Arrived last night to the dark city of Oslo Along the highway to the hotel, Ben pointed out the snow I stepped outside the taxi, the cold air pinched my arms I recall many times of coming here before and playing shows in Oslo And all those times in Norway, I've had positive associations Even when I played at the So What Club with my band, the Red House Painters And my times playing there solo acoustic There was always a tall redhead in front of me, staring really weird The guy from the Kings of Convenience
I remember taking off with [?] When her boyfriend came knocking on the back door He was out for blood She sent me out the front door and I ran down the cold streets Watching over my shoulder, my heart was beating fast I was worried for my life And I was young and I was [?] and I had no regrets about When you're in your twenties, in my opinion, nothing is off limits I don't really know what her boyfriend's problem even was Nothing [?] was going on We were just making sweet, passionate love
The memorable drive in my life ever was from Berlin to Oslo There were no signs of life Now and then, just a single bird or a boat There were ominous silver-black mountains Shining off in the distance along the water And in the moment I knew Norway had a market on death mountains I think the Moomintrolls were still in that area, from what I could remember But its [?] beauty can not be captured in pictures Every time I play there in Norway, it's been a special time I play all the cities in Norway Not just Bergen or Oslo, but also Trondheim The only ones I never really loved, if you'll allow me to be candor Are the cities of Tonsberg and Stavanger Too many dudes with their eyes glued to their phone I remember telling them the importance of having relationships But it seemed low on their priorities
My worst memory of Norway was playing a festival in Giske I got a call that my cat lost her ability to walk And my cat is very sick I loved that cat more than anything in the world She shared that bed with me for sixteen years She was my entire world So I booked an expensive ticket out of the island of Giske Hopelessly getting home to see my cat Before she took her last breath The whole thing was so upsetting All these agonies building up on the plane I kept praying in my journal, "Kitty, please don't die on me Please don't die on me when I'm up there in the sky I'll beat myself up forever if I could not kiss you goodbye" But she waited for me, when I finally got to my house My cat was laying there lifeless on my couch I tore up about all she meant to me, all the joys she gave me If there's a god out there, I pray to him that she heard me
But of course, I remember my beautiful visits to Oslo Everyone asking who the girl is in that song She knows who she is, and it would spoil things to tell it Leave the song alone, don't ask questions about it, just enjoy it Leave the song alone, make your own connections with it Leave the song alone, don't you ever try to overanalyze it Leave the song alone, a song is a song Don't dissect it like a dead frog Leave the song alone, do not dissect it in your mom's house In the basement, on your blog
I got a lot of friends in Norway My heart was broken when I heard about the guy who bombed Norway He killed all the little children on their summer vacation Everyone in America was complaining about how his sentence was light But this shit happens every week in America So your country is doing something right I hate to bring this subject up Because it causes my stomach to get sick and tight My point is that the country of Norway is peaceful And you are all doing something right I love all of Norway, and how you do Christmas right Three candles in the window, it's so subtle and nice When I tell Scandinavians how good they've got it They all roll their eyes and say "Well, it's dark here all winter and it gets very depressing"
I'm gonna tell you something Norway, this is no lie I've traveled the world and Norwegians have the most beautiful eyes The only thing living that ever had more beautiful eyes than you Was my precious little cat, her eyes were green and blue I miss you to death, but I want to thank promoter Brent Jacobs My friend and a writer from Norway He's a beautiful and very caring person who arranged My flight to California for me and other guests So I could get home to my cat and give her one last kiss
And I remember a time when I played this exact same venue Some guy in the back got up and shouted "Mark, I have something to tell you" I said, "What is it?" and he said, "I hate your fucking guts" Then he rushed off like a little bitch in a huff I told him, "I hope when you cross the street, you get hit by a fucking bus" But he insulted me first And on tour, you gotta understand I don't sleep too much You have to understand that what I said, that was not me We all have our moments and that guy was sniffing glue or something Anyhow, I'm over it, I love you all and that's no lie Of all the countries I've played in this world Yours is the most organized, of course
And the fjords are so beautiful and the salmon melts in your mouth And the girls are stunning Even the three who I met in Stavanger, down south There's one I'll never forget She promoted my show, how can I not remember? She showed me a Snickers bar and said, "This is my dinner" I said, "If you like, I could give you a few hundred Norwegian kroner" She said, "No [?], it wouldn't be right for me to take your money" And that was the last time I ever saw her That was the last time I ever saw her, and back to the verse
And my favorite memory of Norway was playing the [?] in Bergen There was an old man named Dennis and we got to talking He had a contagious smile And we shared a bottle of water and a loaf of bread It wasn't much of a conversation It was more like a one-sided monologue from Dennis But I listened very close to Dennis Because he was older and wiser than me Dennis' last name is Reckson He doesn't have a Facebook and neither do I So if you see him, please tell him Mark Kozelek says hi And tell him I said god bless him Thank you Oslo and Norway for coming out tonight The five of us are happy to be here Playing music on this cold November night Sharing music with you, this is what I dreamed about all my lifeTeksty umieszczone na naszej stronie są własnością wytwórni, wykonawców, osób mających do nich prawa.
