Source Decay
The Mountain Goats Lyrics

once a week i make the drive
The singer visits their old neighborhood through the Austen post office box every week.

to the Austen post office box
The destination of the singer's drive.

I take the detour
The singer takes a detour through their old neighborhood.

through our old neighborhood
The artist passes through where they used to live.

see all the Chevy Impalas in their frontyards
The artist observes the old cars that still sit in front of the houses.

up on blocks
The cars aren't functional anymore.

and I park in an alley
The singer parks their car in an alley.

and I read through the postcards
The artist looks through the postcards they receive every week.

you continue to send
The postcards are from a person the artist knows and receives them regularly.

where as indirectly as you can
The postcards contain hints and indirect messages from the sender.

you ask what I remember
The messages on the postcards ask the singer about their memories.

I like these torture devices
The artist feels that the postcards are like torture devices that bring back unwanted memories.

from my old best friend
The sender of the postcards was once close to the singer.

well I'll tell you what I know
The singer is willing to share what they remember.

like I swore I always would
The singer has made a promise to themselves to always tell the truth.

I don't think it's going to do you any good
The artist doesn't believe that sharing their memories will benefit the sender in any way.

I remember the train
The artist reminisces about a train ride they took.

heading south out of Bangkok
The train was moving south from Bangkok.

down toward the water
The train was headed towards a body of water.

I always get a late start
The artist tends to start their drive late in the day.

when the sun's going down
The artist begins their drive when the sun is setting.

and the traffic's thinning out
The number of cars on the road is decreasing.

and the glare is hard to take
The brightness of the sun is difficult for the singer to handle.

I wish the West Texas highway
The artist expresses a desire for the highway they're driving on to be different.

was a mobius strip
The singer wishes the road was a never-ending loop.

I could ride it out forever
The singer wants to keep driving on this road forever.

when I feel my heart break
The singer is feeling emotional pain.

I almost swear I hear it happen
The pain is so intense that the artist feels like they can hear their own heart breaking.

it's that clear and that hard
The pain is both clear and intense.

I come in off the highway
The singer exits the highway.

and I park in my front yard
The singer parks their car in their front yard.

I fall out of the car
The artist gets out of their car in a hurry and clumsily.

like a hostage from a plane
The artist's actions resemble those of someone who was held captive on a plane for too long.

think of you a while
The artist thinks of the sender of the postcards for some time.

start wishing it would rain
The singer would prefer the weather outside to be rainy.

I come into the house
The artist returns home.

put on a pot of coffee
The singer prepares coffee.

walk the floors a little while
The singer walks around their house aimlessly.

I set your postcard on a table
The singer places the postcard they received on a table.

with all the others like it
The artist has received many other postcards from the same sender.

I start sorting through the pile
The artist goes through the postcards one by one.

I check the pictures and the postmarks
The singer pays attention to the details on each postcard.

and the captions and the stamps
The singer looks at the different parts of the postcard that people often overlook.

for signs of any pattern at all
The artist tries to find any recurring themes or meanings.

when I come up empty handed
The artist doesn't find any patterns or messages.

the feeling almost overwhelms me
The artist is feeling a sense of defeat and sadness.

I let a few of my defenses fall
The singer becomes more vulnerable and allows themselves to feel their emotions.

and I smile a bitter smile
The artist even smiles, but it's a sad and bitter one.

it's not a pretty thing to see
The singer doesn't look very attractive while they're in this state.

I think about a railroad platform
The singer has another memory about a railroad platform.

back in 1983
The memory is from 1983.