The Mountain Goats

[fox69]

"Bad Priestess"

"Bad Priestess"



when i see you in your new blue jeans
i know you're lying, and i know what it means
when i see you take your place among the poor
i know you're a fraud for sure
bad priestess, bad priestess

so the sunlight plays its games along your eyes
and it has the same effect on a thousand other guys
and i'd be lying if i said i didn't feel the pull, too
but the sunlight makes me strong and i know about you
bad priestess

bad priestess, on a thursday as the sun goes down
bad priestess, with a super-special eyelash trick
bad priestess, bad priestess

 

[fox69]

"Bad Waves"

"Bad Waves"



Beachfront hotel, twenty dollars a night
Nineteen seventy-two, sun yellow and bright
Too exhausted to think or to talk
Young boys from bangledesh breakdancing on the sidewalk
And the waves will tear them all to pieces
The waves will tear them all to pieces.

Twinkling waterford crystal in the banquet hall
Childlike religious paintings lining the wall
I will try to gather my strength
And i will rest up all week
All i can say to them now
When i open my mouth to speak
Is that the waves will tear us all to pieces
The waves will tear us all to pieces

 

[fox69]

"Balance"

"Balance"



Two tall glasses of sweet iced tea
Underneath the sweet gum tree
And the love we once nurtured, you and me
Disintegrating violently

Stick your tongue out
Catch the pieces as they drift down the air
I am too slow to catch them all
Not too far gone to care

Two slow summer hours spent picking at the bones
Figuring the interest on delinquent loans
Speaking in sad and mournful tones
Trying to squeeze tears out of mute stones

Wet your finger, place it toward the wind
Feel disaster in the air
We are far too slow to outrun it now
But not too far gone to care

 

[fox69]

"Beach House"

"Beach House"



I get letters telling me since I moved away
You've taken to hanging out on that rock about a mile from shore

Given what I know about that rock mainly that it's populated by seals
I strongly suggest to you that you not hang out there anymore

Cause the seal is a wily and a vicious creature
And the seal will bite you if you give him half a chance
yeah the seal has a mind set on violence
And the seal is the sworn enemy of man

Now when I say that the seal is vicious I use the term advisedly
According to Webster's 9th New Collegiate Definition 4b.

Which states that vicious means marked by ferocity
And offers as a synonym, savage

Cause the seal is a vicious and a wily creature
And the seal has a mind full of evil designs
And the seal will harm you and laugh about it
Yeah the seal is not a creature you want to toy with
Yeah the seal is not a creature you want to toy with

 

[fox69]

"Beautiful Gas Mask"

"Beautiful Gas Mask"



Come hard through the fog
Blindfolded and bound
'Till we stand at the edge
Of a hole in the ground

We hold hands and we jump
And as we fall we sing
Paupers hammering the walls of the castle
Going to meet the king

Never sleep, remember to breathe deep
Never sleep, remember to breathe
Breathe deep

Crash in from deep space
Shot birds falling fast
Who will be there to catch us in his jaws
When we arrive, alive at last?

I can't hear you in the dark
Wish I knew where you'd gone
Know you're there, off in the shadows somewhere
Try to soldier on

Never sleep, remember to breathe deep
Never sleep, remember to breathe
Breathe deep and breathe humbly
Secure your mouthpiece when you can

Toxic shades adorn the walls
As we rise from our knees
Someone's coming to reward us, you wait and see
Or crush us both like fleas

Never sleep, remember to breathe deep
Never sleep, remember to breathe
Breathe deep

 

[fox69]

"Billy The Kid's Dream Of The Magic Shoes"

"Billy The Kid's Dream Of The Magic Shoes"



Hang me out to dry.
They're gonna hang me out to dry.
I don't really care.
I don't really care.
I got special shoes.
I got special shoes.

They're gonna fill me full of holes.
They're gonna fill me full of holes.
I don't give a rat's ass.
I don't give a rat's ass you rat bastards.
I got special shoes on.
I got special shoes on.
Yeah

 

[fox69]

"Birth Of Serpents"

"Birth Of Serpents"



Let the camera pull back
'Till the fullness of the frame is clear and plain
Peer into the screen until you see it all
Like a vision in a crystal ball

Let it all fill with smoke
Is this somebody's idea of a joke?
Let the fixer work until the silver's washed away and take a picture from the tray
Look hard at what you see and then remember you and me

And let the truth spring free
Like a jack-in-the-box, like a hundred thousand cuckoo clocks
From the Oregon corners to the Iowa corn
To the rooms with the heat lamps where the snakes get born

Crawl through the tunnel and follow, follow the light northwest
See that young man who dwells inside his body like an uninvited guest
See the tunnel twist, clutch your birthright in your fist
Let the camera do its dirty work down there in the dark

Sink low, rise high, bring back some blurry pictures to remember all your darker moments by
Permanent bruises on our knees never forget what it felt like to live in rooms like these
From the California coastline to the Iowa corn
To the rooms with the heat lamps where the snakes get born

 

[fox69]

"Black Molly"

"Black Molly"



Black mollies in the aquarium,
Darting back and forth as though an earthquake were certain
And I, turned up the heater
And I ripped off my shirt
And I grabbed hold of my stereo
And I threw it out the window
You were in town again
You'd come around again
You were dragging me down again with you

Siamese fish flashing like sparklers
It started to rain
And the telephone rang a couple of times
I put a bullet through its cold dead brain
And I got out my photographs of you
And I put bullets though all of them too
You were in town again
You'd come around again
You were dragging me down again with you
Yeah

 

[fox69]

"Blood Capsules"

"Blood Capsules"



When the last of the East Coast money ran dry
And the casually-dressed bill collectors
Started casually dropping on by
And the residuals, but there weren't any more residuals
At least several months behind
On the payments to certain individuals

I strolled into the lobby
Mouth full
Blood capsules
I strolled into the lobby
Mouth full
Blood capsules

I'm off the juice for seven months
I learn to like living clean
But there just isn't any money
On the independent scene
Not even if you're cutting corners
Staying in nights, eating alone
Somebody's gotta pay the gas bill
It's not gonna go away on its own

I strolled into the lobby
Mouth full
Blood capsules
I strolled into the lobby
Mouth full
Blood capsules

I'm the biggest guy in the bank line
Everybody else looks tiny
I could almost smell the fear
On the lunch-hour car salesman behind me
I know this isn't gonna work
I guess I'll see it when I see it
I can't work any other jobs
This was my last and best idea

I strolled into the lobby
Mouth full
Blood capsules
I strolled into the lobby
Mouth full
Blood capsules

 

[fox69]

"Blood Royal"

"Blood Royal"



i remembered you.
i remembered where you'd come from.
i remembered you.
i remembered where you've gone.

in the shifting neon air,
saw the colors of the revolution everywhere
blood royal.

i remembered you.
i remembered all the things you said.
i remembered the shape of your face.
i let the thought go to my head.

in the iron blue dawn,
i felt power coming on.
blood royal.