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“Alpha Rats Nest” by The Mountain Goats

Ah the lengthening hours in the refinery
Belching fire into the sky
We do our best vampire routines
As we suck the dying hours dry
The night is lovely as a rose
If I see sunlight hit you
I am sure that we’ll both decompose

Ah the fitful sleep and the fire engines
That I dream of when I dream
Some day we’ll both wake up for good
I will try hard not to scream
The evening wind will shake the blinds
You’re stirring from your slumber
We’ve got something hateful on our minds

Oh sing sing sing
For the dying of the day
Sing for the flames that will rip through here
And the smoke that will carry us away
Yeah sing for the damage we’ve done
And the worse things that we’ll do
Open your mouth up and sing for me now
And I will sing for you

“Oceanographer’s Choice” by The Mountain Goats

Well
Guy in a skeleton costume
Comes up to the guy in the Superman suit
Runs through him with a broadsword
I flipped the television off
Bring all the bright lights up
Turn the radio up loud
I don’t know why I’m so persuaded
That if I think things through
Long enough and hard enough
I’ll somehow get to you
But then you came in and we locked eyes
You kicked the ashtray over as we came toward each other
Stubbed my cigarette out against the west wall
Quickly lit another
Look at that
Would you look at that?
We’re throwing off sparks
What will I do when I don’t have you
To hold onto in the dark?

Yes
Everybody’s going to need a witness
Everybody’s going to need a little backup
In case the scene gets nasty
You throw the attic window open
And I throw myself all around you
And night comes to Tallahassee
I don’t know why it’s gotten harder to keep myself away
Thought I’d finally beat the feeling back
It all came back today
And then we fell down
And we locked arms
We knocked the dresser over as we rolled across the floor
I don’t mean it when I tell you
That I don’t love you any more
Look at that
Would you look at that?
The way the ceiling starts to swerve
What will I do when I don’t have you
When I finally get what I deserve?

“Old College Try” by The Mountain Goats

“Have To Explode” by The Mountain Goats

“International Small Arms Traffic Blues” by The Mountain Goats

“Peacocks” by The Mountain Goats

I hear them squeal
I see them preen
Fans all spread out
Neat and clean

Grab hold of the morning
Head out to the porch
Feel the wind stopping
Feel the sun scorch
I fear for my safety
You can see it in my eyes
In an hour or two
We will rise

Then a sharp breeze kicks up
I hug myself hard
How come there’s peacocks in the front yard?

Sun’s all prickly
On my neck
When the helicopter passes
We both hit the deck
Hands grasping and groping
Seizing opportunity
Right where it lies
The sky will fall
We will rise

“See Right America” by The Mountain Goats

I was driving up from Tampa
When the radiator burst
I was three sheets to the wind
A civilian saw me first
And then there was the cop
And then the children standing on the corner
Your love is like a cyclone in a swamp
And the weather’s getting warmer

I was getting out of jail
Heading to the Greyhound
You said you’d hop on one yourself
And meet me on the way down
I was shaking way too hard to think
Dead on my feet about to drop
Went and got the case of vodka from a car
And walked the two miles to the bus stop

Got on the bus half drunk again
The driver glared at me
Met up with you in Inglis
Thumbed a ride to Cedar Key
If we never make it back to California
I want you to know I love you
But my love is like a dark cloud full of rain
That’s always right there up above you
Hey!

“No Children” by The Mountain Goats

I hope that our few remaining friends
Give up on trying to save us
I hope we come up with a fail-safe plot
To piss off the dumb few that forgave us
I hope the fences we mended
Fall down beneath their own weight
And I hope we hang on past the last exit
I hope it’s already too late
And I hope the junkyard a few blocks from here
Someday burns down
And I hope the rising black smoke carries me far away
And I never come back to this town
Again in my life
I hope I lie
And tell everyone you were a good wife
And I hope you die
I hope we both die

I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow
I hope it bleeds all day long
Our friends say it’s darkest before the sun rises
We’re pretty sure they’re all wrong
I hope it stays dark forever
I hope the worst isn’t over
And I hope you blink before I do
Yeah I hope I never get sober
And I hope when you think of me years down the line
You can’t find one good thing to say
And I’d hope that if I found the strength to walk out
You’d stay the hell out of my way
I am drowning
There is no sign of land
You are coming down with me
Hand in unlovable hand
And I hope you die
I hope we both die

“Idylls Of The King” by The Mountain Goats

This place with its old plantations
These roads leading out to the sea
This day full of promise and potential
More clay pigeons for you and me
All of them all of them
All of them all of them
All of them all of them all of them all of them
All lined up

Huge crows loitering by the curb
Our shared paths unraveling behind us like ribbons
And I dreamed of vultures
In the trees around our house
And cicadas and locusts
And the shrieking of innumerable gibbons
All of them all of them
All of them all of them
All of them all of them all of them all of them
All lined up

How long will we ride this way about?
How long ‘til someone caves under the pressure?
My dreams are haunted by armies armies of ghosts
Faces too blurry to make out
Numbers far too high to measure
Your face like a vision straight out of Holly Hobby
Late light drizzling through your hair
Your eyes twin volcanoes
Bad ideas dancing around in there
All all of them all of them
All of them all of them
All of them all of them all of them all of them
All lined up