Mountain Goats, The - Source Decay Lyrics






Once a week I make the drive, two hours east
To check the Austin post office box
And I make the detour through our old neighborhood
See all the Chevy Impalas in their front yards up on blocks

And I park in an alley
And I read through the postcards you continue to send
Where as indirectly as you can, you ask what I remember
I like these torture devices from my old best friend

Well, I'll tell you what I know, like I swore I always would
I don't think it's gonna do you any good
I remember the train headed south out of Bangkok
Down toward the water

I always get a late start when the sun's going down
And the traffic's thinning out and the glare is hard to take
I wish the West Texas Highway was a mobius strip
I could ride it out forever

When I feel my heart break, I almost swear I hear it happen, in fact, clean and not hard
I come in off the highway and I park in my front yard
Fall out of the car like a hostage from a plane
Think of you a while, start wishing it would rain

And I remember the train headed south out of Bangkok
Down toward the water

I come into the house, put on a pot of coffee
Walk the floors a little while
I set your postcard on the table with all the others like it
I start sorting through the pile

I check the pictures and the postmarks and the captions and the stamps
For signs of any pattern at all
When I come up empty-handed the feeling almost overwhelms me
I let a few of my defenses fall

And I smile a bitter smile
It's not a pretty thing to see
I think about a railroad platform
Back in 1983

And I remember the train headed south out of Bangkok
Down, down toward the water





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Mountain Goats, The Source Decay Comments
  1. O.... Z....

    this bops

  2. a.... ....

    The Mobius Strip line is fucking amazing

  3. L.... R....

    I heard this the first time on Pandora while driving across the I-10 in Texas

  4. a.... ....

    so is there some connection I'm missing from best death metal band? I mean them being seperated makes sense, but I just don't get why people think it's for sure about Cyrus and jeff

    a.... ....

    how many inches is your penis?

    a.... ....

    L. Ron Hoyabembe that's not important, you gotta focus in turning that poop into wine

  5. I.... T....

    Mark, that's really interesting...two of their other songs - Night Light and Jenny - work well with the idea that one of them has died while traveling...

    Jenny is the woman that he has broken up with, who is still travelling ("Perhaps Jenny's gone east") while the friend who has died is following him in the shadows ("the small dark corners have designs on me...wanting you less than I do"). Perhaps he feels his friend's ghost is following him, and he still feels guilty...

    Mind you, maybe I'm reading too much into this XD

    I.... T....

    +Ionlyjoined Toremovethatsign Huh, I didn't know about Night Light. This makes perfect sense actually. It's always fun to try and piece together John Darnielle's songs. He actually (passively) encourages it.


    You know what's something strange about this song to me? It sounds like a super successful pop hit. It has that feeling to it. Especially with those last few lines. 


    "And I smile a bitter smile, not a pretty thing to see. I think about a railroad platform back in 1983, and I remember the train headed South outta Bangkok down, toward, the water."


    I have a lot of mountain goats songs memorized. I need to count them up. I'm thinking 30 or 40 at this point, and then about a dozen more that I have about half-memorized.

    I.... T....

    +Connor Clark
    Also, from Fall of the high school running back it's implied that William Staniforth Donahue is Jenny's partner, since he gets 'chrome spokes on your japanese bike' probably meaning the new kawasaki they use to ride off into the sunset, and the 'no outstanding warrants for my arrest' referring to him doing federal time, which I'd imagine acts as book-ends. Jenny is the start of their travels, and Source Decay is where they end up.

  6. I.... T....

    Mark, that's really interesting...two of their other songs - Night Light and Jenny - work well with the idea that one of them has died while traveling...

    Jenny is the woman that he has broken up with, who is still travelling ("Perhaps Jenny's gone east") while the friend who has died is following him in the shadows ("the small dark corners have designs on me...wanting you less than I do"). Perhaps he feels his friend's ghost is following him, and he still feels guilty...

    Mind you, maybe I'm reading too much into this XD

  7. m.... ....

    "when i feel my heart break
    i almost swear I hear it happen
    is the clear and that hard
    i come in off the highway
    and i park in my front yard
    i fall out of the car
    like a hostage from a plane
    think of you a while
    start wishing it would rain"-------
    Definitely some of the most vivid and real lyrics ever, every time I hear that part I totally feel it and just really a perfect description of that feeling of a broken heart, and still somehow always makes me smile and feel hopeful. And yea I totally just now got that most of this song is referring to Jeff and Cyrus :).... guess that should have been obvious.

    m.... ....

    If it is obvious, I must be pretty dumb, because I would never have guessed that. I guess this song could have taken place after Jeff was sent away to the place where they told him he'd never be famous, and JD is singing as Cyrus and he's singing to Jeff:

    WOW! Asd I'm typing this I realize how powerful it is if that's what's going on. What a great song.

  8. R.... T....

    i've cried to/about this song more times than i can count. the same thing that happened to jeff (sent to the place where they told him he'd never be famous) happened to me, and i listened to AHWTX every day towards the tail end of that journey, when they finally let me have CDs. it was the only CD i had, and it saved my life. this song gave (still gives) me a lot of hope. if blessings are real, the existence of tMG is one.

  9. R.... ....

    god damnit

  10. C.... B....

    As much as I love John D's studio albums...I first fell in love with his music in the 90's with all of that tape recorder hiss...and it remains my favorite period of his.

  11. B.... Z....

    I love how the sound quality isn't quite perfect on this track as if he recorded it with an ancient tape recorder or sang through a pipe, it just sounds really good.

    B.... Z....

    He DID record this album, and every album prior to Tallahassee, with an ancient tape recorder

    B.... Z....

    Wasn't he also in a closet as he played too?

    B.... Z....

    He went out of his way to record the songs like this, John liked this sound

    B.... Z....

    That's the warm, lo-fi sound that only a boombox recording can give you. Not even vinyl carries the same character.

  12. H.... R....

    i also remember the train headed south out of bangkok, down toward the water.. i had no leg room and dengue fever.

  13. k.... ....

    out of Denton, anyway.

  14. j.... ....

    I know it's tragic. They were the best death metal band ever

  15. G.... C....

    Holds true for ever TMG album, in my opinion.

  16. G.... C....

    I can upload it, if you still want it.

  17. T.... C....

    See all the Chevy Impalas...is it wrong that I instantly thought of Metallicar? ~<3

    T.... C....

    Theo Claire-McKown is it wrong i thought of black people

  18. K.... M....

    Could you upload "Distant Stations?" I haven't been able to find the studio version of that song anywhere :(

    K.... M....

    There is no "studio" version

  19. A.... A....

    The Mountain Goats is the shiiiiiit! :3

  20. D.... ....

    One of my favorite songs of all time.

  21. e.... ....

    reminds me of Jeff and Cyrus
    poor guys :(

    e.... ....

    Some people are saying that it IS Jeff and Cyrus: that Cyrus is singing to Jeff.

    e.... ....

    Christopher Bingham  See, I always heard it was someone getting post cards from Jenny. Im pretty sure John said it was Jenny on "I Only Listen To The Mountain Goats"

  22. d.... ....

    best mountain goats song

  23. A.... ....

    " I wish the West Texas Highway was a Mobius Strip"
    I love that...

  24. s.... ....

    I've been on that train from Bangkok. This song hits me hard.

  25. t.... ....

    this song reminds me of a person i met who fell in love with someone for 4 weeks and only found out that the feeling was mutual 15 minutes before they would separate and never meet again.