Damien Jurado On My Way To Absence





White Center

Heard they shot another
No one knows the reason
It didn't make the papers
It's just another wild night
Here in white center

Tonight they gather flowers
Sunday pack the churches
Morning comes too slowly
For us who feel like victims
Here in white center

Turn off your headlights
Here comes a cop car
Music for the bad boys
Music for the good boys
Here in white center



Lottery

Misfortune, got you like a sickness
The saints and angels all agree
Trouble sure as trouble sees it
I need it in writing to believe
To believe

The target was your heart in the beginning
Now they're digging soft ground for your grave
I hope the mourners will bring plastic flowers
They'll drink to your death with pink champagne
Pink champagne

Now I hear your widow crying
Her weeping I made into this song
It's popular with the disco dancers
They'll play it on the radio all week long
All week long

Misfortune, got you like a sickness
The saints and angels all agree
Trouble sure as trouble sees it
I need it in writing to believe
To believe



Big Decision

Made a big decision
Think I left you out

Got a lot of problems
Think I'll work it out



Lion Tamer

We said goodbye a year ago
WE sat within the farmhouse old
You know, don't you
I went to the house alone
The power out, no telephone
You know, you'll know

The gun in the drawer
The long distance call
A story to tell

Patience drips into the sound
You are nothing to me now
I need time to figure out
Save now before we drown

Hello goodbye so nice we met
I'll be easy to forget
You know, you'll know
An empty bed a sailing boat
The saddest song we ever wrote
You know, don't you

It's all for the best
It's not what it seems
The gun in the drawer
The long distance call
A story to tell

Patience drips into the sound
You are nothing to me now
I need time to figure out
Save now before we drown



Fuel

I was born in this town
My name taken from here
Three sisters and a brother
Who all died before me

When wickedness takes you
Like a child of its own
Nobody will befriend you
No one will defend you

I murdered the law here
I took on God here
So in place of your sins
I bring you a Judas

They say I'm a story
But the legend all wrong
I was forced out of town
But kept in this song

It was you who made me
It is you who must take me
Love me or hate me
I'm still your son

So Mother
Burn my body for fuel
Burn my body for fuel



Simple Hello

Simple hello would've been nice
Instead you walked right by
I do recall we used to be friends
Has that slipped your mind

I used to call you on the telephone
Each and every night
Every time I see you with him
I think, "Why even try?"

Think I've had enough
Think I've lost my mind
This time

We used to be the best of friends
I guess now things have changed
Far too busy with your own friends
Do you still know my name

Think I've had enough
And I think I've lost control
So it goes

Think I've had enough
Think I've lost my mind



Sucker

With both eyes closed I blew out his windows
A cheap shot I know but someone had to do it
It isn't like he deserves it that's easy for you to say
He's not our kind, he's not your type
Just look into his eyes

On my side of town
We let the lights go down
Get out our knives and go for a long drive
I'm nothing special, a yard sale collectable for your table
Eventually you'll too gather dust like the rest of us
Left out to rust

Tell me tongith, can we be magnetic
Lightning will strike and all of us will get in
Now that I'm social I'm at your disposal
A chair at the table
Eventually you'll too gather dust like the rest of us
Left out to rust



I Am The Mountain

Hello desert heat, when did you leave me undone
A bastard son to the wind that blows me your direction

The houses in the meadows have all but shed their skin
Now a boneless shadow that lies among the lilies

How long can you keep your distance
Who shall be my witness

The mountain said to his daughter, the hills shall be your husband
Leave me now a volcano, to destroy all God has given



Night Out For The Downer

Surely, I don't blame you
For not wanting to hang out tonight
I'm all that you accuse me
I'm a sinking ship, tied to my lover's waist

When I open up
Is when you're closing down
Surely why don't we

Surely what you're asking
I'm not sure what you want from me
I can't be all you wish for
I'm a sinking ship tied to my lover's waist



Northbound

Northbound open, use left hand lane
I drive to a place where no one knows who I am
Tail lights broken, stop lights out
I speed without caution on a road made of ice

My body an engine, my car is a train
I don't feel guilty for the hurt or pain
Telephone message we all ring twice
I speed without caution on a road made of ice



Icicle

I did not recognize you
You're playing with your face
Through your eyes I do despise you
There's not a person that I hate but you

When I could reach you from a distance
When I could sail upon the horizon
I left behind all those who mattered
The memories gone, they're foggy to me

No one told me you had feelings
They kept it secret and away from me
What would I give to have them silent
Their mouths all taken from them

When I could reach you from a distance
When I could sail upon the horizon
I left behind all those who mattered
They're all not gone, just blurry memory

I will not argue with you
There's only blackness in your heart
In the buildings that you tore down
With your mind



A Jealous Heart Is A Heavy Heart

I woke up this morning
With Death at my window, singing
Come out, come with me
It's friendship that I seek and conversation
He left you a widow, a dress made of shadow
He can see through

And while he's out swimming
He leaves you drowning in sorrow

You convince me he loves you
But he doesn't know you like I do
I bring you a treasure
A love you can measure, an island
A home on a hillside, a castle, a gravesite
To sleep in

And while he's out swimming
He leaves you drowning in sorrow

Grow old with me