Damn These Vampires

The Mountain Goats

Brave young cowboys
Of the near north side
Mount those bridge rails
Ride all night
Scream when captured
Arch your back
Let this whole town hear
Your knuckles crack

Sapphire Trans-Am
High beams in rain
Drive wild broncos
Down the plain
Push up to the corner
Where the turbines hiss
Someday we won't
Remember this

Crawl 'til dawn
On my hands and knees
God damn these vampires
For what they've done to me
Tie those horses
To the post outside
And let those glass doors
Open wide
And in their surface
See two young, savage things
Barely worth
Remembering

Feast like pagans
Never get enough
Sleep like dead men
Wake up like dead men
And when the sun comes
Try not to hate the light
Someday we'll try
To walk upright

Crawl 'til dawn
On my hands and knees
God damn these bite marks
Deep in my arteries
Crawl 'til dawn
On my hands and knees
God damn these vampires
For what they've done to me


Lyrics submitted by concreteblues, edited by benefluence

Damn These Vampires song meanings
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19 Comments

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  • +6
    General Comment
    I saw the Mountain Goats in Leeds last night, and before this song John explained it with something along the lines of the following; 'You have friends and you think that they're the greatest people in the world, but there comes a time when you realise, all at once or it can come upon you gradually, that your friends aren't the greatest people in the world but they're actually parasites sucking the blood from you - not because they need the blood but just for their own entertainment. And then you have like one friend on your shoulder saying you're just being neurotic, your friends are great, and yourself in the middle saying 'no they're not, look at the facts''.
    matthiscoon May 29, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    I just saw The Mountain Goats last night. Before he played this song, John mentioned a house he lived in for 9 months in Portland, OR. Apparently, there is some sort of evil presence there that wouldn't let him sleep. He mentioned that he passes this house every chance he gets.
    Spenekoon April 03, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    Definitely a symbolic song, but I'd just like to say that I also love the story at its face value. Brave young cowboys, looking for the vampires who hurt them, most likely having killed someone close to them, and finally the find where they're hiding, opening the door to find "two young, savage things barely worth remembering", and then it switches perspective, and you see that the vampires hate living this way, and they're saying the same thing as the cowboys, "God damn these vampires for what they've done to me."
    EyePatchPeteon October 11, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    This song is about his Heroin addiction. The vampires is a metaphor for the users and sellers surrounding him during his addiction sucking the life out of him. He then refers to the Bite marks being the trace marks from injections. John writes about past experiences always pretty much. So he has many songs referencing to his drug addiction as well as his abusive stepfather.
    darcyfrodon July 15, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    And misleading Friends can also fit into this but only as the people who helped feed his addiction
    darcyfrodon July 15, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation
    The song seems to be about the world changing and becoming more built up against his will. The first verse is kind of the horses and cowboys on the plains. Then pretty soon he is in a trans-am. The verse ends about how they won't remember it. I think it kind of boils down to how everything advances and becomes built up; sometimes the past gets lost in that. Not sure about any of that- just the way it seems to me.
    tensecondstoolateon February 27, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    I can't help but think this is just a song about some guys who are bitten by vampires, and as time passes they have a harder and harder time remembering what life was like before the change. It plays like a narrative from a horror film.
    recoveringmaleon March 14, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning
    It seems like it's about heroin addicts to me or just drug addicts in general. Lines like "god damn these bite marks, deep in my arteries" scream heroin to me.
    doortodooron April 05, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Isn't it possible this is just a joke relating to the Twilight and True Blood hype?
    melieon April 06, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    I agree with those who think it is just a vampire story. I don't think he is mocking Twilight and True Blood though. He is probably just paying homage to the classic vampire stories that this song seems to reflect.
    theguynamednateon April 13, 2011   Link

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