song against sex

one of only a few of my favorite songs ever written.

and in all honesty, in my opinion, the album this song is from, On Avery Island and the following album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel are two of the best, if not the best albums of the 20th century.. just based on their sheer beauty of sound, amazing lyrical content (heartbreaking at times), and cohesiveness.

and the first one tore a picture of a dead and hanging man
who was kissing foreign fishes that flew right out from his hands
and when i put my arms around him,
i felt the blushing blood run through my cheeks
and an eeriness surrounded when his tongue began to speak
and he said, "oh boy, you are so pretty -
enough to wrap tight in rice-paper string"
and when i finally kissed him the whole world began to ring
lost like a bell that's tipping over with two cracks along both sides
and i knew the world was over so i took a look outside
and watched the fires that were reaching
up to the weather vanes and the tops of trees
and the waiting scene and the sunday dream -
they're all waiting here for me.

deli markets with their flower stands, their pretty girls, and their burning men
hanging out on the hooks next to the window displays
and i took out my tongue, twice removed from my face
across a bridge and across the mountains; threw a nickel in the fountain
to save my soul from all these troubled times
and all the drugs that i don't have the guts to take to soothe my mind
so i'm always sober; always aching;
always heading towards mass suicide; occult figurines
and wasted gas station attendants attending to their jobs
and a nice drive in the country finds a nice cliff to drop off
oh, when this life just gets so grating... all the grittiness of life
but don't take those pills your boyfriend gave you
you're too wonderful to die.

and the last one tore a picture from the pornographic page
but all the pleasure points attacking all the looks of love were staged
and it's a lie that you've been given that just hurts you every day
so why should i lie here naked when it's just too far away
from anything we could call loving - any love worth living for
so i'll sleep out in the gutter. you can sleep here on the floor
and when i wake up in the morning, i won't forget to lock the door
'cause with a match that's mean and some gasoline,
you won't see me anymore.