TAB by Song : 286173
Tab List Area
1 Pages 1 Results
Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror by Jeffrey Lewis
Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror
Tuning:E A D G B E
Key:A
Capo:no capo
[Verse]
A C G
Today I went to Major Matt's to remaster my old album
A C G
And on the L train in the morning, I was pretty sure I saw Will Oldham
A C G
He was wearin' the same sunglasses he had on stage at the Bowery Ballroom
A C G
Had he come to walk among the Williamsburgers of his kingdom?
A C G
And like the burghers of Calais will a sacrifice be demanded
A C G
To offer up our dreams and beg for mercy empty-handed?
A C G
And hapless in our hipness crowded 5 to an apartment
A C G
Relegate our dreams to hobbies and deny our disappointment
A C G
'Cause The Stones in '65 want total satisfaction, kid
A C G
But The Stones in '69 see grace in just getting what you need
A C G
But if that's a victory, then I'd hate to see what I'd look like defeated
A C
'Cause I know there are those walk among us who seem to get their dreams
G
unimpeded
[Verse]
A C G
Like, today I went to Major Matt's to remaster my old album
A C G
And on the L train in the morning, I was really sure I saw Will Oldham
A C G
He was wearin' the same sunglasses he had on stage at the Bowery Ballroom
A C G
Had he come to walk among the Williamsburgers of his kingdom?
A C G
And you might say now there's a guy who seems to have their world laid out before
him
A C G
Or you might say, he's just a rich kid or a fascist or a charlatan
A C
But either way you say it if you look at indie-rock culture you really can't
G
ignore him
A C G
And even if at first dismissive, after some listens you'll enjoy him
A C G
I was thinking this on the L train, intent on bursting my own bubble
A C G
How long should an artist struggle before it isn't worth the hassle?
A C G
And admit we aren't fit to be the one inside the castle
A C G
Is this quest for greatness or at least hipness just a scam and too much trouble?
A C G
But then what makes on human being worthy of an easy ride
A C G
Born to be a natural artist you love or hate but can't deny
A C G
While us minions in our millions tumble into history's chasm
A C G
We might have a couple of laughs but we're still wastes of protoplasm
[Verse]
A C G
Like, today I was gonna waste some time and money to remaster some dumb old album
A C G
And on the L train in the morning, i was really sure I saw Will Oldham
A C G
He was wearin' the same big sunglasses he had on stage at the Bowery Ballroom
A C G
Had he come to see the strife here in the gutters of his kingdom?
A C G
Where us noble starving artists are striving hard to feed our egos
A C G
Our mothers like our music our our friends come see our shows
A C G
And if our friends become successful, we'll consider them our foes
A C G
Go home to our four roommates after payin' big bucks for rockstars' shows
A C G
What a nightmare! What a horror! I don't want no part of this
A C G
Get me off this crazy ride! I'm gonna puke, I'm gonna piss!
A C G
I'd rather kill myself I'd rather just relax or not exist!
A C G
But you say you wanna do an e-mail interview? Oh what the heck, I can't resist!
A C G
Hey ma, guess what? Today I did another magazine interview!
A C G
"Honey, that's great, you're really famous!" Yeah and I'm twenty seven too!
A C G
I kinda thought I was gonna grow up to do stuff that would benefit humanity
A C G
But it's getting harder to tell if this artist's life is even benefiting me
[Verse]
A C
Cause today I was gonna waste some time and money today to remaster some dumb old
G
album
A C G
And on the L train in the morning, I was totally sure I saw Will Oldham
A C G
He was wearin' the same big sunglasses he had on stage at the Bowery Ballroom
A C G
And since I was feeling in need of answers I just went right up and asked him, I
said
A C G
"Will Bonnie Prince, Palace or whatever, what do you think about it?
A C G
Is it worth being an artist or an indie-rock star, or are you better off without
it?"
A C
Cause you know maybe the world would be better if we were all just un-creative
G
drones
A C G
No dead childhood dreams to haunt us, a decent job, a decent home
A C G
And if we had some extra time we could do real things to promote peace
A C G
Become scientists or history teachers or un-corrupt police at least
A C G
"Come on Will, you gotta tell me!" I grabbed and shook him by the arm
A C G
The L train was leaning Bedford with 10,000 white twenty-somethings crowed on
A C G
He opened his mouth to speak but it was lost in the rumbling of the wheels
A C G
We were thrown together in a corner and I yelled "Tell me, man, for real!"
A C G
You're living comfortably, I assume, even if you're not quite a household name
A C G
You've reached a pretty high level of success and critical acclaim
A C G
The L train got to First Avenue and a bunch of people piled out
A C G
I was staring into his sunglasses and I was really freakin' out, I was like
A C G
Steamboat Willie Bonnie Prince of all this shit,
A C G
You're like the king of a certain genre but even you must want to quit
A C G
Like if you hear a record by Bob Dylan or Neil Young or whatever
A C G
You must start thinkin' "Yeah, people like me, but I won't be that good ever"
A C G
And I'm sure the thing is probably Dylan himself too
A C G
Stayed up some nights wishing he was as good as Ginsberg or Camus
A C G
And he was like "Dude, I'm such a faker, I'm just a clown who entertains
A C G
And these fools who pay for my crap, they just have pathetic puny brains
A C
And Camus probably wished he was Milton too or whatever, you know what i'm
G
sayin'?!"
A C G
So Will, will you be straight with me now that it's just us two on this train?
[Verse]
A C
'Cause I was gonna spend some time and money today to remaster some dumb old
G
album
A C G
And I saw you here on the L train and I was like "Hey, is that Will Oldham?"
A C G
He must at least have some perspective cause it's like, living in this town
A C G
I get so confused and wound up and uptight and I just don't know up from down
A C G
And then we'd reached the last stop and the subway was deserted
A C G
There was a long moment of silence and I let go of his shirt
A C G
I started to think that maybe I'd made some kind of big mistake
A C G
I tried to walk out onto the platform but by then it was too late
A C G
His sunglasses seemed to grow darker and still he hadn't even spoke
A C G
He just came right up behind me and put his hands around my throat
A C G
And threw me down onto the concrete and kicked my face in with his boot
A C G
And dragged me down onto the train tracks and tied my hands back with his coat
A C G
And I was slipping out of consciousness as he was slipping down my jeans
A C G
And he was punching me and humping me and I slipped off into a dream
A C G
So it might have just been a delusion but I thought I heard him say
A C G
Something like, "Artists are pussies" then he climbed back up and ran away
[Verse]
A C G
So I lay there in the darkness on the train tracks cold and broken
A C G
The hours passed and I thought "well, maybe I won't remaster that old album"
A C G
And then I started thinking maybe it really wasn't even Will Oldham
A C
Even though he did hold my arms and fuck me just like Will sings in "A Sucker's
G
Evening"
A C G
But whether it was him or not I couldn't forget the words he'd spoken
A C G
"Artists are pussies," like, we're wusses or we end up getting fucked
A C G
And other kinds of folks are dicks: tall, smart and strong and born to fuck us up
A C G
I know it sounds really sexist and stupid, It's a terrible analogy.
A C G
But at that moment on the train tracks, it made a lot of sense to me
A C G
Maybe it's just some kind of natural balance, like 2 types of mental gender
A C G
That's gone on in all societies in one form or another,
A C G
Like some dicks were born to conquer, I probably would if I could,
A C
But if I'm just a pussy, that's okay, 'cause in a few months maybe I'll put out
G A
something good
-----------