Lyric discussion by Beruthiel 

Cover art for Slow West Vultures lyrics by Mountain Goats, The

John is a lyrical genius - too much so for me.

I can tell you that the line "Shooting the sequel before the treatment's even finished" is an extremely clever pun - in the movie industry, a "treatment" is like the first written proposal for a movie, which just outlines the plot. So at first glance the line is about getting ahead of yourself. However I'm almost certain that John's talking (singing) about taking drugs (again) - perhaps "shooting" up before the last dose has quite worn off. So there's the connotation of a medical "treatment" as well (possibly rehab?).

Gah, so much meaning crammed into just one line! I love this guy's songs so much. :)

Yep good call. "Shooting the sequel before the treatment's even finished Sanding numbers off the monojects As our slight returns diminish" This whole section's about drugs. Monojects are syringes and I assume this is about heroin. "Slight returns dimish" implying tolerance to a drug meaning you have to increase dosage to get same effect.