Steal Smoked Fish

Steal Smoked Fish (alternate take)
	;
Album	Transcendental Youth (Japanese release)
Released	2012
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	3:44
Previous Track	"Transcendental Youth"
Next Track	"Tomorrow"

Steal Smoked Fish
	;
Album	Steal Smoked Fish
Released	2012
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	3:13
Next Track	"In the Shadow of the Western Hills"

Steal Smoked Fish is the first and title track from the Steal Smoked Fish single. An alternate take, performed with piano instead of guitar, is available on the Japanese version of Transcendental Youth.

Lyrics

Across the Burnside bridge before
Anyone shot their movies there
We hid from the whipping rain
When we had run out of cocaine
Dispatch down to Plaid Pantry
Two on point, and two on sentry
Ah, the joys that the lesser days bring
Make you throw back your heads and sing

God bless all petty thieves
With tins of oysters up their sleeves
Feast when you can
And dream when there's nothing to feast on

Across a different bridge today
Over the river and down Broadway
Feels so good to have you here
Some of you will be dead next year
I see your destinies above you
Like angels who don't love you
Let them kiss you and hold you tight
As long as the money's right

God bless all my old friends
And god bless me too, why pretend?
Feast when you can
And dream when there's nothing to feast on

God bless the guys from my old neighborhood
Gone past the point where any blessings can do them any good 

Attach the C-4 where you must
Disappear in a cloud of dust
But spare a thought for what it covers up
Pour a triple and raise your cup
We were here once, me and my friends
But we destroyed all of the evidence
And vanished into the night
At least we got that one right 

God bless us, all of us
We who learn to shun the light
God bless all vampires every night
Feast when you can
Feast when you can
Feast when you can
Feast when you can

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

"This song is for a bunch of people, most of them ghosts." -- 2014-06-14 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA

Notes

In every known live recording except 2014-06-18 - Crescent Ballroom - Phoenix, AZ, the first word is "beneath."

Things Referenced in this Song

The song refers to the Burnside Bridge and the Broadway Bridge, both in Portland, Oregon.
Plaid Pantry is a chain of convenience stores in Oregon and Washington.

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

Videos of this Song

Transcendental Youth
Track list: "Amy AKA Spent Gladiator 1" • "Lakeside View Apartments Suite" • "Cry for Judas" • "Harlem Roulette" • "White Cedar" • "Until I Am Whole" • "Night Light" • "The Diaz Brothers" • "Counterfeit Florida Plates" • "In Memory of Satan" • "Spent Gladiator 2" • "Transcendental Youth" Bonus tracks: "Steal Smoked Fish" • "Tomorrow"