The Mountain Goats Album

Fog lifts from the harbor, dawn goes down to day
An agent crests the shadows of a nearby alleyway
Piles of broken bricks, signposts on the path
Every moments points toward the aftermath

Sailors straggle back from their nights out on the town
Hopeless urchins from the city gather around
Spies from imperial China wash in with the tide
Every battle heads toward surrender on both sides

And I am coming home to you
With my own blood in my mouth
And I coming home to you
If it's the last thing that I do

Bells ring in the tower, wolves howl in the hills
Chalk marks show up on a few high windowsills
And a rabbit gives up somewhere and a dozen hawks descend
Every moment leads toward its own sad end

Ships loosed from their moorings capsize and then they're gone
Sailors with no captains watch a while and then move on
And an agent crests the shadows and I head in her direction
All roads lead toward the same blocked intersection

I am coming home to you
With my own blood in my mouth
And I am coming home to you
If it's the last thing that I do

We got in your car and we hit the highway
Eastern sun was rising over the mountains
Yellow and blood-red bits
Like a kaleidoscope

And flaming swords may guard the garden of Eden
But we consulted maps from earlier days
Dead languages on our tongues
Holding onto our last hope

And the day was bright and fine
And the highway sign
Said "San Bernardino
Welcomes you!"

I checked us into our motel and filled the bathtub
And you got in the warm, warm water
I pulled petals from my pocket
I loved you so much just then

And it was hard, but you were brave, you are splendid
And we will never be alone in this world
No matter what they say
We're going to be okay

We were safe inside
And our new son cried
"San Bernardino
Welcomes you!"

Well, they come and pull me from my house
And they drag my body through the streets
And the sun's so hot I think I'll catch fire and burn up
In the summer air so moist and sweet

And the people all come out to cheer
Rocks in the pathway break my skin
And there's honeysuckle on the faint breeze today
With every breath I'm drawing in

I want to cry out
But I don't scream and I don't shout
And I feel so proud to be alive
And I feel so proud when the reckoning arrives

The crowds grow denser by the second
As we near the center of the town
And they dig a trench right in the main square right there
And they pick me up and throw me down

And I start laughing like a child
And I mark their faces one by one
Transfiguration's going to come for me at last
And I will burn hotter than the sun

I waited so long
And now I taste jasmine on my tongue
And I feel so proud to be alive
And I feel so proud when the reckoning arrives

Hand me your hand, let me look in your eyes
As my last chance to feel human begins to vaporize
Maybe it's the heat in here, maybe it's the pressure
You ought to head for the exits, the sooner the better

I am this great, unstable mass of blood and foam
And no one in her right mind would make my home her home
My heart's an autoclave
My heart's an autoclave

When I try to open up to you, I get completely lost
Houses swallowed by the earth, windows thick with frost
And I reach deep down within but the pathways twist and turn
And there's no light anymore and nothing left to burn

I am this great, unstable mass of blood and foam
And no emotion that's worth having could call my heart its home
My heart's an autoclave
My heart's an autoclave

I dreamt that I was perched atop a throne of human skulls
On a cliff above the ocean, howling wind and shrieking seagulls
And the dream went on forever, one single static frame
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name

And I am this great, unstable mass of blood and foam
And no one in her right mind would make her home my home
My heart's an autoclave
My heart's an autoclave

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 at the gates
Frightening all the visitors away

I lay down by the water
Dreamed a dream of where I come from
Old things made new
Waiting for you

There were wooden wind chimes rustling
In the trees above the anthills on the dunes
On the high winds, we could hear them
Old familiar tunes

The little bit of faith we had once
Like the memory of a movie
They got burned up in the great fire
Reassembling itself slowly by surely

I lay down by the water
Dreamed a dream of where I come from
Old things made new
Waiting for you

We were parked in your car
In our neutral meeting place, the Episcopalian churchyard
I had things I'd been meaning to say
But in the dazzling winter sun that late, I could feel them melt away

And through the warm radio static
I couldn't hear my stage directions
And the fog on the windshield
Obscured our sad reflections

I felt so desperate
In your arms
I felt so desperate
In your arms

We were parked near some trees
And the moonlight soaked the branches in ever deepening degrees
Had my hand in your hair
Trying to keep my cool until it became too much to bear

When we cracked the windows open
Well, the air was just so sweet
We could hear the cars ten feet away
Out there in the street

I felt so desperate
In your arms
I felt so desperate
In your arms

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 the blood's in the water
And the shark's going to come
And we swim in the dark
Until our bodies are numb

Blind desert rats in the moonlight
Too far from shore
In the declining years
Of the long war

Empty room with a light bulb
When the phone starts to ring
Everybody gets nervous
Nobody says anything

The next day someone's initials
Show up on the door
I think I'm going to crack
Can't live like this anymore

Ugly things in the darkness
Worse things in store
In the declining years
Of the long war

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 cigarette
Companionship is where you find it, so I take what I can get

Hubcaps on the cars like fun house mirrors
Stick to the shadows when I can
Lovecraft in Brooklyn

When the sun goes down, the armies of the voiceless, several hundred thousand strong
Come out without their bandages, their voices raised in song
When the streetlights sputter out, they make this awful sizzling sound
I cast my gaze toward the pavement, too many blood stains on the ground

Rhode Island drops into the ocean
No place to call home anymore
Lovecraft in Brooklyn

Head outside most every day
To try to keep the wolves away
Imagine nice things I might say
If company should come

Woke up afraid of my own shadow, I mean, like genuinely afraid
Headed for the pawnshop to buy myself a switchblade
Someday something's coming from way out beyond the stars
To kill us while we stand here, it'll store our brains in mason jars

And then the girl behind the counter
She asks me how I feel today
I feel like Lovecraft in Brooklyn

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 in the soft, brown sand
Begins to speak his peace
High wings in the treetops
Low flying winter geese

No one taking pictures
Everybody still
And then the water sought its course again
The way that waters will

No one at the lakeside now
Moon up in the sky
Night birds in the dragon spruce
Moaning long and high

Backstroking on the surface
Moonlight on its face
Floats the Tianchi monster
Staring into space

Out around the temple now
Narcissus in bloom
Sensors packed with sandalwood
Send smoke into the room

Children in the sand outside
On their hands and knees
Sketching pictures all day long
Of stranger things than these

Got out of bed, could not remember my own name
Condemned to walk the soil amongst all creatures wild and tame
Go where I go, do what I must
Crawl, starving, on my belly, licking up the dry dust

I see the light in your window
Ride the elevator to the sixth floor
Stand with my arms at my sides
As you open up the door

But I'm out of my element
I can't breathe
I'm out of my element
I can't breathe

Alone with your bathroom mirror, try to get my head straight
Breathe on the glass and wait for it to clear, clean slate
Meet up with you in the kitchen where the air is hot and dry
Open up all the faucets, be fruitful and multiply

I stand where
The flashing swords gleam
And I try to shake my head
Clear of the dream

But I'm out of my element
I can't breathe
I'm out of my element
I can't breathe

I start to sweat, I can't cool down
I'm scared of all the strangers in this town
I try to tell you just why I've come
It's like I've got molasses on my tongue

I made it through town somehow
But who's gonna save me now?

I'm out of my element
I can't breathe
I'm out of my element
I can't breathe

Slumped up against the sink
Hair plastered to her cheeks
Marduk t-shirt sticking to her skin
Refugee from a disco in old East Berlin

Weightless
Formless
Blameless
Nameless

Stray syllables were gurgling
From her throat, one at a time
Face hidden from my view
I let myself imagine she was you

Only weightless
Formless
Blameless
Nameless

And when I washed my hands
I ran the water hotter than I could stand
Half rising to a crouch
Sinking back down to the floor

In your walking, keep your head low
Try to leave no traces when you go

Stay weightless
Formless
Blameless
Nameless

Long dinner with some friends way out, way out in Portmore
Servants of the pharaoh slip in through an open door
All business, bearing knives and zip guns
So get on the floor now, every last one, every last one

The heat drifts
Across the land
If I forget you, Israel
Let me forget my right hand

And on the floor, Michael James Williams feels his fingers start to freeze
And the whole scene's like a movie, paramedics on their knees
Try, try your whole life to be righteous and be good
Wind up on your own floor, choking on blood

The heat drifts
Across the land
If I forget you, Israel
Let me forget my right hand

And the house still smells like onions when the ambulance arrives
Gabriel in postal blue loads up the car and drives
To Spanish town, about three miles away
Where will the wicked run to on that last day, on that last day?

The heat drifts
Across the land
If I forget you, Israel
Let me forget my right hand

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
No one emerges triumphantly from it
When the scum begins to circle the drain
Everybody loves a winner

I spent eight hours in my makeup chair
Waxed my chest and shaved off all my hair
Well, the fire's bright and the frame's tight
Try to get right while we've still got light

But when the house goes up in flames
No one emerges triumphantly from it
When the scum begins to circle the drain
Everybody loves a winner

When the house goes up in flames
When the scum begins to circle the drain