Nation of Heat
Joe Pug Lyrics

Across from the prison and beside the great lake
I live in a place that has a prison nearby and a great lake beside it.

Below the rooftop and above the highway
My place is a small space I am in, which is under a roof but over a busy road.

The Spirits pay rent to the basements they haunt
The ghosts that haunt the basements pay for their stay.

And the pages draw pictures of the things that they want
Writers and artists draw pictures and write stories of what they desire.

I cook my dinner on the black top street
I have no proper kitchen or equipment to cook, so I use the hot asphalt road outside.

I come from the nation of heat
I come from a place that is hot and uncomfortable to live in.

Outside the train station there's a bold painted sign
There's a large sign outside the train station that's impossible to miss.

It says try to be patient don't forget to choose sides
The sign advises people to be patient and reminds them to take a stand on different issues.

We got the loudest explosions that you've ever hear
Our place has frequent and very loud explosions that startle everyone.

We've got two dollar soldiers and ten dollar words
Our people fake their courage with cheap resources and try to show off their intellect with high-flown words.

If I didn't own boots I wouldn't need feet
Our place is so hot and harsh that owning only the boots is enough.

So swift and so vicious are the carnival rides
The carnival rides in our place are so fast and wild and can be dangerous to ride.

And the carnival barker will yell your name for a bribe
The carnival workers ask for money to mention people's names to attract them to the rides and games.

We got billboards for love and Japanese cars
We have big advertisement boards for items like cars and love.

It ain't rare to hear the street lights call themselves stars
The streetlights in our place are so bright that people mistake them for the stars.

The more that I learn the more that I cheat
I am dishonest because every time I learn something new, I find a way to cheat and use that to my advantage.

I come from the nation of heat
I was born and raised in a place that is hot and uncomfortable to live in.

I've seen skeleton mothers and hungry folks
I have witnessed mothers who are so skinny that their bones were visible and people who were always hungry.

Across the street from the kitchen that cooks dinner the most
There's a busy kitchen across the street that is famous for making the most food in the area.

Sometimes you hear whispers by the dark of the moon
Sometimes, in the dark of the night, you can hear people whispering secrets or gossip.

That we promise too much and gave it too soon
The promises made by the people were too good to be true and delivered too soon.

Even our coughs said our fevers compete
The people of our place are so competitive that even their coughs and illnesses compete with each other.

Blocking borders with smiles our immigrant sons
The immigrants in our place keep crossing our borders with smiles on their faces.

We measure loneliness in miles and misery in tons
We quantify loneliness by distance and misery by weight in our place.

There's a straw hatted man going away from the shore
There's a man who's leaving the shore wearing a hat made of straw.

He said it's a shame they don't let you have slaves here anymore
The man expressed sadness that slavery was abolished in our place, implying that he would have been happier owning slaves.

I'm the ugliest man that you'll ever meet
I am not physically attractive and am the epitome of ugliness.