The Feelers
The Hold Steady Lyrics

It was an early morning meet-up at the mansion up the mountain
The singer describes a morning meeting at a mountain mansion.

The Maestro still had glitter on his face
The Maestro still had glitter on his face fro, a previous night's partying.

They led us to the office and once my eyes adjusted
The singer was led to the office where he took his time to adjust.

I took a little look around the place
The artist looked around the office.

On the mantle was a portrait of his father and the fortune
The mantle presented a portrait of the Maestro's rich father.

He'd amassed from being ruthless but polite
The portrait presented the fortune the Maestro's father amassed due to being amicable and unyielding.

And a bottle with a model, a specific British clipper ship
The office desk had a bottle, together with a model of a specific British clipper ship.

On his desk there was a pistol and a pipe
The desk had a pistol and a pipe.

The sunrise wasn't perfect but it was close enough to count
Although the sunrise was not ideal, it was still admirable.

The vibrations were impatient he said he's sick of running out
The Maestro expressed his frustration about running out of some important substance.

But first we set the prices and then we talk about amounts
First, the group would agree on prices before discussing the quantities.

The sweet parade the morning brings
The morning brought a delightful parade.

The drifters wearing angel wings
The drifters were dressed like angels.

The hard distorted hymns they sing
The hymns sung were harsh and grating music.

So sad the night is over
The singer expresses sadness at the night's end.

The shepherds started spinning out
The shepherds began to lose control.

The cowboys trying to dismount
The cowboys struggled to dismount their horses.

St. Francis with the pigeons on his shoulder
St. Francis carried pigeons on his shoulder.

Now while you're here in person I was kind of sort of hoping
The singer wished to discuss a particular girl with the Maestro.

I could ask you about a girl I met last night
The artist wanted the Maestro's input on a girl he met the previous night.

She had the aura of an angel
The girl had a celestial aura.

But she had a couple problems
The girl had a few issues.

I guess the big one is she's someone else's wife
The girl was married to someone else.

She didn't bring it up with any sort of plan in place
The girl did not have a plan when discussing her problems.

She said she was just putting out the feelers
The girl said she was just testing the waters.

When she asked if she could choke you
The girl asked if she could choke the singer.

Underneath the blacklight poster
The girl made this request underneath a blacklight poster.

With a spaceman saying take me to your dealer
The blacklight poster featured a spaceman saying "take me to your dealer".

This scene it only moves at a few different speeds
The scene moves only at a few different tempos.

Forage and gather
This refers to the actions of foraging and gathering.

Attack and retreat
This refers to the actions of attacking and retreating.

First we're gonna finish up our business
The group plans to finish up their work.

Then we'll finally get some sleep
The group will only sleep once their work is done.

All the things you never really noticed before
The artist observes previously unnoticed details.

Turned out that they don't even matter
The details observed did not make any important changes.

'Cause when someone hits the switch in the kitchen
The lights went out when someone flicked the switch.

All the insects just scatter
The insects scattered.

The broken birds all headed south
The dispirited birds flew south.

The pirates with the party mouth
The boisterous pirates were partying.

The corner boys all calling out
The boys on the street were shouting.

So sad the war is finished
The artist laments the end of the war.

Each daybreak there's a new parade
At every daybreak, a new parade follows.

From uptown through old arcades
The parade passes through old arcades in uptown.

Along the way we lost the flame
Along the way, the passion was lost.

But there's burners in the kitchen
However, there are people still working hard.

We've been staying late a lot
The group has been working until late.

That mansion on the mountaintop
The group has been staying at the mansion on the mountain.

Did you think about the thing The Maestro mentioned?
The artist reminds the others about something the Maestro had mentioned.

How tomorrow's pretty much today
Tomorrow will likely be similar to today.

And I don't predict a major change
The singer does not expect significant change.

Seems like you and me have got momentum
The singer believes they are moving forward.

Feels like now we're in this pretty deep
The artist feels their involvement is relatively established.

We should get set up before we sleep
They should properly prepare before sleeping.