Sax Rohmer # 1

Because I've been talking with George Mann all week about the roots of pulps, gaslit alleys, steampunk, Sexton Blake, masked avengers, and all that goodness.



And because The Mountain Goats rock my world. "Sax Rohmer #1" is from Heretic Pride. The album also features "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" and "How to Embrace a Swamp Creature." How can you not rush out and download it?

Fog lifts from the harbor, dawn goes down today
An agent crests the shadows of the nearby alleyway
Piles of broken bricks, sign posts on the path
Every moment points towards the aftermath
Yeah ah ah

Sailors straggle back from their nights out on the town
Hopeless urchins from the city gather around
Spies from imperial China wash in with the tide
Every battle heads toward surrender on both sides

And I am coming home to you
With my own blood in my mouth
And I am coming home to you
If it's the last thing that I do

Bells ring in the tower, wolves howl in the hills
Chalk marks show up on a few high windowsills
And a rabbit gives up somewhere, and a dozen hawks descend
Every moment leads toward its own sad end
Yeah ah ah

Ships loosed from their moorings capsize and then they're gone
Sailors with no captains watch awhile and then move on
And an agent crests the shadows and I head in her direction
All roads lead toward the same blocked intersection

I am coming home to you
With my own blood in my mouth
And I am coming home to you
If it's the last thing that I do