“GETTING INTO KNIVES” STARTERS
taken from the 2020 album by the mountain goats. feel free to change pronouns, etc!
‘ at dark we rise and find our way. ’
‘ the land we left becomes a dream. ’
‘ the ghosts we knew, they rise like steam. they leave some trails against the sky, all but invisible to the eye. ’
‘ call off the search party. ’
‘ let mourners wail by the shore. ’
‘ we’re not coming home anymore. ’
‘ you tell your friends you’ve seen a ghost. ’
‘ you tell them all there’s nothing here worth dying for. ’
‘ you were born for these flashing lights. ’
‘ you were born for these endless nights. ’
‘ you always knew, sooner or later, you were destined for something greater. ’
‘ you took notes on what you had to do to get the piece of the pie that belonged to you. ’
‘ you’ve been waiting for this ever since you were young. ’
‘ be careful not to choke on your tongue. ’
‘ you should be famous. ’
‘ go on and get famous. ’
‘ i want you to be famous. ’
‘ all these obedient sheep. they act like they know, but they’re all sound asleep. ’
‘ you arrive on the scene like a message from god. ’
‘ listen to the people applaud. ’
‘ this is what you were born to do. ’
‘ light up the sky like a comet. ’
‘ shine like a cursed star. show everybody exactly who you are. ’
‘ show everybody exactly who you are. ’
‘ we’d smoke a cigarette as the sunrise ran riot. ’
‘ someone’s got to break the quiet. ’
‘ what are you doing here anyway? ’
‘ he doesn’t want to miss a thing. ’
‘ i’m blending in with the lunchtime crowd, trying not to laugh out loud. ’
‘ it still looks good, i only wore it once. ’
‘ it may be a long while before the highway decides to finally set me free. ’
‘ i’m going to have to chase down the remnants of something special that you stole from me. ’
‘ it may be hiding in the sunset, or in distant corners of the dawn. or maybe it’s gone. ’
‘ i’ll say some prayers above the engine, i’ll bless everything there is to bless, run out of gas in the middle of nowhere anyway. ’
AS MANY CANDLES AS POSSIBLE
‘ when stray dogs finally catch you in the alley, you don’t consider their point of view. but when the wounds are healed and the scars are shiny, sometimes then you do. ’
‘ time is tight. ’
‘ when you pass me on the streets of the city by day, you pretend we don’t recognize each other. ’
‘ the lake is boiling. the fish won’t bite. ’
‘ no one gets too much light. ’
‘ listen for the prophecy somewhere in the static. ’
‘ once you’ve saddled up your pony, burn down the paddock. ’
‘ it’s not the destination that makes the difference. ’
‘ everything becomes a blur from six feet away. ’
‘ get used to this. ’
‘ every card ever turned over remains in place. ’
‘ not every wave is a tidal wave. ’
‘ it’s not the mutiny that gets written down in the diary. ’
‘ even the very proud probably die on their knees. ’
‘ echoes from a nursery rhyme hide in plain sight all the time. ’
‘ here you come, splashing in your summer clothes. ’
‘ can’t resist the creeping dark. ’
‘ we’re ready to make our mark. ’
‘ ancient blood is patient blood. ’
‘ we were here before the flood. ’
‘ we are weak, but they are strong. ’
‘ take your time. we’ve got all day. ’
‘ say what you felt when you found us here where the waters run crystal clear. ’
‘ one summer day in my summer clothes. the day i saw several ghosts. ’
THE LAST PLACE I SAW YOU ALIVE
‘ i’m not thinking of you. ’
‘ i haven’t driven down these streets in years. ’
‘ i passed the last place i saw you alive. ’
‘ i walk the narrow path these days. i can’t see going back to my old ways. ’
‘ i call to mind sometimes that bloody, stinking mess. us worms turn into butterflies, i guess. ’
‘ it’s changed since you were here, or else it hasn’t. ’
‘ it was special, it was deadly. ’
‘ it was ours and then it wasn’t. ’
‘ it’s only now and then you come to mind. ’
‘ there’s a trillion things you left behind. ’
‘ nothing really to get worked up about. ’
‘ i was wandering through an undeveloped tract out near the ocean. ’
‘ let’s see what there is to see before it’s gone. ’
‘ somebody’s always just about to put some kind of awful plan in motion. ’
‘ my curiosity will likely always get the best of me. ’
‘ it’s like that one thing my dad kept trying to tell me as the twilight inched its way up on his body. ’
‘ get out! ’
‘ i am a child. ’
‘ i had my face toward the sky, lying there in the sun with both my eyes closed. woke up in near darkness. ’
‘ what the hell is wrong with me? ’
‘ i heard a voice from somewhere out beyond the free fall, like a captive soldier trying to warn his brothers: get out! ’
‘ i’m going to do what i like. ’
‘ i’m going to live how i want. ’
‘ i’m going to build myself a great estate with lots of statues out front. ’
‘ i’m going to walk the pathways of the ancients. ’
‘ i’m going to let my name be known. ’
‘ i’m going to see the wild haunts of this world, and carve a place out, all my own. ’
‘ heat up the iron until it glows, burn the brand so deep. ’
‘ you and me stand somehow above the fray. ’
‘ i’m going to write my name on everything. i’m going to leave a lasting legacy. ’
‘ when my body’s thrown with great force from a window, the dogs will fight for whatever’s left of me. ’
‘ meek subjects by torchlight come to pay their respects, as foretold by the ancient texts. ’
‘ one by one, we approached the figure in the shroud. ’
‘ i am a faceless, nameless acolyte, here tonight at your service. ’
‘ take my visions, make them real. impose them on the world above. ’
‘ we’re all the dead sleepwalkers who never learned how to love. ’
‘ look how they jump when we show up, like they’ve just seen a monster. ’
‘ live among the starvling wolves, get lost inside the pack. ’
‘ sing to the moon until your throat’s raw. ’
‘ he won’t be coming back from the hunt. ’
‘ soon it’ll be my time to go, i know. ’
‘ know who your friends are when you need them. ’
‘ sleep soundly with the enemy. ’
‘ remember me. ’
‘ i was too dumb to trade my cloak for freedom. ’
‘ run ahead, i’ll catch up when i’m able to. ’
‘ it’s too dark to find the path. ’
‘ clear me a space on the hallway closet floor. ’
‘ lie to the cops when they’re at your door. ’
‘ harbor me when i’m hungry. ’
‘ harbor me when i’m hunted. ’
‘ i live in fear until you come back. ’
‘ the sound of the key is like an orchestral cue. ’
‘ thank god it’s you. ’
‘ harbor me when i’m shaken. ’
‘ harbor me when i’m lost. ’
‘ every fugitive hour leaves it mark. ’
‘ harbor me when i’m breathless. ’
‘ harbor me when i’m choking. ’
‘ i retraced my steps back home, but the house burned down before i got there. ’
‘ i found myself alone. ’
‘ i tried to keep things in perspective. ’
‘ i’m getting into knives. ’
‘ i came all this way for hunger. may i be worthy of my reward. ’
‘ you can’t give me back what you’ve taken. ’
‘ you can give me something that’s almost as good. ’
