown.
Fishing out their bodies,
From the bathroom sink.
Leave them in a bucket,
Til they start to stink.

I think I'll stay here,
Til I feel whole again.
I don't know when.

Trout swim past the fishing lines.
Sky gets dark and close.
Cars start up and make,
Their nightly exodus.
On a picnic bench alone,
Watch the sky go dark.
Dig my nails into my hands,
Hope it leaves a mark.

I think I'll stay here,
Til I feel whole again.
I don't know when.

fox69 · 02.05.2016

"Up The Wolves"

"Up The Wolves"

There's bound to be a ghost at the back of your closet
No matter where you live
There'll always be a few things, maybe several things
That you're going to find really difficult to forgive

There's going to come a day when you feel better
You'll rise up free and easy on that day
And float from branch to branch, lighter than the air
Just when that day is coming, who can say, who can say?

Our mother has been absent
Ever since we founded Rome
But there's going to be a party
When the wolf comes home

We're going to commandeer the local airwaves
To tell the neighbors what's been going on
And they will shake their heads and wag their bony fingers
In all the wrong directions, and by daybreak we'll be gone

I'm going to get myself in fighting trim
Scope out every angle of unfair advantage
I'm going to bribe the officials, I'm going to kill all the judges
It's going to take you people years to recover from all of the damage

Our mother has been absent
Ever since we founded Rome
But there's going to be a party
When the wolf comes home

fox69 · 02.05.2016

"US Mill"

"US Mill"

Way up north
Down the road a little
Back in New England
Right here in the middle

And all the way out west
We had our ears to the ground
All of our dreams resting in the same spot
Listening for the old sound

It was ringing as clear as crystal
It was shining as bright as gold
Grain gathering on stone floor
And we were spring-heeled and we were real cold

All summer long
Deep into autumn
In a high room
And down here in the bottom

Down here in the bottom

fox69 · 02.05.2016

"Used To Haunt"

"Used To Haunt"

Tunneled down into the core
Flying through the trap door
Soft, pink sky full of rumpled clouds
Radio up loud

There's a part in the speakers
Where I hear your voice come through
So brave and true
When did I lose sight of you?
Come and rattle your chain
All you want, you're always gonna be welcomed
Here in the hallways that you used to haunt

Ride the sentimental rodeo
Down to where the shadows grow
Long while since I felt this way
Stand by the window, wait for days

There's a part in the speakers
Where I hear your voice come through
So brave and true
Let me never lose sight of you
Come and battle your chain
All you want, you're always gonna be welcomed
Here in the hallways that you used to haunt

fox69 · 02.05.2016

"Wait For You"

"Wait For You"

When it came time to wait for you
I took the bus to malibu
Found a cafe by the ocean
Watched the sky for signs

And a rainbow in the west
Wrapped its coils around the earth like a serpent
I felt like I was going to suffocate

But I knew this was not the day you would finally come my way
But I waited all the same
Watched the water through the window

And a rainbow in the west
Held its head beneath the waves and grew dimmer
Nothing anyone could do I suppose

fox69 · 02.05.2016

"Water Song II"

"Water Song II"

They'll be singing out loud
when the water goes through the crowd.
they'll be howling for you
when the waves come crashing through.

I brought my friend. here he comes,
splashing, gurgling for you.
now the water runs through the streets unimpaired,
crashing through.

they'll be saying your name,
every voice different, every word the same.
they'll be holding you up
too close to the sun,
but I will make them stop.

I brought my friend. here he comes,
splashing, gurgling for you.
and now the water runs through the streets unimpaired,
rushing through.

still [?] singing, go stand in the light.
when my friend gets here he will set things right.
they'll be singing for one thing and they'll get this instead.
let them come and get me, let them strike me dead.

I brought my friend. here he comes,
splashing, gurgling for you.
now the water runs through the streets unimpaired,
rushing through.

I brought my friend. here he comes,
splashing, gurgling for you.
and now the water runs through the streets unimpaired,
rushing through.

fox69 · 02.05.2016

"Waving At You"

"Waving At You"

Listen, you can tell your lawyer
That he can go to hell
'Cause I can take whatever you're offering up
Reasonably well

And if four long years come to nothing
It's all right
But it's your birthday
It's your birthday tonight

And I went to buy you something
But I caught myself in time
And nothing makes any sense anymore
But everything rhymes

Die hard, die kicking
Old habit of mine
Die hard, die kicking
Old habit of mine

Die hard
Die hard
Die kicking

fox69 · 02.05.2016

"We Have Seen The Enemy"

"We Have Seen The Enemy"

Everything I've told you was true
So imagine my surprise when I blink my eyes
And realize that I've been talking to you
And I've told you everything
Even the parts I'd meant to leave out
And I shake my hair, and I look about

And the wild dogs are hungry
And the wild dogs howl
And the wild dogs in the mountains to the north of us
Come down

fox69 · 02.05.2016

"We Were Patriots"

"We Were Patriots"

Clear sky over Calcutta
A warm wind
Dvorak on the short wave
Clear signal coming in

La la la
La la la la la la la
La la la
La la la la la la la

Long vowels spill like liquid from your mouth
I hang on every word you say
An army of transistor radios on the bookshelf
Left on all day

Let them play
Yeah, let them all play on and on and on
Let them all play longer and louder
And long after you're gone

La la la
La la la la la la la
La la la
La la la la la la la

Clear sky sheltering our fragile little house
Listening to the radio all the time
Your hand on my forehead as though to check for a fever
Yeah, big plans in mind

La la la la
La la la la la la la
La la la
La la la la la la la

fox69 · 02.05.2016

"Weekend In Western Illinois"

"Weekend In Western Illinois"

The land's opening up like a blanket
And the dandelions spread themselves thickly out
Along the fields, which are, evidently, endless

And we are hotly in love with one another
We've got an unquenchable thirst in our throats
We are, for some reason, all the time bleeding
We are friendless

And we love these dogs that roll on the lawns here in Galesburg
Because they seem to know something nobody else knows
It is written in the smiles on their faces and it rings in their high young voices
We are burning up all of our choices up here where the tall grass grows

Up here in Galesburg

The sky's opening up like an old wound
And the rain on our bodies is warm tonight
And the ground underneath us shakes in the cracking thunder

We can taste fresh blood in our mouths again
There is no chance of getting enough of it
And we tally up all our posessions, we're going under

Yeah, we love these dogs that loll in the rain here in Galesburg
As the new season rocks them in its terrible arms
They howl as if the world were ending as we are watching the sky unwinding
Some of our promises were binding up here where our dreams take form

Up here in Galesburg
Up here in Galesburg