Butter Teeth

Butter Teeth
Album	Palmcorder Yajna
Released	2003
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	2:33
Previous Track	"Palmcorder Yajna"
Next Track	"Snakeheads"

Butter Teeth is the second track from the Palmcorder Yajna single.

Lyrics

We spilled out through the front door
Into the blinding late light
Sun reflected on the storefront windows
Tremendously bright

We were Norwegians come down from the north
Attacking the walls of the fortress
I was permanently at the point of exhaustion
You were gorgeous

Who's here—just us
Nobody else around
Stray electrical currents
Trying to find the ground

We haunted the walls of the pharmacy
Artlessly shoplifting random things
Painkillers, cough syrup, tiger balm
Bubblegum, cigarettes, and shower curtain rings

We were Portuguese warships cresting the waves
Cannons raised ready to dock
You were counting down the hours and the minutes
I was trying to find a way of stopping the clock

Who's here—just us
Nobody else around
Stray electrical currents
Trying to find the ground

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "So all the new songs aren't love songs, I mean they are, but the object of love is methamphetamine. In that way they are very deeply felt love songs. Where I live, people tap the anhydrous tanks in the fields to make the stuff at home, out in Iowa, and...there was, I worked a harvest on the co-op, dumping grain into the elevators, and there was a warning posted in the co-op and it said if anybody comes on to the co-op to try and tap the anhydrous tanks and steal the stuff do not approach them to try and stop them because the thieves have made it known that they will throw the anhydrous in your face if you try and stop them. And I wondered, do the thieves issue a circular or something that said, you know, attention: we're in your area and we're working, please do not disturb us when we are thieving or we -- how does that information get out? This is called Butter Teeth." -- 2003-04-04 - Macrock Festival - Court Square Theatre - Harrisonburg, VA

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 2003-04-04 - Macrock Festival - Court Square Theatre - Harrisonburg, VA
• 2003-04-06 - Gate City Noise - Greensboro, NC
• 2003-04-06 - Go! Rehearsal Studios, Room 4 - Carrboro, NC
• 2003-04-08 - Beta Bar - Tallahassee, FL
• 2004-07-17 - Benefit for Piedmont Wildlife Center - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC