You Or Your Memory by The Mountain Goats
E C#m
I checked into a bargain priced room on la sienaga,
F#m A E
gazed out through the curtains of the parking lot.
C#m
walked down to the corner store just before nightfall in my bare feet.
F#m A E
black tarry asphalt, soft and hot.
A E
and when I came back I spread out my supplies.
D
on the counter by the sink,
B
I looked myself right in the eyes
E A
st. joseph's baby aspirin,
B
bartles and james,
E A B E
and you or your memory.
E C#m
I ducked behind the drapes when I saw the moon begin to rise,
F#m A E
gathered in my loose ends switched off the light.
C#m
and down there in the dark I can see the real truth about me.
F#m A E
as clear as day, lord if I make it through tonight
A E D B
then I will mend my ways and walk the straight path to the end of my days.
E A
st. joseph's baby aspirin,
B
bartles and james,
E A B E A B E A B E A B E A B E.
and you or your memory.
Broom People by The Mountain Goats
E - C#m - A - B - E
E C#m
36 Hudson in the garage
A E
All sorts of junk in the unattached spare room
E C#m
Dishes in the kitchen sink
A B
New straw for the old broom
A E
Friends who don't have a clue
A E
Well-meaning teachers
A C#m A B
But down in your arms, in your arms,
E A
I am a wild creature
E A
E C#m
Floor two foot high with newspapers
A E
White carpet thick with pet hair
E C#m
Half-eaten gallons of ice cream in the freezer
A B
Fresh fuel for the sodium flares
A E
I write down good reasons to freeze to death
A E
In my spiral ring notebook
A C#m A B
But in the long tresses of your hair
E A
I am a babbling brook
E A (x3)
A
This Year by The Mountain Goats Capo 2
G D
I broke free on a Saturday morning
C G
I put the pedal to the floor
G D
Headed north on Mills Avenue
C G
And listened to the engine roar
G Bm Cadd9 G
G D C G
G D
My broken house behind me and good things ahead
C G
A girl named Cathy wants a little of my time
G D
Six cylinders underneath the hood crashing and kicking
C G
Ahah, listen to the engine whine
G D
I am going to make it through this year
C G
If it kills me
G D
I am going to make it through this year
C G
If it kills me
G Bm Cadd9 G
G D C G
G D
I played video games in a drunken haze
C G
I was 17 years young
G D
Hurt my knuckles punching the machines
C G
The taste of scotch rich on my tongue
G Bm Cadd9 G
G D C G
G D
And then Cathy showed up and we hung out
C G
Trading swigs from a bottle, all bitter and clean
G D
Locking eyes, holding hands
C G
Twin high maintenance machines
G D
I am going to make it through this year
C G
If it kills me
G D
I am going to make it through this year
C G
If it kills me
Em G
I drove home in the California dusk
Em G
I could feel the alcohol inside of me hum
Em G
Pictured the look on my stepfather's face
C D
Ready for the bad things to come
G D
I down-shifted as I pulled into the driveway
C G
The motor screaming out, stuck in second gear
G D
The scene ends badly, as you might imagine
C G
In a cavalcade of anger and fear
G D C D
There will be feasting and dancing in Jerusalem next year
G D
I am going to make it through this year
C G
If it kills me
G D
I am going to make it through this year
C G
If it kills me
G Bm Cadd9 G G D C G
Dilaudid by The Mountain Goats
Em Em C D x3
Em
(pause)
Em C D
The reception's gotten fuzzy
Em C D
The delicate balance has shifted
C Em
Put on your gloves and your black pumps
C B
Let's pretend the fog has lifted
Em C D
Now you see me
Em C D
Now you don't
C Em
Now you say you love me
C B
Pretty soon you won't
Em C
If we get our full three score and ten
A B
We won't pass this way again
Em D
So kiss me with your mouth open
C B
Turn the tires toward the street
Em
And stay sweet
Em Em C D x3 Em (pause)
Em C D
All the chickens come on home to roost
Em C D
Plump bodies blotting out the sky
C Em
You know it breaks my heart in half, in half
C B
When I see them trying to fly
Em C D
'Cause you just can't do
Em C D
Things your body wasn't meant to
C Em
Hike up your fishnets
C B
I know you
Em C
If we live to see the other side of this
A B
I will remember your kiss
Em D
So do it with your mouth open
C B
And take your foot off of the brake
Em
For Christ's sake
Em Em C D x3
Em
Dance Music by The Mountain Goats
G Em (x3) C D
G C D G
alright i'm on johnson avenue in san luis obispo
G C D G
and i'm five years old or six maybe.
G C D G
and indications that there's something wrong with our new house,
C D
trip down the wire twice daily.
G C D G
i'm in the living room watching the watergate hearings,
G C D G
while my stepfather yells at my mother
G C D G
launches a glass across the room, straight at her head.
C D
and i dash upstairs to take cover,
C G
lean in close to my little record player on the floor,
C D
so this is what the volume knob's for,
G C D G
i listen to dance music.
G C D G
dance music.
G Em (x3) C D
G C D G
okay so look i'm seventeen years old
G C D G
you're the last best thing i got going
G C
but then the special secret sickness
D G
starts to eat through you
C D
what am i supposed to do? no way of knowing
G C D G
so i follow you down your twisting alleyways
G C D G
find a few cul-de-sacs of my own
G C D G
there's only one place this road ever ends up
C D
and i don't wanna die alone
C G
let me down, let me down, let me down gently
C D
when the police come to get me
G C D G
i listen to dance music.
G C D G
dance music.
[Outro]
G C D G (x4)
Dinu Lipatti’s Bones by The Mountain Goats
B Eb E B
B Eb
we stank of hair dye and ammonia.
E B
we sealed ourselves away from view.
B Eb
you were looking at the void and sat unblinking/(seldom blinking?).
E B E F# (x 9 11 11 11 9) E
the best that I could do was to train my eyes on you.
E B
we scaled the hidden hills beneath the surface,
E B
scraped our fingers bloody on the stones.
E B Eb E
and built our little house that we could live in
E B
out of Dinu Lipatti's bones.
B Eb
we kept our friends at bay all summer long.
E B
treated the days as if they'd kill us if they could.
B Eb
ringing out the hours like blood drenched bed sheets
E B E F#
to keep winter time at bay but December showed up anyway.
E B
there was no money it was money that you wanted.
E B
I went downtown, sold off most of what I owned.
E B Eb E
and we raised a tower to broadcast all our dark dreams
E B
from Dinu Lipatti's bones.
Up the Wolves by The Mountain Goats
D G A
D G A
D
D G2 A
There's bound to be a ghost at the back of your closet
G2 A D
No matter where you live
D Em
There'll always be a few things, maybe several things
G2 A D
That you're gonna find really difficult to forgive
D G A G A D
D G2 A
There's gonna come a day when you'll feel better
G2 A D
You'll rise up free and easy on that day
D Em
And float from branch to branch, lighter than the air
G2 A2 A
Just when that day is coming, who can say, who can say
D G2
Our mother has been absent
D G2
Ever since we founded Rome
D A D
But there's gonna be a party when the wolf comes home
D G A G A D
D G2 A
We're gonna commandeer the local airwaves
G2 A D
To tell the neighbors what's been going on
D Em
And they will shake their heads, and wag their bony fingers
G2 A2 A
In all the wrong directions and by daybreak we'll be gone
D G A G A D
D G2 A
I'm gonna get myself in fighting trim
G2 A D
Scope out every angle of unfair advantage
D Em
I'm gonna bribe the officials, I'm gonna kill all the judges
G2 A2 A
It's gonna take you people years to recover from all of the damage
D G2
Our mother has been absent
D G2
Ever since we founded Rome
D A D
But there's gonna be a party when the wolf comes home
G2 A D G2 A D G2 A D
Oh
Lion’s Teeth by The Mountain Goats
Em G C Em
Em G D C B
Em G
The king of the jungle
C Em
Was asleep in his car
Em G
When your chances fall in your lap like that
D C B
You've gotta recognize them for what they really are
Em G
Nobody in this house
C Em
Wants to own up to the truth
Em G
I crawl in shotgun and reach into his mouth
D C B
And grab hold of one long sharp tooth
Em A Em
And hold on
B
For dear life
Em A Em B
I hold on
Em G
Well of course he wakes up
C Em
His paw hits the horn
Em G
I am gonna regret
D C B
The day that I was born
Em G
And then mom rushes out to the driveway
C Em
My sister too
Em G
Everyone's screaming
D C B
I am dreaming of you
Em A Em
I hold on
B
For dear life
Em A Em B
I hold on
C Em
And my arms get sore
C Em
And my palms start to sweat
C Em
And the tears roll down my face
C B
Till my cheeks are hot and red and soaking wet
Em G
In come the cops
C Em
They blowtorch the doors
Em G
I start wailing
D C B
The lion roars
Em G
There's no good way to end this
C Em
Anyone can see
Em G
There's this great big you
D C B
And little old me
Em A Em
And we hold on
B
For dear life
Em A Em
We hold on
B
We hold on
Em A Em B (x2)
end on Em
Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod Capo 1
A D (x3)
A
A D
You are sleeping off your demons
A D
When I come home
A E
Spittle bubbling on your lips
A D
Fine white foam
A D
I am young and I am good
A D
It's a hot Southern California day
A E
If I wake you up
A D
There will be hell to pay
A
And alone in my room
D A
I am the last of a lost civilization
D A
And I vanish into the dark
D A
And rise above my station
D A
Rise above my station
D A D A E A A
A D
But I do wake you up and when I do
A D
You blaze down the hall and you scream
A E
I'm in my room with my headphones on
A D
Deep in a dream chamber
A D
And then I'm awake and I'm guarding my face
A D
Hoping you don't break my stereo
A E
Because it's the one thing that I couldn't live without
A
And so I think about that
D
Then I sort of black out
A
Held under these smothering waves
D A
By your strong and thick veined hand
D A
But one of these days
E A
I'm gonna wriggle off on dry land
A D (x3)
A
Magpie by The Mountain Goats
Em G D Em x2
Em G
Feed the kittens in the kitchen
D Em
Set food out for the strays
Em G
Try hard to do your best
D Em
The magpie will have his way
Em G D Em x2
Em G
Fill your mouth with berries
D Em
By the full light of the moon
Em G
Work all night if you have to
D Em
The magpie comes at noon
Em Bm A Em x4
Em G
Shore up the crucifixes
D Em
Above the archways and the doors
Em G
The magpie will come at midday
D Em
And you will go down on all fours
Em G D Em x2
Em G
And when the cherry's white with blossoms
D Em
Be ready and be brave
Em G
And remember what we had here
D Em
When there was something left to save
Em Bm A Em x4
Song for Dennis Brown by The Mountain Goats
e|---3---3-------------------------3---|
B|---3-----------------------------3---|
G|---0-----------------------------0---|
D|---0---------0-------------------0---|
A|---2------0h2------3--2--0--0----2---|
E|---3---3-------------------------3---|
[Intro]
G riff G riff
G
On the day that Dennis Brown's lung collapsed
C D G (riff)
spring rain was misting down on Kingston
G
and down at the harbour local
C D G (riff)
cops were intercepting an inbound shipment
C G
and for a while there it was chaos
C D
as they handcuffed and then roughed up some sailors
G
on the day my lung collapses
C D G (riff)
it's not gonna be much different
G
On the day that Dennis Brown's habits caught up with him
C D G (riff)
school children sang in choirs
G
and out behind the Chinese restaurants
C D G (riff)
guys were jumping into dumpsters
C G
and the stench was overbearing
C D
but they were past the point of caring
G
on the day my habits catch up with me
C D G (riff)
I'll be down among the jumpers
Em G
Em G
Em G
Em C
e|----------|
B|----------|
G|----------|
D|--------0-|
A|--3-2-0-0-|
E|----------|
and then D (light on the high notes)
G
and when the birds come home in spring
C D G (riff)
we will fill them full of buckshot
G
and jets of contaminated blood
C D G(riff)
will cloud the rivers and the lakes
C G
it took all the coke in town
C D
to bring down dennis brown
G C
on the day my lung collapses
D G (riff)
we'll see just how much it takes
G (riff)
Em G
Em G
Em G
Em C
in here play (much more pronounced this time)
e|----------|
B|----------|
G|----------|
D|--------0-|
A|--3-2-0-0-|
E|----------|
and then D (light on the high notes)
G (riff)
Love Love Love by The Mountain Goats
E Asus2 E Asus2
E Asus2
King Saul fell on his sword when it all went wrong,
E B
and Joseph’s brothers sold him down the river for a song,
E Asus2
and Sonny Liston rubbed some tiger balm into his glove.
C#m Asus2 E
some things you do for money and some you do for love, love, love.
E Asus2 E Asus2
E Asus2
Raskolnikov felt sick but he couldn't say why
E B
when he saw his face reflected in his victim's twinkling eye.
E Asus2
some things you'll do for money and some you'll do for fun,
C#m Asus2 B E
but the things you do for love are going to come back to you one by one.
E Asus2
Asus2 E
Love, love is going to lead you by the hand
Asus2 E
into a white and soundless place.
Asus2 C#m E
now we see things as in a mirror dimly.
Asus2 B
then we shall see each other face to face.
E Asus2
and way out in Seattle young Kurt Cobain
E B
snuck out to the greenhouse, put a bullet in his brain.
E Asus2
snakes in the grass beneath our feet, rain in the clouds above,
C#m Asus2 E
some moments last forever, but some flare up with love, love, love.
E Asus2 E Asus2 E Asus2 E Asus2
Pale Green Things by The Mountain Goats
C F C F
C
Got up before dawn
F C F
Went down to the racetrack
C
Riding with the windows down
F C F
Shortly after your first heart attack.
Am C
You parked behind the paddock,
Am C
Cracking asphalt underfoot,
Am C
Coming up through the cracks
G C C F C F
Pale green things, pale green things
C
You watched the horses run their workouts
F C F
You held your stopwatch in your left hand
C
And a Racing Form beneath your arm
F C F
Casting your gaze way out to no man's land
Am C
Sometimes I'll meet you out there
Am C
Lonely and frightened
Am C
Flicking my tongue out at the wet leaves
G C
Pale green things, pale green things
C F C F C F C F Am C Am C Am C G C
C
My sister called at 3 AM
F C F
Just last December
C
She told me how you'd died at last, at last.
F C F
That morning at the racetrack was one thing that I remembered
Am C
I turned it over in my mind
Am C
Like a living Chinese finger trap
Am C
Seaweed in Indiana sawgrass
G C
Pale green things, pale green things
C F C F C F C F Am C Am C Am C G C