@Mountain Goats
"Source Decay" - written by john darnielle
tabbed by Russ Sweetser
ruxxell@comcast.net
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E--A--E---A
E
Once a week I make the drive
F# A
two hours east to check the Austin post office box.
E F#
I take the detour through our old neighborhood,
A B
see all the Chevy Impalas in their front yards up on blocks,
A B
and I park in an alley and I read through the postcards
E A
that you continue to send:
F# A
where as indirectly as you can you ask what I remember.
E B
I like these torture devices from my old best friend.
C#
Well I'll tell you what I know
F#
like I swore I always would --
A B
I don't think it's gonna do you any good:
E A E A B A E
I remember the train headed south out of Bangkok down toward the water.
A E A E
E
I always get a late start,
F#
when the sun's going down
A
and the traffic's thinning out
E
and the glare is hard to take. I wish the
E F#
West Texas highway was a Mbius strip --
A B
I could ride it out forever. When I feel my heart break,
A B
I almost swear I hear it happen, it's that clear and that hard.
E A
I come in off the highway and I park in my front yard.
C#
I fall out of the car
F#
like a hostage from a plane,
A
think of you a while and
B
start wishing it would rain.
E A E A B A E
I remember the train headed south out of Bangkok down toward the water.
A E A E
E
I come into the house,
F#
put on a pot of coffee,
A E
walk the floors a little while.
E F#
I set the postcard on a table with all the others like it,
A B
start sorting through the pile.
A
I check the pictures and the postmarks
B
and the captions and the stamps
E A
for signs of any pattern at all.
F# A
When I come up empty-handed, the feeling almost overwhelms me.
E B
I let a few of my defenses fall
C# F#
and I smile a bitter smile -- it's not a pretty thing to see --
A B
I think about a railroad platform back in 1983
E A E A B
A E
and I remember the train headed south out of Bangkok down toward toward
the water
