Hopeful Assassins of Zeno - The Mountain Goats

Get tired of coming in from the mountains every year

Find some place to set up shop around here

Spread out a little, circulate

A log that floats down river

Will certainly take on weight

Meet some people, make some friends

How long till we get sent back to the mountains?

It all depends

On the hopeful

And the cunning

And the faithful

The well-positioned

Filthy but graceful

Get familiar with affairs of state

Foretell the future

Get a pretty good success rate

Notch some wins, take some losses

Be nice to the guys who wear necklaces with crosses

They will stab you in the back

You gotta turn the other cheek

You gotta learn to love Jesus, so to speak

Like the hopeful

And the cunning

And the faithful

The well-positioned

Filthy but graceful

Real filthy, think about getting clean

Even hear the soldiers talk about it, down at the canteen

Little kings keep coming, one another’s head

Which is exactly how the portends read

Watch with wonder

Fail to discern

These people never learn

How long till the snake devours its tail?

Longer than we think

Still it’s gotta happen sometime

Until then, raise a drink

To the hopeful

And the cunning

And the faithful

The well-positioned

Filthy but graceful