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Sax Rohmer #1 Lyrics
Fog lifts from the harbor, dawn goes down today
An agent crests the shadows of the nearby alleyway
Piles of broken bricks, sign posts on the path
Every moment points towards the aftermath
Yeah ah ah
Sailors straggle back from their nights out on the town
Hopeless urchins from the city gather around
Spies from imperial China wash in with the tide
Every battle heads toward surrender on both sides
And I am coming home to you
With my own blood in my mouth
And I am coming home to you
If it’s the last thing that I do
Bells ring in the tower, wolves howl in the hills
Chalk marks show up on a few high windowsills
And a rabbit gives up somewhere, and a dozen hawks descend
Every moment leads toward its own sad end
Yeah ah ah
Ships loosed from their moorings capsize and then they’re gone
Sailors with no captains watch awhile and then move on
And an agent crests the shadows and I head in her direction
All roads lead toward the same blocked intersection
I am coming home to you
With my own blood in my mouth
And I am coming home to you
If it’s the last thing that I do
Song Info
Submitted by
mdon06 On Dec 30, 2007
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john darnielle and jeffery lewis made a comic explaining each song on the new album, you can look at it here:
thejeffreylewissite.com/Mt-Goats-Press-Kit-08.html
Hearing this song for the first time completely overwhelmed me.
"Every moment leads toward its own sad end" is my favorite line.
I like that this song stands on its own, but also could be a scene from a novel. Sax Rohmer was the author of the Fu Manchu books (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sax_Rohmer). While I haven't read them, this scene certainly seems like it could fit in.
i imagine it to be like a futuristic war setting, but this soldier is determined to see his sweetheart again
"i am coming back to you, with my own blood in my mouth"
probably wrong, but oh well this is such a powerful song, like all their songs!
can't wait to hear this album, this was a great little tease though. I'm in love with this line personally: "a rabbit gives up somewhere, and a dozen hawks descend"
I love the epic scope and mood of this song. Everything is falling apart around him, and he has his mind set only on getting back home.
Will there be a Sax Rohmer #2?
I am probably reading too much into this (but isn't that the fun with John's songs?) but the line "Dawn goes down today" is from Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay". The last line of the poem is "So Dawn Goes Down Today/ Nothing Gold Can Stay". It could be a coincidence, but both the poem and a great deal of John's songs seem to deal with lost childhood. Just a thought!
Well, assuming that each song on 'Heretic Pride' fits in with the titular notion (i.e. people reviled for their beliefs/actions but stubbornly sticking to them), then this is about Sax Rohmer the author of the Fu Manchu novels.
It seems to be a kind of snapshot of his creative mind's output, with all the associated Fu Manchu stuff (spies from imperial China etc.).
For those who don't know, Wikipedia told me that Sax Rohmer once ridiculed the suggestion that his novels were racist in tone towards Chinese people by saying something like "but all Chinese people are like that". Hence, heretic pride...
Well, John said that with this song he just threw words against a wall and hoped they stuck, but I think that people could develop infinate meanings from it :)
This is the first Mountain Goats song I ever heard, and I've been in love with Darnielle's work ever since :)