The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
Track #13 on The Mountain Goats‘ twelfth full-length album All Hail West Texas.
The title, “Source Decay”, refers to radioactive material. Any radioactive source becomes weaker over time as it returns to a more stable state — or, taking more poetic license, burns itself out.
The “source” in the ca...
[Verse 1]
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
[Chorus]
I remember the train headed south out of Bangkok
Down toward the water
[Verse 2]
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 Möbius strip
I could ride it out forever
When I feel my heart break
I almost swear I hear it happen, it's that 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
[Chorus]
And I remember the train headed south out of Bangkok
Down toward the water
[Verse 3]
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
[Chorus]
I remember the train headed south out of Bangkok
Down toward the water
Source Decay was written by John Darnielle.
Source Decay was produced by John Darnielle.
The Mountain Goats released Source Decay on Tue Feb 19 2002.