THE MOUNTAIN GOATS - Paroles de Beat the Champ (2015)

Chronique de l'album ici

Southern territory

(Verse)
Small screen, July evenin' view up and down Grand Avenue
Where the legends get made, out with the boys' brigade
Part of the motorcade, flew home from Texas last night
Slept on the flight, work like a dog all day
Born to chase cars away die on the road someday
I try to remember what life was like long ago
But it's gone, u know, climb the turnbuckle high
Take 2 falls out of 3, blackout from local T.V.

(Verse 2)
Stand in that cold empty hall, wait for ur name to get called
Burn like hillsides on fire, in the squall of the ring-side choir
High as a wire, nearly drive Danny's nose back into his brain
All the cheap seats go insane, keep my eyes open and try to think straight
No one drives on the 60 this late, feel like the last person alive
Francisquito to Glenshaw Drive, I try to remember to write in the diary
That my son gave me, climb the turnbuckle high
Take 2 falls out of 3, blackout from local T.V.

Stabbed to Death outsdie San Juan

The winter is wet & the summer is hot
Take a match in Puerto Rico, why not
Power & adrenaline flowin' like amber
From the recesses of the earth, put on ur waders
& twitch when the water runs high sometimes
Twitch when the tide ebbs low
See the sights, maybe go downtown
Sometimes u get some heat, sometimes it follows u around
When the blade hits the bone, every body hears it sing
Shower room full of people, no one hears a god damned thing
A twitch when the current runs wild sometimes
Twitch when the contact howls
All that racket out there in the arena
I am on a stretcher, here come the cleaners
& the sky goes dark & there I am
Climbin' down the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
I drop from the top of my tall steel cage
Drop to the concrete floor

The ballad of Bull Ramos

(Verse)
Drive a great big truck when I'm old, when I'm old
Haul the wrecks down to the wreck yard, help the boys unload
Keep my hair nice & long becos' I can, becos' I can
Any of my old friends who have no place to turn to
They know to call me any time they come thru'

(Chorus)
Never die, never die
Stand with a bullwhip in my hand
& rise, rise
In the desert sand

(Verse 2)
Work days, work nights, finally get laid up
By a piece of broken glass on the floor of the shop
& the doctor recognizes me as the operatin' theater goes dim
Aren't u that ole' wrestler with the bullwhip?!
Yessir, that's me, I'm him!

(Bridge)
Get around fine on 1 leg
Lose a kidney, then go blind
Sit on my porch in Houston
Let the good times dance across my mind 

(Chorus)

Unmasked !

(Verse)
Rain beats down, down on the outer walls
Down on the skylight, where the streetlights
Shine like unquenchable coals & I’m up high, tryna say goodbye
The only way I know how, crude & graceless
Peekin' through the eye holes, seein' the real u

(Chorus)
And just after midnight
When it feels like it's gettin' late
I will reveal u, I will reveal u

(Verse 2)
Crowd's half-gone, just a few hangers ons
Come to see me finally tear thru' the stitchin' at last
And u don't care, u look almost relieved down there
Like you're free, like u can breathe now
Like they've sawn off ur cast, just 1 mo' sleeper to see thru'

(Chorus)
And by way of honorin' the things we once both held dear
I will reveal u I Will reveal u, cast of 1000s
But we were the real 2 & when I'm alone
Befo' a mirror late at night, I will reveal u, I will reveal u

The Legend Of Chavo Guerrero

Born down in El Paso where the tumbleweeds blow
To the middleweight champ of all of Mexico
Dad fought many bloody battles and raised four sons
Chavo was the oldest one
Old man Gory could pop like a live grenade
Raised his boys in the way of the trade
Hector and Mando, young Eddie G
Chavo meant the most to me

[Chorus:]
Look high
It's my last hope
Chavo Guerrero
Coming off the top rope

He came from Texas seeking fortune and fame
Rose pretty quickly to the top of his game
Defender of the downtrodden, king of the hill
Tag-team champion with Al Madril
Before a black and white TV in the middle of the night
I'm lying on the floor, I'm bathed in blue light
With the telecast in Spanish, I can understand some
And I need justice in my life, here it comes

[Chorus]

Red Shoes Dugan
Holding his arm high all out of breath
I hated all of Chavo's enemies
I would pray nightly for their death
Descending like fire
On the people who deserved it most
Always completely unknown
Outside of Texas and the West Coast

He was my hero back when I was a kid
You let me down but Chavo never once did
You called him names to try to get beneath my skin
Now your ashes are scattered on the wind
I heard his son got famous, he went nationwide
Coast-to-coast with his dad by his side
I don't know if that's true but I've been told
It's real sweet to grow old

[Chorus]

Heel Turn 2

Get stomped like a snake
Lie down in the dirt
Cling to my convictions
Even when I get hurt

Be an upstanding, well-loved man
About town
In your child’s mind that’s
How it goes down
But I try the losing side

I don’t want to die in here
I don’t want to die in here

Drift down into the new dark light
Without any reservations
You found my breaking point
Congratulations

Spend too much of my life
Now trying to play fair
Throw my better self overboard
Shoot at him when he comes up for air
Come unhinged
Get revenge

I don’t want to die in here
I don’t want to die in here

Stay good under pressure
For years and years and years
President of the fan club
Up there choking on his tears

Let all the trash rain down
From way up in the rafters
I’m walking out of here in one piece
Don’t care what comes after
Drive the wedge
Torch the bridge

I don’t want to die in here
I don’t want to die in here

Animal Mask

Eighteen-man steel cage free for all
Through the noise I hear u call for help
U can't protect yoself, frog mask & yellow cape
So desperate to escape
I came to u, hands wrapped in adhesive tape
That was when we were young & green
In the dawnin' hours of our team

(Chorus)
Some things u will remember
Some things stay sweet foreva

(Verse 2)
Seen u backstage once or twice
Animal gimmick pops real nice 
Elbows sweep & tiger dance
Lil extra fighter's chance 
'Hold on' I cried, 'I'll be right there'
Pull ur mask down through ur hair
They won't see u, not until u want them to
That was when we were green & young
Battle cry risin' from ur tongue

(Chorus)

Chocked out

Diamonds in the firmament 
All reserves completely spent 
Someone set up the oxygen tent
Everybody here's real proud to present
Choked out! 200 dolla take all purse 
Half Nelson to Suplex reverse
Worried look on the face of the ringside nurse
At one, for once, with the universe
Choked out! Choked out, choked out, choked out!
I stretch & strain with all my might
Drift off into the velvety arms of the night
Kick & claw & scratch & bite
Fire up the grill, everybody eats tonight
Choked out! No brakes down
An endless dark incline
Most of the boys won't eva cross this line
If they all want to die dead broke that's fine, that's fine
Everybody's got their limits, nobody's found mine
Crowd screamin' like hounds at the heat of the chase
All the colours of the rainbow flood my face
I lift right off into space
I can see the future, it's a real dark place
Choked out, choked out, choked out
Choked out, choked out, choked out

Fire Editoral

Too blinded in Detroit! Somethin' must be done
Jaws droppin' at ringside in the blood tide
When the fireball hits
Down Indiana way, make them check their guns
Real tears when it's ova, smell the sulfur
When the dark vault splits
Lord of the hidden pocket knife
Tawdry dreams all come to life
Save yoselves, save this town
Save everythin' not nailed down
War in Ontario! Dead befo' the bell
Crushed hopes of the young breed
All the best bleed, all the proud boys break
Who will stand befo' the flood?
Who will mop up all the blood?
Who's alone?! Skin, bone, steel, stone
Swim or drown, save this town
Save everythin' not nailed down

Hair Mask

U will be maybe lungin' for the bad guy’s hip
No one anticipates the sunset flip
The referee & ur opponent will hold u there
& we're gonna bring in a foldin' chair
We'll stipulate that there will be no cameras filmin'
But of course there will be several in the buildin'
& if by chance somebody hits record
& stands real still somewhere back behind the soundboard
Cheap electric razor from the Thrifty down the street
2 guys down around ur ankles so u will stay put in ur seat
Buzzin' razor held aloft & just about to strike
I luvd u befo' I even eva knew what luv was like
Some people leave befo' it's over, but most of them stay
Some hide behind their programs, some turn away
Out in the parkin' lot u look up at the stars & all the cheap cars

Luna

The winter is wet & the summer is hot
Take a match in Puerto Rico, why not
Power & adrenaline flowin' like amber
From the recesses of the earth, put on ur waders
& twitch when the water runs high sometimes
Twitch when the tide ebbs low
See the sights, maybe go downtown
Sometimes u get some heat, sometimes it follows u around
When the blade hits the bone, every body hears it sing
Shower room full of people, no one hears a god damned thing
A twitch when the current runs wild sometimes
Twitch when the contact howls
All that racket out there in the arena
I am on a stretcher, here come the cleaners
& the sky goes dark & there I am
Climbin' down the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
I drop from the top of my tall steel cage
Drop to the concrete floor

Foreign Object

(verse)
Whipped like a dog, down on the cards
Square in the spotlight sweatin' real hard
All soaked in blood like a newborn babe
Sharp thing hidden in my hand shaped like an astrolabe

(Chorus)
Gonna stick u in the eye with a foreign object
Gonna poke u in the eye with a foreign object

(Verse 2)
March through the red mist, neva get my vision clear
Learn to luv this kind of atmosphere
Strike funny poses, keep my weapon hand low
Whip my head around a lil, get blood on the front row

(Chorus)

(Bridge)
Sink my teeth into ur scalp, take a nice big bite
Save nothin' for the cameras, play the angles all night
1 of these days my legs will both snap like twigs
If u can't beat em make em bleed like pigs 

(Chorus)

Werewolf Gimmick

I was not there for rehearsal, I don’t need it any more
when I show up just in time to pop you can clear the goddamn floor
empty out the locker room, let me find my space
let him who thinks he knows no fear look well upon my face

nameless bodies in unremembered rooms
know how a man becomes a beast when the wolfbane blooms

sail past all the grasping hands, floodlights white and hot
bring my vision into focus, find out what I’ve got
some sniveling local babyface with an angle he can’t sell
full werewolf off the buckle like an angel straight from hell

nameless bodies in unremembered rooms
run howling through the carnage when the wolfbane blooms

half the city sound asleep and safe inside their beds
get lost inside my thoughts and nearly tear his face to shreds

blood pooling on the canvas as the atmosphere gets hushed
bring your heroes to the wolf’s den, watch them all get crushed
get told to maybe dial it back backstage later on
everyone still in this building right now: dead before the dawn

nameless bodies in unremembered rooms
the pure at heart go putrid when the wolfbane blooms