Those Songs

That Golden Birds song came on the ipod
the one that was always about her
and that's what twisted off the bottlecaps
that's what said "leave the shot glasses on the shelf,
let's kiss a groove. let's swig.
let's hear that splash of amber slap back against the bottom."
that's what got me going
and before i knew it, the fucker hit me
with that Mountain Goats song
the one that was never about anybody
but me
and the guy who ain't around anymore
and that's what turned the key in the car
that's what opened the garage door
that's what put me on the freeway
and in the car was just
that Weakerthans album
the one about my entire goddamn life
hesitant start to likely finish
and that's what saved my life.

and this?
this one ain't about anything
except maybe some music that
i wish i'd heard when i was much younger
before the whiskey
before the pictures of people who would leave
paraded through computer screens
back before the asshole boogeymen got driver's licenses
and checking accounts
and Christian names.
this one ain't about shit
but those songs
i just wanna hear those songs again and forever


...
should be painfully obvious what this one's about.
-andy