Ben's My Friend
Sun Kil Moon Lyrics

I woke up this morning, August 3rd
The artist begins the song by describing the date he is waking up on.

It's been a pretty slow and uneventful summer
The artist hasn't had a lot going on this summer so far.

Went to visit a friend in Santa Fe
The artist went to visit a friend in Santa Fe at some point during the summer.

Went to New Orleans and went to see my family
The artist also visited family in New Orleans at some point during the summer.

Woke up this morning and it occurred
The artist contrasts waking up again today and how he felt yesterday.

I needed one more track to finish up my record
The artist is working on finishing up a new music record.

I was feeling out of fuel and uninspired
The artist is feeling low on energy and not finding much inspiration.

Laid on my bed, too hung, a little down, a little tired
The artist takes a break from work and rests in bed.

Met my girl and we walked down Union Street
The artist meets up with his significant other and they take a walk together.

I was scared and my head was in a bunch of places
The artist is feeling anxious and scatterbrained.

Bought a 350 dollar pair of lampshades
The artist buys an expensive pair of lampshades.

And we ate at Perry's and I ordered crab cakes
The artist and his significant other go to eat at Perry's and he orders crab cakes.

She said I seemed distracted and asked what was going on with me
His partner notices that he's not quite himself and asks him what's going on.

I said I can't explain it it's a middle age thing
The artist doesn't have a specific reason for his current mood, just that it's a typical feeling associated with middle age.

She said okay and ate her eggs Benedict
His partner acknowledges his feeling and goes back to eating her food.

And I looked at the walls cluttered with sports bar shit
The artist observes the typical sports bar decor and it doesn't lift his mood.

Got on the phone and I called my mother
The artist calls his mother for a chat.

And called my father, talked a little bit with my sister
The artist also calls his father and sister.

She's got a new boyfriend, he's a deer hunter
The artist's sister has a new boyfriend who hunts deer.

And she's getting used to venison
The artist's sister is adapting to eating venison.

And my dad's still fighting with his girlfriend
The artist's dad is still in arguments with his girlfriend.

About his flirting with the girls at Panera Bread
The arguments are centered on his dad's behavior around female employees at Panera Bread.

My mom is good but sounded out of breath
Despite being in good health otherwise, the artist's mother sounds out of breath.

I worry so much about her, I worry to death
The artist worries a lot about his mother's health and well-being.

The other night I went and saw The Postal Service
The artist went to see The Postal Service in concert recently.

Ben's my friend but getting there was the worst
His friend Ben works with the Postal Service, but getting to the concert was difficult.

Trying to park and getting up the hill
The artist had a hard time finding a parking spot and getting up the hill to the concert venue.

And finding a spot amongst the drunk kids staring at their cells
He found a spot in the crowd amongst drunk young people staring at their phones.

Standing at the back with the crowd of eight thousand
The artist was at the back of an 8000-person crowd.

I thought of Ben when I met him in 2000
The artist thinks back to how he met Ben back in 2000.

At a festival in Spain
The artist and Ben met at a festival in Spain.

He was on the small stage then and I didn't know his name
When they first met, Ben was performing on a small stage and the artist didn't know his name.

Now he's singing at the Greek and he's busting moves
Now, Ben has gotten more famous and is performing at a venue called The Greek, where he moves around a lot on stage.

And my legs were hurting and my feet were too
The artist's legs and feet were aching from standing at the concert for so long.

I called him after, said I'll skip the backstage high five
The artist called Ben after the show and didn't ask for a backstage greeting.

But thanks for the nice music and all the exercise
The artist thanked Ben for the music and acknowledged that the concert was good exercise.

And we laughed and it was alright
The two friends laughed together and everything felt okay.

There's a (fine line) between a middle-aged guy with a backstage pass
The artist starts to contemplate the difference between a middle-aged person with a VIP pass and someone who looks out of place.

And a guy with a gut hanging around like a jackass
He imagines the negative stereotype of a middle-aged man with extra weight hanging out and feeling embarrassed.

Everybody there was twenty years younger than me
The artist feels like everyone at Ben's concert is twenty years younger than him.

At least that this is not my fondest memory
He admits that this concert experience wasn't the best memory.

I carried my legs back down the hillthen I gave
After the concert, the artist walked back down the hill and gave away his backstage passes.

My backstage passes to two cute asian girls
He gave his backstage passes to two Asian girls.

I drove to my place near Tahoe
The artist then drove to his home near Tahoe.

Got in my hot tub and thought well that's how it goes
The artist jumped into his hot tub and reflected on his recent experiences.

And it was quiet and I was listening to the crickets
He was surrounded by a peaceful silence and listened to the sound of crickets.

And Ben's still out there, selling lots of tickets
The artist thinks about how Ben is still performing and making money.

And though while we pretend that there's a touch of competitiveness
The artist acknowledges that there may be a little bit of competitiveness between him and Ben.

But Ben's my friend and I know he gets it
Despite the competitive feeling, the artist values his friendship with Ben and knows he will understand.

Then in a couple of days my meltdown passed
The artist eventually feels better after his meltdown.

Back to the studio doing twelve hours shifts
He gets back to work in the studio, doing long 12-hour shifts.

Singing a song about one thing or another
The artist continues to work on his music record, singing about various topics.

Another day behind the microphone this summer
The artist repeats the cycle of days in the studio, working behind a microphone during this summer.