Jeff Davis County Blues

Jeff Davis County Blues
	;
Album	All Hail West Texas
Released	2002
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	3:14
Previous Track	"The Mess Inside"
Next Track	"Distant Stations"

Jeff Davis County Blues is the 10th song on the album All Hail West Texas.

Lyrics[]

After three nights in jail, I head north from Toyahvale
Switch to 285 in Pecos, head up to Red Bluff
My walk's real steady and my eyes are real cold
But I feel like I'm all of sixteen years old
Lost in the Travelodge, with the television on with the sound down
I don't feel so tough
Old issues of Sunset magazine to read
Sleep for twelve hours, and dream about home

I have no place to go, so I drive up to New Mexico
Fix my eyes in the rearview when I cross the state line
And I panic, I guess. and although it's quite late
I take the first exit to 128
I am coming back to Midland, I hope you won't mind
Polaroids of the two of us scattered on the passenger's seat
I drive slowly
And evenly
And I dream about home

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

"...this is one of my top 10 favorite songs that I've written...and it was written in Ames!" -- Mountain Goats Forums
"It's a song you may find yourself singing if all hope is gone. And you're like, 'Oh, man, this sucks that all hope is gone. I liked it better when there was hope. Guess it's too late to really be worrying about that now, though, and that's what the whole meaning of the word gone is, isn't it.' And maybe you look it up in a dictionary, but there's just a picture of your motel under that. And you think, 'That's really fucked up.' It's like a movie, and you start looking around for cameras — there's no cameras." — 2011-03-28 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY

Things Referenced in this Song[]

A Google Map made by Zachary Eldredge approximates the route described in the song.

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]

Videos of this Song[]

All Hail West Texas

Track list: "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton" • "Fall of the Star High School Running Back" • "Color in Your Cheeks" • "Jenny" • "Fault Lines" • "Balance" • "Pink and Blue" • "Riches and Wonders" • "The Mess Inside" • "Jeff Davis County Blues" • "Distant Stations" • "Blues in Dallas" • "Source Decay" • "Absolute Lithops Effect"
Reissue bonus tracks: "Hardpan Song" • "Answering the Phone" • "Indonesia" • "Midland" • "Jenny" (alt. take) • "Tape Travel Is Lonely" • "Waco"

Jeff Davis County Blues

Contents

Lyrics[]

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

Things Referenced in this Song[]

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]

Videos of this Song[]

Fan Feed

Jeff Davis County Blues

Album	All Hail West Texas
Released	2002
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	3:14
Previous Track	"The Mess Inside"
Next Track	"Distant Stations"