Family Happiness The Mountain Goats

As we cruised across the Canadian border You reached into your handbag and puled out a micro-cassette recorder Started quoting Tolstoy into the machine, I had no idea what you meant Guess I'm supposed

Slow West Vultures Mountain Goats

Breaking the signal So it's totally unreadable Drinking the dregs Eating the utterly inedible We do what we do All for you All dressed up Black hat and white cane Slowly the circling the drain

Palmcorder Yajna Mountain Goats

Holt Boulevard Between Gary and White Hooked up with some friends at the Travelodge Set ourselves up for the night Carpenter ants in the dresser Flies in the screen It will be too late by the time

The Young Thousands Mountain Goats

Boats ease into the harbor bearing real suspicious cargo And the sunlight on the water Sets a switch off in your brain The things that you've got coming will consume you There's someone waiting out

Mole Mountain Goats

see you up there in intensive care They had handcuffed you to your bed There were tubes going into you and out from you Bright white gauze bandages at your head I am a mole Sticking his head above the

Against Pollution Mountain Goats

When I worked down at the liquor store Guy with a shotgun came raging through the place Muscled his way behind the counter I shot him in the face This morning I went down to the Catholic Church 'Cause

Home Again Garden Grove Mountain Goats

Wipe down the windshields and roll down the windows Lets go where the jackals are breeding Wrap this bandanna around your head Dont let anyone see that youre bleeding Fire up the scanner and keep your

Your Belgian Things Mountain Goats

from danger The men were here to get your Belgian things They'll spend the whole day hauling them downstairs I shot a roll of thirty-two exposures My camera groans beneath the weight it bears I can

Linda Blair Was Born Innocent Mountain Goats

Gentle hum of the old machines Here we come scrubbed and scoured Patches on our jeans When the drone sounds In the cool night wind We pick up the call Kick all the traces in Hungry for love Ready

Quito Mountain Goats

When I receive the blessing Ive got coming Im going to raise an ice-cold glass of water And toast the living and the dead whove gone before me And my head will throb like an old wound reopening When

Cotton Mountain Goats

This song is for the rats Who hurled themselves in to the ocean When they saw that the explosives in the cargo hold Were just about to blow This song is for the soil That's toxic clear down to the

Letter From Belgium Mountain Goats

the beams we used to build our house are breaking at last. the building will not hold together very much longer. my arms are young, and they can do the work if called upon to do so.

Pigs That Run Straightaway Into The Water, Triumph Of Mountain Goats

[spoken:] The story of the pigs who ran straightaway into the water and their great triumph Youre gonna send me back to where I came from Please dont send me back to where I came from Let me go where

All Up The Seething Coast Mountain Goats

I eat a couple Milky Ways for breakfast I take my coffee light and sweet Show up for dinner when you tell me to I heap the sugar high and white on everything I eat Carry an apple in my pocket I write

Wild Sage The Mountain Goats

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

In the Craters on the Moon The Mountain Goats

If the strain proves too much Give up right away If the light hurts your eyes Stay in your room all day When the room fills with smoke Lie down on the floor In the declining years Of the long war When

Old College Try The Mountain Goats

From the housetops to the gutters From the ocean to the shore The warning signs have all been bright and garish Far too great in number to ignore From the cities to the swamplands From the highways to

The House That Dripped Blood The Mountain Goats

Look beyond the broken bottles Past the rotting wooden stairs Root out the wine dark honeyed center Not everyone can live like millionaires Look through the air thin walls Tear up the floorboards, strip

New Zion The Mountain Goats

There were signs up in the sky When we gathered by the garden wall Everybody on his best behavior Listening for the altar call High priest of Salem in his robes Ranting of the coming of the day Ravens

First Few Desperate Hours The Mountain Goats

Bad luck comes in from Tampa Bad luck comes in from Tampa On the back of a truck Doing ninety up the interstate We have bad dreams the night he rolls in We have bad dreams the night he rolls in And we

Slow West Vultures The Mountain Goats

Breaking the signal so it's totally unreadable Drinking the dregs, eating the utterly inedible We do what we do All for you All dressed up, black hat and white cane Slowly circling the drain Ready for

Magpie The Mountain Goats

Feed the kittens in the kitchen Set food out for the strays Try hard to do your best The magpie will have his way Fill your mouth with berries By the full light of the moon Work all night if you have to

Butter Teeth The Mountain Goats

We spilled out through the front door Into the blinding lade light Sun reflected on the storefront windows Tremendously bright We were norwegians come down from the north Attacking the walls of the fortress

Design Your Own Container Garden The Mountain Goats

I took to the highway Went out to Pico-Crenshaw Old friends, old friends I took to the highway The highway took to me Like a second skin Rolled around in the evening Circling like a buzzard Trouble in

Wait for You The Mountain Goats

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

Tianchi Lake The Mountain Goats

Children by the water banks Laughing long and loud Changbai's high, fine western peaks Just beneath the clouds Currents in the water Churning in their course Body of a sea lion Head just like a horse Preacher

Alpha Rats Nest 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

Michael Myers Resplendent The Mountain Goats

I am ready for my close-up today Too long I've let my self-respect stand in my way Well, the prom queen's caught in the high beams And the strings keen, it's a big scene But when the house goes up in flames

There Will Be No Divorce The Mountain Goats

The rain fell all night And it kept me awake It was still falling by morning It was hard to take And you were sleeping on the floor Breathing free and even If I ever want to drive myself insane All I have

Palmcorder Yajna The Mountain Goats

Holt Boulevard, between Gary and White Hooked up with some friends at the Travelodge, set ourselves up for the night Carpenter ants in the dresser, flies in the screen It will be too late by the time we

The Young Thousands The Mountain Goats

Boats ease into the harbor bearing real suspicious cargo And the sunlight on the water sets a switch off in your brain The things that you've got coming will consume you There's someone waiting out there

Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace The Mountain Goats

The clouds explode and then the desert blooms Someone will need to mop this floor for me When I emerge, I find my car Like a cathedral in a dream of the future Drive until the rain stops Keep driving Pull

Baboon The Mountain Goats

The sun came up above the strange, white plain Blood red flowers all white with rain And the spirit wasn't really willing anymore But the flesh was very, very strong I've got very little money left And

Song for Dennis Brown The Mountain Goats

On the day that Dennis Brown's lung collapsed Spring rain was misting down on Kingston And down at the harbor Local cops were intercepting an inbound shipment And for a while there it was chaos As they

See America Right The Mountain Goats

I was driving in 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

Mole The Mountain Goats

you up there in intensive care They had handcuffed you to your bed There were tubes threading into you, coming out from you Bright white gauze bandages at your head I am a mole Sticking his head above the

Against Pollution The Mountain Goats

When I worked down at the liquor store Guy with a shotgun came raging through the place Muscled his way behind the counter I shot him in the face This morning I went down to the Catholic Church 'Cause

Horseradish Road The Mountain Goats

The way that everybody's voice Comes out muffled when they speak The way we take our diminishing inventories Month to month and week to week The Maria Callas record's On the stereo all the time You're

You Or Your Memory The Mountain Goats

I checked into a bargain priced room on La Cienega Gazed out through the curtains at the parking lot Walked down to the corner store just before nightfall in my bare feet Black tarry asphalt, soft and

Up the Wolves The Mountain Goats

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 gonna find really difficult to forgive There's going

The Alphonse Mambo The Mountain Goats

I could almost hear the rhythm section Kick in as the sun began to blaze I saw you walk across the plaza Figured I'd just play it like it lays Yeah, yeah, yeah I think I'm gonna be real sick again I think

The Coroner's Gambit The Mountain Goats

When death came calling today I heard the gentle grace of his cadences [Refrain] I couldn't say no I couldn't say no [Verse 2] When he showed me his new silk scarves Laid out on a shiny black plastic tray

Snakeheads The Mountain Goats

Weather cell from northern Canada Due in before the afternoon is over Brown cows in the fields Eating their way slowly through the clover And the canopy of apple trees before us Symmetrical and pure as

Elijah The Mountain Goats

Streak the windows, smear the walls with coconut oil, yeah Fill the cast-iron kettle with water and magnolia blossom Let it boil, let the water roll Let the fire take its toll I'm coming home Dust off

Home Again Garden Grove The Mountain Goats

Wipe down the windshields and roll down the windows Let's go where the jackals are breeding Wrap this bandanna around your head Don't let anyone see that you're bleeding Fire up the scanner and keep your

Have to Explode The Mountain Goats

Tile floor of the bathroom, scrubbed clean and bright Checkerboard white and gray Towels from the Ritz Carlton hotel in Kingston, Jamaica I can still see the rust colored stains today The stage is set,

Your Belgian Things The Mountain Goats

danger The men came here to get your Belgian things They'll spend the whole day hauling them downstairs I shot a roll of 32 exposures My camera groans beneath the weight it bears I can see you in my sleep

Jaipur The Mountain Goats

With dead men I can't lose [Verse 1: John Darnielle] I was having visions of sugared pastry Cooked up in clarified butter I tried to turn my visions into prayers But I built my castle way high up in the

Lovecraft in Brooklyn The Mountain Goats

It's going to be too hot to breathe today but everybody's out here on the streets Somebody's opened up the fire hydrant, cold water rushing out in sheets Some kid in a Marcus Allen jersey asks me for a

Quito The Mountain Goats

When I receive the blessing I've got coming I'm going to raise an ice-cold glass of water And toast the living and the dead who've gone before me And my head will throb like an old wound reopening When