Moon Over Goldsboro
Lyrics
I went down to the gas station
For no particular reason
Heard the screams from the high school
It's football season
Empty lot the station faces
Will probably be there forever
I climbed over the four foot fence
I was trying to sever the tether
Moon in the sky
Cold as a stone
Spend each night in your arms
Always wake up alone
I lay down in the weeds
It was a real cold night
I was happy 'til the overnight attendant
Switched on the floodlight
Walking home I was talking to you under my breath
Saying things I would never say directly
I heard a siren on the highway up ahead
Kinda wished they'd come and get me
Frost on the sidewalk
White as a bone
Tried to get close to you again1
Always wake up alone
And as I was crossing our doorstep
I hesitated just a moment there
Remembered the day we moved in to our small house
'Til the vision got too vivid to bear
You were almost asleep
Halfway undressed[5]
I lay right down next to you[6]
held your head against my chest
And a guy with any kind of courage
would2 maybe stop to think the matter through
Maybe hold you still3 and raise the question
Instead of blindly holding onto you
But we crank up the heat
And you giggle and moan
Spend all night4 in the company of ghosts
Always wake up alone
Banter
- As with a number of geographic locations type songs, this one is sort of a ruse. It purports to take place in North Carolina, but secretly, it takes place in Colo, which is a small town in Iowa; population 773 when me and my wife lived there, 771 now. (2006-08-22)
- Confessing about this song: Its title references a city 45 minutes from where I live in Durham, North Carolina—that's not really the city it takes place in. I just like the way that sounded in the title. Who would listen to a song called 'Moon Over Colo'—which is a small town in Iowa where I used to live. There were 775 people there when my wife and I were there. Now there's 773. (2006-09-29)
- This is a long, slow song about a long, slow marriage. (2008-10-13)
- Audience: YOUR HAIR LOOKS GREAT!!
JD: My hair is great. [starts playing] My favorite stuff is always what I'm working on now, but my second favorite stuff is Get Lonely. (2016-10-29)
- This song is about a marriage; so if you know my songs, you know that’s not good. They try. Spoiler alert: it’s not enough. If it helps any- as I’ve said, this is a very tiny, little town so you have little to do but think about what you did wrong and wake up early. (2017-11-10)
- To me this song is even more depressing [than Autoclave]. It's not as violent but the people in it feel like they had a better chance at one point. It's gone now, because I took it away from them. It was on Get Lonely. It's probably my favorite song on the record. (2017-11-12)
Live Performances
Footnotes
- 1. Sometimes "spend all night trying to chase the feeling down" (2016-10-29, 2017-11-12); "trying to hunt the feeling down" (2019-05-07)↩
- 2. "well he would maybe" (2016-10-29, 2019-05-07)↩
- 3. "hold your shoulders down" instead of "hold you still" (2019-05-07)↩
- 4. "all night, every night" (2016-10-29, 2019-05-07)↩
5. "halfway" and "almost" switched (2016-10-29)
6. "I lay my body down right next to yours" (2016-10-29)