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Linda Blair Was Born Innocent

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Linda Blair Was Born Innocent

Album

We Shall All Be Healed

Released

2004

Artist

the Mountain Goats

Length

2:46

Previous track

"Palmcorder Yajna"

Next Track

"Letter from Belgium"

Linda Blair Was Born Innocent is the third song on the album We Shall All Be Healed.

Lyrics[]

Gentle hum of the old machines
Here we come scrubbed and scoured
Patches on our jeans
When the drone sounds
In the cool night wind
We pick up the call
Kick all the traces in
Hungry for love
Ready to drown
So tie down the sails
We're going downtown

Great big drain on the power grid
You may not like Tate's methods
But you've got to admit
She's a real nice kid
We walk light
Down the wires
Higher than weather balloons
Empty hearts on fire
Hungry for love
Ready to drown
So tie down the sails tonight 
We're going downtown

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

  • "It's about some people I used to know. Well, it's not really about them, because by now they look pretty awful. And I moved 'em down the coast from Portland where I met these- all these speed freak people who used to hang out and stealing people's money, or stealing their stuff and selling it in order to get money, and holing up in these little hotel rooms. Ah, if you've never seen the inside of one of these speed freak hotel rooms, they're really just something to see. Anyway, I moved 'em all down to Pomona because it's warmer there. And this is sort of- it's like their theme song, if they had any songs, but they can't really have songs, 'cause they don't have time for that sort of thing and they would tell you about it for about half an hour, if you had the time, but if you see them coming, make an excuse now." --2003-02-01 - Briton's Protection - Manchester, England
  • "It's about a bunch of people and their little amphetamine problem." --2003-02-20 - Herrgårn - Linköping, Sweden
  • "I set the whole next album in Pomona, California, but just between you and me, most of the people, or a fair number of them, are actually people I knew in Portland, up around Thirteenth and Taylor. And that in fact is where this song takes place, but that's a secret. It is, uh, about our mutual friends, the tweak fiends, and it's called 'Linda Blair Was Born Innocent.'" -- 2003-10-03 - Berbati's Pan - Portland, OR
  • "This is my other favorite and much briefer Dave story, is like- when he had gone on a particularly long speed jag, which I really enjoyed the side benefits of being Dave's pal during, right. Week long, right. Then he runs out of speed, can't score, that's how it works, if you, eh- I know how many of you have sordid pasts like me but you know I- once in a while all the wells run dry, guess we're gonna have to do without. End of the week, Dave's gonna have to do without speed, 'course there's always other stuff around if you're not a purist about it. So- so Dave's been up for four days, but he can't score anything to keep him up any longer, so he drops acid! After being up for four days on speed. I was with Dave when the acid began to come on. And I saw him burst into tears. Dave, this one's for you." -- 2004-05-27 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
  • "This is a song about all my friends who died because they took too much speed and heroin. It's called 'Linda Blair Was Born Innocent.'" -- 2004-10-18 - The EARL - Atlanta, GA
  • "This is a song about all my dear, lovely, fabulously dressed friends who are all doubtless dead or in jail by now. (crowd cheers) I hope that's what they're saying." --2004-10-11 - The Black Cat - Washington, D.C.
  • "This is on the newest album. It's about all your friends who borrow money from you and they say they're gonna use it to fix the car but what they're actually going to do is use it to buy speed. God bless them. Love them while you have them. They'll all be dead by the time they're 24. It's called 'Linda Blair Was Born Innocent.'" -- 2004-10-19 - Village Tavern - Mt. Pleasant, SC

Things Referenced in this Song[]

  • Linda Blair is an American actress, best known for playing Regan in The Exorcist. She starred in a made-for-TV movie titled Born Innocent.

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]

Videos of this Song[]


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