Bleed Out
Liner Notes
Thanks to the actors and directors in the dozen or so action movies from the 60s, 70s, and 80s that I devoured while writing these songs, a practice similar to the one I used in the early days of the Mountain Goats and which was a joy to revisit. May your blood stain the concrete, the asphalt, the Miami streets, and the carpet of the banquet room in the upstairs of a Little Italy restaurant forever.
Track listing
Water dripping from the pipes down in the basement
Bare feet on a concrete floor
Notches on the wall of my solitary cell
Sweat dripping out of every pore
It feels like it takes forever
It's maybe five minutes on screen
But the horns will swell and the strings will sound
When that flipped quarter hits the ground
I'm doing this for revenge
I'm doing this to try and stay true
I'm doing this for the ones they had to leave behind
I'm doing this for you
Keep cool down in the quiet of the morning
Sweat blood when the sun comes through
Thick mist on the pond before the temple
Headed down for the final rendezvous
Everybody ready for justice
Just another mile to go
But the strings will keen and the horns will cry
When it's just me against the sky
I'm doing this for revenge
I'm doing this to try and stay true
I'm doing this for the ones they left to twist in the wind
I'm doing this for you
I'm doing this for you
I'm doing this for revenge
I am doing this to try and stay true
I'm doing this for the ones we had to leave behind
I'm doing this for you
I'm doing this for you
I'm doing this for you
When this is over
When we leave this all behind us
Deep in the moonless night
When the rescue team finds us
It's gonna get so dark for you
I'm gonna leave a mark on you
I'm gonna leave a mark on you
Can't trust anybody
Even the tough ones crack
Train up a swordsman
To stab you in the back
I know this much is true
I'm gonna leave a mark on you
No man knows the hour or the day
But the mark is gonna be visible
From several blocks away
Maybe you'll make it
To the far side of the hill
Maybe you will see me coming
But I don't think you will
Make peace with your family
You walk softly on this earth
I'm gonna leave a mark on you
I'm gonna leave a mark on you
I'm gonna leave a mark on you
I'm gonna leave a mark on you
Floor the pedal at the green light
Watch the traffic all drift right
Barrel forward unimpeded
Switch lanes as needed
Be flexible
Be unreplaceable
In a world of heavy footprints, be untraceable
Wage wars get rich die handsome
Wage wars get rich die handsome
Wage wars get rich die handsome
Live once you get to pay twice
Keep your nose clean
Keep your wheels nice
Open highway on the horizon
Queen of Queens, anima rising
Stay independent
Make adjustments as needed
It's losers all the way down
You stay undefeated, stay undefeated
Wage wars get rich die handsome
Wage wars get rich die handsome
Wage wars get rich die handsome
Wage wars! Get rich! Die, handsome!
Wage wars! Get rich! Die, handsome!
Wage wars! Get rich! Die, handsome! Die, handsome!
You never learn to tell the difference between
The probable projections and the best parts of the dream
The fragments that stick with you, the ones you really feel
Those parts aren't real
But high in the cold Midwestern air
They shimmer before us there
Almost out of reach but not quite
Stay up thinking about it all night
Waited so long for days like these
I'm tired of living on my knees
Pull your hair back tight, head right for the extraction point
And if you don't hear from me let them all go free
I'm on the Kennedy Expressway at dawn
Don't know where we got this car from
I'm driving with the fog lights on
The angles you don't plan for, the things you might have missed
Those things exist
But under the waxing winter sun
I feel like we're almost gone
Just pick a lane and drive right through
Headed off to freedom with you
Dreams of the future up in the front of my mind
Leave a couple dozen bodies behind
Pull your hair back tight, head right for the extraction point
And if you don't hear from me let them all go free
Never any call for a lone wolf
You have to learn to go with the flow
But they can find a use for a scarecrow
Depending on your stomach for crows
Always gonna need a little muscle
If you prove yourself worthy of trust
Your bones don't rust
Haven't checked a mirror in years
Don't need to know the bad news
There's not gonna be a gold watch
After thirty years of paying your dues
Show up five minutes early as usual
Work on just a couple hours' rest
Your bones don't rust
They stay hard as diamonds
They cut through steel
They still sing when they're hungry
And they ache when they're angry
Listen for the voice of the spirit
Maybe something wrong with your ears
Always on the edge of collapse now
Absolutely nobody cares
But everybody loves a professional
Not a single track in the dust
Your bones don't rust
Mail order body armor
Map to the Blue Bucket Mine
Guy who had a place down by the lakeside
Changing water to wine
Devastating schematics
Rough drafts of the twenty-third psalm
Paul Kersey never left his apartment
John Rambo never went to Vietnam
Armor-piercing black talons
From the first production run
Nobody's seen them in a while
Since 1991
Out in the cul-de-sacs at midnight
Where the candy for the cannons comes from
I heard Buford Pusser was dirty
John Rambo never went to Vietnam
Shall we rise to the occasion
Or go to sleep for good in the trenches?
Dug in beneath a brilliant blue sky
Helmets hanging high in the branches
Empty vessels by the dozen
Diamonds in the sun
We worship nothing in the foxholes
John Rambo never went to Vietnam
John Rambo never went to Vietnam
I'm going to rise up early every day
Overcome every obstacle in my way
Keep a secret chamber in my heart clean
Polish every surface to a brilliant sheen
Remain positive and stay on the grind
And banish every other thought from my mind
I'm going to make you suffer
I'm going to make you suffer
Let your yes be yes, and let your no come from deep in your belly
I'm going to make you suffer
There was a captain many years at sea
Living the life of the sailor, rugged and free
Nothing but the sky to sing him to sleep at night
Safe in the arms of the ocean - no land in sight
Out on the waves, you try to keep warm
Nobody here to sound the alarm
I'm going to make you suffer
I'm going to make you suffer
The first in line will receive the full brunt of the blow
I'm going to make you suffer
Woke up from a dream whimpering like an infant
Over time people tell me their dreams grow distant
And they learn to love the lives they lead
No more hungry ghosts in the chimney to feed
You often hear stories like these
Someday I will see you on your knees
I'm going to make you suffer
I'm going to make you suffer
Say what you like, there won't be anybody listening
I'm going to make you suffer
From the front door to the drugstore
From the drugstore to the bakery
From the loading dock to the chimes of the city clock
They're about to make their play for me
But I will rise 'cause I got guys
Guys on every corner
With your tabloid stars and your unmarked cars
With your special forces and your inside sources
With your radar fields and your riot shields
And heavy horses
I'm coming to swat you down like flies
'Cause I got guys
Guys on every corner
They don't look so special
T-shirts and tennis shoes
Blank expressions
A couple of Chicago guys
A robust East Bay delegation
From the far ends of the earth
They have loosely gathered
To stand in doorways making small talk
About the weather
They look like nothing
They look like your neighbors
You won't remember their faces later
Run like rats, look to the skies
'Cause I got guys
Guys on every corner
There may come a day someday
When we all look back and laugh
But there's lots of noise in the break room
Nasty points on the graph
And they're breaking into the broadcast now
Special update from Action News!
Some of what you'll hear in the footage that follows
May not reflect our station's views
We may run out of bullets;
We're never going to run out of hostages
There's disagreements on procedure
Vocal, bitter divisions
As is often the case in situations like this one
I'll be the one who makes the final decision
Some of you have been here before
Most of you have not
Some will dwell on the details in the future
Or work to keep it out of your thoughts
We may run out of bullets;
We're never going to run out of hostages
If there's one thing I love
It's an infinite resource
If there's one thing worth loving
It's a surplus of supplies
There's a team up on the rooftop
Good luck to the team
When you know you'll never make it out alive
You kind of get to live out your dream
Helicopters in the distance
Music of the spheres on the wind
It's gonna be a rough ride from here down to the exit
Some might look back and laugh at the end
We may run out of bullets;
We're never going to run out of hostages
Stockpiles of ammunition in wooden crates
Stenciled with exotic ports of call
White rags stuffing up glass jugs
Clean-burning overproof alcohol
I did not seek out the mission,
But the mission found me
Twenty-one years old
I mean to learn what it's like to be free
We're going to need more bandages
We're going to need more bandages
Cheap overseas tobacco
Hidden treasures within
You can even smoke it if you're desperate
We do get desperate now and again
I am not the first to follow the plan,
Just a cog in the machine
I'm just here to run interference
Dancing like a fly on the screen
We're going to need more bandages
We're going to need more bandages
More bandages - more shovels!
When the shovels break,
We've still got our fingernails!
Why wait until tomorrow?
Victory awaits with the dawn!
If we all get blown to pieces,
We can leave a nasty mark when we're gone
I did not hunt down the moment,
It found me in a dream
Struck down as a warning to the others
Nothing without my brothers
We're going to need more bandages
We're going to need more bandages
Here inside the final diorama
Charting weather patterns for kicks
There are several fairly weighty problems
I'm pretty sure the simulation won't fix
Never any better at bottom
Than the signals I'm set up to receive
Choking on the blood of the androids
Wiping off my mouth on my sleeve
Shining on the inside, maybe
Shining on the inside, maybe
Somewhere in the monument garden
Suggestions of a tunnel to freedom
Everywhere the crack of the rifle
Never any guns when you need them
I got to test my chin on the concrete
It's the only way to be sure
Only the desperate ever make it to the exit
Only the brave and the pure
Shining on the inside, maybe
Shining on the inside, maybe
Shining like a deep sea creature
Only temporarily bearing the pressure
Sniffing at the walls of the maze
All the ancient rumors were true
You only see the jump cuts and the close-ups
You never get the aerial view
Content to maybe serve as an example
Set up a sign or two on the trail
There's a lot of things that can happen
All for the want of a nail
Shining on the inside, maybe
Shining on the inside, maybe
Every time they knock me down
I rise to my feet
Every time I take a bullet, they find a medic
To patch me up real neat
You only have to run the numbers to know
Sooner or later everybody's gotta go
Bleed out
I'm gonna bleed out
I'm gonna bleed out
I'm gonna bleed out
There won't be anybody waiting to rush me to safety
I'm gonna let the long night take me
Bleed out
I'm gonna bleed out
Every bender needs a blackout
Every gauge deserves a top line
Every story needs a child who believes
The brave hero's gonna be just fine
You only have to check the papers to see
Some of these children end up just like me
Bleed out
I'm gonna bleed out
I'm gonna bleed out
I'm gonna bleed out
I'm gonna make a gigantic mess
But it meant something important I guess
Bleed out
I'm gonna bleed out
Somewhere beyond imagination
Somewhere beneath the final delta
Washed up on the banks of a river at the height of the storm
Everybody seeking shelter
I'm gonna dive right in
I can't swim
Bleed out
I'm gonna bleed out
Notes
- All songs written December 2020-January 2021. Recorded at Betty's, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, January 2021. Mastered by Brent Lambert at The Kitchen Mastering, Carrboro, North Carolina.
- So, heads up. I got this idea to write a bunch of songs where they were all uptempo mini-action movies. Plots, characters, heists, hostages, questionable capers, getaway cars, all that stuff. Gas pedal glued to the floor. Eventually, as you might guess I wanted at least one song where the tempo relaxed a little and that’s the title track but otherwise buckle up. We hid out in the woods in Chapel Hill and made this album with nobody knowing about it. Proper secret-soldier style. It has been pretty hard keeping this under our hats, we are really proud of what we got here. Alicia Bognanno (of Bully) produced & played with us, and the great Shani Gandhi mixed. The album is called 'Bleed Out' and will be out on August 19th via Merge Records. The first single is “Training Montage” which does what it says on the tin, and you can pre-order the album now... (Bandcamp 2022-06-02)
- We are proud to present BLEED OUT by the Mountain Goats, out today on all formats. Total chart domination will surely follow if you buy a copy! Makes a great present for friends, doubles as a warning card for your enemies! Jordan Lake V next Thursday, tour clouds gathering in the east. We are very proud of this album and however you listen, thank you!! (Bandcamp 2022-08-19)