The Mountain Goats

[fox69]

"Werewolf Gimmick"

"Werewolf Gimmick"



I was not there for rehearsal, I don’t need it any more
When I show up just in time to pop you can clear the goddamn floor
Empty out the locker room, let me find my space
Let him who thinks he knows no fear look well upon my face
Nameless bodies in unremembered rooms
Know how a man becomes a beast when the wolfbane blooms

Sail past all the grasping hands, floodlights white and hot
Bring my vision into focus, find out what I’ve got
Some sniveling local babyface with an angle he can’t sell
Full werewolf off the buckle like an angel straight from hell
Nameless bodies in unremembered rooms
Run howling through the carnage when the wolfbane blooms

Half the city sound asleep and safe inside their beds
Get lost inside my thoughts and nearly tear his face to shreds
Blood pooling on the canvas as the atmosphere gets hushed
Bring your heroes to the wolf’s den, watch them all get crushed
Get told to maybe dial it back backstage later on
Everyone still in this building right now: dead before the dawn
Nameless bodies in unremembered rooms
The pure at heart go putrid when the wolfbane blooms

 

[fox69]

"West Country Dream"

"West Country Dream"



Sure as a surgeon
You slipped your hand into the door jam
Blood coursing through the air tonight
I know who I am

And I know who you are
Or who you were just an hour ago
Static interference on the radio tonight
I know what I know

Quick as lightning
You brought your hand back inside
And you shut the door behind you
It's too hot out there tonight

Breath rising and falling
Expansion, contraction
Why'd you tell me this?
Were you looking for my reaction?

 

[fox69]

"White Cedar"

"White Cedar"



Like a star come down to walk the Earth in radiant array.
I saw the light of my spirit descend the other day.
I was standing the bus stop on North East 33rd,
When I got the word.
I will be made a new creature,
One bright day.

I don't have to be afraid.
Speed that day on it's way.
And you can't tell me what my spirit tells me isn't true, can you?

Woke up on lockdown one more time,
My visions won't ever learn.
But I see the light that much clearer,
Every time I return.
Forge my armor in the old fire.
My spirit sings loud and clear,
Even in here.

I'll be reborn someday, someday,
If I wait long enough.

I don't have to be afraid.
I don't wanna be afraid.
And you can't tell me what my spirit tells me isn't true, can you

 

[fox69]

"Whole Wide World"

"Whole Wide World"



The last of the repercussions died off real slow
The sky was still and the cold sun sank down beneath the snow
I hung by my hand from the tree outside
And I looked the whole wide world

The voices came quietly, I shut them down
A tricky young southerly wind came at me with its high whistling sound
I turned around to face it with real arrogance burning inside
And I drank in the whole wide world

 

[fox69]

"Wild Palm City"

"Wild Palm City"



i see five fingers on each hand.
i see only as far as my arms can stretch.
after that it all gets kinda blurry.

i see the air compressor vent where it rises
up from the hot ground, but i'm not afraid.
i see what's going through
it's you, only it's bigger and better and brighter.

i got the sofa set up right here.
i got a room, a room full of sand.
open up your mouth, and buddy, you'll wish that you hadn't.

i feel the new day coming on strong.
i see cindy and she's talking up a storm.
i remember her, and i see who she's bringing.
it's you, only it's bigger and thinner and wider.

i touch the leaves of the plant next to me.
they're thicker than they were the last time i touched them
and it curls quickly around my hand
there are stars up there even when you can't see them
i'll tell you something that really bothers me.
how are we supposed to get anything done
with those stars casting shadows that look just like spiders?
yeah, it's you, but this time you're coiled up much tighter.

 

[fox69]

"Wild Sage"

"Wild Sage"



I leave as soon as it gets light outside
Like a prisoner breaking out of jail
And I steal down to business 15-501
Like I had a bounty hunter on my tail

And somebody stops to pick me up
But he drops me off just down the block
And along the highway where the empty spirits breathe
Wild sage growing in the weeds

Walked down the soft shoulder and I count my steps
Headed vaguely eastward, sun in my eyes
And I lose my footing and I skin my hands breaking my fall
And I laugh to myself and look up at the skies

And then I think I hear angels in my ears
Like marbles being thrown against a mirror
And along the highway where unlucky stray dogs bleed
Wild sage growing in the weeds

And some days I don't miss my family
And some days I do
Some days I think I'd feel better if I tried harder
Most days I know it's not true

I lay down right where I felt cold grass in my face
And I hear the traffic like the rhythm of the tides
And I stare at the scrape on the heel of my hand
'Till it doesn't sting so much and until the blood's dried

And when somebody asks if I'm okay
I don't know what to say
And along the highway, from cast-off innumerable seeds
Wild sage growing in the weeds

 

[fox69]

"Wizard Buys A Hat"

"Wizard Buys A Hat"



Shuffled up Sixth Street in the rain
Kept my head down as I looked past the people
And in the department store
I found what I was looking for
This is the church, this is the crucible
They come out to Broadway and they look for me
I'm on the red steps smoking a cigarette
Easy to recognize, black bandages on my eyes
This is the church, these are the congregants

Sun sets on the broad square and lights come up
Feel like this town's gonna put a quick end to me
But if I came here to drown, I'm gonna take a few people down
This is the church, occupied by the enemy

 

[fox69]

"Woke Up New"

"Woke Up New"



On the morning when I woke up without you for the first time
I felt free and I felt lonely and I felt scared
And I began to talk to myself almost immediately
Not being used to being the only person there

The first time I made coffee for just myself I made too much of it
But I drank it all just 'cause you hate it when I let things go to waste
And I wandered through the house like a little boy, lost at the mall
And an astronaut could've seen the hunger in my eyes from space

And I sang oh, what do I do?
What do I do?
What do I do?
What do I do without you?

On the morning when I woke up without you for the first time
I was cold so I put on a sweater and I turned up the heat
And the walls began to close in and I felt so sad and frightened
I practically ran from the living room out into the street

And the wind began to blow and all the trees began to pant
And the world, in its cold way, started coming alive
And I stood there like a business man waiting for the train
And I got ready for the future to arrive

And I sang oh, what do I do?
What do I do?
What do I do?
What do I do without you?

 

[fox69]

"World Cylinder"

"World Cylinder"



Don't like going to the doctor.
I don't like looking at the mirror.
I like looking out the window,
Watching the waves break.
Do I have to hit you over the head with it?
Do I have to hit you over the head with it?

Tired of talking to the suckers,
I'm tired of talking to the wealthy.
I want to talk to men and women
Who haven't got anything left.
Do I have to hit you over the head with it?
Do I have to hit you over the head with it?

Carry me down to the water
Where I used to play when I was five.
Let me go, let me go down to the water.
Don't bring me back alive.
Do I have to hit you over the head with it?
Do I have to hit you over the head with it?

 

[fox69]

"Wrong!"

"Wrong!"



you know. you know.
you see what's going on with me.
but you don't do anything.
you don't do anything.
you don't do anything.

you feel. you feel.
and you hear.
the time's near.
but you don't do anything.
you don't do anything.
you don't do anything.
you don't do anything.

2, 3, 4.