2 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A

Roger Patterson Van Lyrics

Kelly said the van was streaked with broken sides of you,
Tapes and magazines, all your goodness beaming through
Sorting through your suitcase by the highway in the sun
Somewhere in Louisiana when you really need to run; your legs
Will bend and buckle, there is nowhere to go

So you walk sideways

Two sad young men one February, digging through a wreck
Cleaning out the tour van, check and double check
Nothing left inside now, nothing left to do
Empty out the empties, half this stuff belongs to you
When you load on something heavy, you've gotta watch your back

So you walk sideways
2 Meanings

Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.

Add your thoughts...
Cover art for Roger Patterson Van lyrics by Mountain Goats, The

This song is incredible.

The line "When you load on something heavy, you’ve gotta watch your back" really gets me

This song must be referring to the late bassist, Roger Patterson, of the Floridian technical death metal band Atheist. Kelly Shaefer is also the name of the band's guitarist/vocalist. Roger Patterson died in a car crash.

"When you load on something heavy, you've gotta watch your back"... this line made me cry.

A good friend of my parents, like an uncle to me, was a truck driver. He was out for a while, and on his first day back, they over-loaded his truck, and he crashed, and the steel load he was carrying crashed right into the cab.

And that's all I could think of when I heard that line.

Cover art for Roger Patterson Van lyrics by Mountain Goats, The

This song is indeed referring to the late bassist, Roger Patterson, of Atheist fame.

As correctly pointed out, Atheist's frontman is named Kelly; Roger Patterson was killed when the band's touring van crashed on a Louisiana highway in February 1991, hence the reference to the vehicle, time and place.

Song Meaning
 
Questions and Answers

Ask specific questions and get answers to unlock more indepth meanings & facts.

Ask a question...