Vampire Weekend - Contra Album Lyrics

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Horchata

In December drinking horchata
I'd look psychotic in a balaclava
Winter's cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals

(Whoaaaaa ooooh)

In December drinking horchata
Look down your glasses at that Aranciata
With lips and teeth to ask how my day went
Boots and fists to pound on the pavement
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on

(Whoaaaaaa ooooh)

You'd remember drinkin horchata
You'd still enjoy it with your foot on masada

Winter's cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Ooh you had it but oh no you lost it
Lookin back you shouldn't have fought it

In December, drinkin horchata
I'd look psychotic in a balaclava
Winter's cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals
Years go by and hearts start to harden
Those palms and firs that grew in your garden
Falling down and nearing the rose beds
The roots are shooting up through the tool shed
Those lips and teeth that asked how my day went
Are shouting up through cracks in the pavement

Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Oh you had it but oh no you lost it
You understood so you shouldn't have fought it

Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on

 

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White Sky

An ancient business
A modern piece of glasswork
Down on the corner that
You walk each day in passing
The elderly sales clerk
With eyes full of suspicion
The whole corporation's giving it permission

The little stairway
A little bit of carpet
A pair of mirrors that
Are facing one another
Out in both directions
A thousand little Julias
That come together
In the middle of Manhattan

You waited since lunch
It all comes at once

Around the corner
The house that modern art built
I ask for modern art
To keep it out the closet
The people who might own it
The sins of pride and envy
And on the second floor
The Richard Cera Skate Park

Waited since lunch
It all comes at once

Along the park walk
Ask all of our questions
While all the horses
Race taxis in the winter
Look up at the buildings
Imagine who might live there
Imagining you're walking
On a bowl upon the sing there

You waited since lunch
It all comes at once

 

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Holiday

Holiday, O, A Holiday!
And the best one of the year
Dozing off underneath my sheets
While I cover both my ears

But if I wait for a holiday could it ever stop my fear?
To go away on a summer's day never seemed so clear

Holiday, still so far away
Our republic on the beach
I can't forget just how bad it gets
When I'm counting on my teeth

But if I wait for a holiday
Could it stop my fear?
To go away on a summer's day
Never seemed so clear

A vegetarian since the invasion
She'd never seen the word BOMBS
She'd never seen the word BOMBS blown up
To 96 point Futura
She'd never seen an AK
In a yellowy Day Glo display
A t-shirt so lovely it turned all the history books grey

I've got wheels, I've got cutter spray
And a healthy sense of worth
Half of me is the gasoline
But the other half's the surf
So if I wait for a holiday could it stop my fear?
To go away on a summer's day never seemed so clear

 

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California English

Wouldn't ever gag you with a spoon, my only true love
Never really heard you speak that way, it's unworthy of...
Funny how that little college girl called language corrupt
Funny how the other private schools had no Hapa Club

Someone took a trip before you came to ski in the Alps
Your father moved across the country
Just to sunburn his scalp
Contra Costa, Contra Mundum, contradict what I say
Living like the French Connection, but we'll die in LA

Blasted from a disconnected light switch
Through the condo that they'll never finish
Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish
And through your brain to California English

No one sits inside a freezing flat and stays there 'til May
Leafing through a stack of A-Zs to surf the UK
Waiting with the wind against your face
And gel in your hair
Shivering in little undershirts, but don't seem to care

Blasted from a disconnected light switch
Through the condo that they'll never finish
Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish
And through your brain to California English

Sweet carob rice cake
She don't care how the sweets taste
Fake Philly cheese steak
But she use real toothpaste

Cuz if that Tom's don't work
If it just makes you worse
Would you loose all of you faith in the good Earth

And if it's all a curse
And we're just getting worse
Baby, please don't lose your faith in the good earth

Blasted from a disconnected light switch
Through the condo that they'll never finish
Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish
And through your brain to California English

 

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Taxi Cab

Unsentimental,
Driving around,
Sure of myself,
Sure of it now,
You stand this close to me,
Like the future was suppose to be,
In the eyes of the Grocery,
In the block uptown,

I remember,
Remember well,
But if I forgotten,
Could you tell,

In the shadow of your first attack,
I was questioning and looking back,
You said baby we don't speak of that,
Like a real aristocrat,

Compound to compound,
Lazy and safe,
(Wanting leave it)?
(Born in two way)?
When the taxi door was open wide,
I pretended I was horrified,
By the uniform clothes outside,
Of the court yard gate,

You're not a victim,
But neither am I,
Nostalgic for garbage,
Desperate for time,
I could blame it on your mother's head,
Or the colors that you father wears,
But I know that I was never fair,
You were always fine,

Unsentimental,
Driving around,
Sure of myself,
Sure of it now,
You stand this close to me,
Like the future was suppose to be,
In the eyes of the Grocery,
In the blocks uptown,

I remember,
Remember it well,
But if I forgotten,
Would you tell,

In the shadow of your first attack,
I was questioning and looking back,
You were standing on another track,
Like a real aristocrat,

 

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Run

Every dollar counts
And every morning hurts
We mostly work to live
Until we live to work

She said,
"You know
There's nowhere else to go"
But changing roles
It struck me that the two of us could run

Worlds away from cars
And all the stars and bars
Where a little bit of condensation means so much
And a little bit of change is all your little fingers touch

I said,
"You know
There's nowhere else to go"
But changing roles
It struck me that the two of us could run

Honey, with you
Is the only way to go
And I could take two
But I really couldn't ever know

Honey, with you
And a battered radio

We could try

So lead my feet away
Cuz all they'll do is stay
And I don't think your eyes
Have ever looked surprised

She said,
"You know
There's nowhere else to go"
But with her fund
It struck me that the two of us could run

Honey, with you
Is the only honest way to go
And I could take two
But I really couldn't ever know

Honey, with you
And a battin radio

We could try

 

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Cousins

You found a sweater on the ocean floor
They're gonna find it if you didn't close the door.
You and this model sit outside the side
In a house on a street they wouldn't park on at night.

Dad was a risk taker.
His was a shoe maker.
You greatest hits 2006, Little listmaker.
Caught in the melody, You wait in the car.
You were born with ten fingers and you're gonna use them all.

Interest in girls as I discovered myself
If your odd-life was greater
You'll be toastin' my health
If an interest in culture,
You should be lining the walls.
When your birth right is interest
You could just accrue it all.

Me and my cousins and you and your cousins
Its a line that is always running.
Me and my cousins, You and your cousins,
I can feel it coming

You could turn your back on the bitter world [4x]

Me and my cousins and you and your cousins
Its a line that is always running.
Me and my cousins, You and your cousins,
I can feel it coming

Me and my cousins and you and your cousins
Its a line that is always running.
Me and my cousins, You and your cousins,
I can feel it coming

 

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Giving Up The Gun

Your swords grown old and rusty
Burnt beneath the rising sun
Its locked up like a trophy
Foretting all the things its done
All though its been a long time
You're right back where you started from
I see it in your eyes
Now you're giving up the gun

When I was 17
I had wrists like steel
And I felt complete
And now my body fades
Behind a brass charade
And I'm obsolete
But if the change remains
To see those better days
I'd cut the cannons down
My ears are blown to bits
From all the rifle hits
Still I crave that sound

Your swords grown old and rusty
Burnt beneath the rising sun
Its locked up like a trophy
Foretting all the things its done
And though its been a long time
You're right back where you started from
I see it in your eyes
Now you're giving up the gun

I heard you play guitar
Down at a seedy bar
Where skinheads used to fight
Your Tokugawa smile
And your garbage style
Used to save the night
You felt the coming wave
Told me we'd all be brave
You said you wouldn't flinch
But in the years that passed
Since I saw you last
You haven't moved an inch

Your swords grown old and rusty
Burnt beneath the rising sun
Its locked up like a trophy
Foretting all the things its done
And though its been a long time
You're right back where you started from
I see it in your eyes
Now you're giving up the gun
I see you shining your way
Go on go on go on

 

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Diplomat's Son

It's not right but it's now or never
And if I wait could I ever forgive myself?

On a night when the moon glows yellow in the riptide
With the light from the TVs buzzing in the house

Cuz I'm gonna cut it where I can
And then I'm gonna duck out behind them
If I ever had a chance it's now then
But I never had the feeling I could offer that to you

To offer it to you would be cruel
When all I want to do is use, use you

He was a diplomat's son
It was '81

Dressed in white with my car keys hidden in the kitchen
I could sleep wherever I lay my head

And the sight of your two shoes sitting in the bathtub
Let me know that I shouldn't give up just yet

Cuz I'm gonna take it from Simon
And then I'm gonna duck out behind them
If I ever had a chance it's now then
But I never had the feeling I could offer that to you

To offer it to you would be cruel
When all I want to do is use, use you

He was a diplomat's son
It was '81

I know, you'll say
I'm not doing it right
But this is how I want it

I can't go back
To how I felt before—

That night I smoked a joint
With my best friend
We found ourselves in bed
When I woke up he was gone

He was the diplomat's son
It was '81

Looking out at the ice-cold water all around me
I can't feel any traces of that other place

In the dark when the wind comes racing off the river
There's a car all black with diplomatic plates

 

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I Think Ur A Contra

I had a feeling once
That you and I
Could tell each other everything
For two months
But even without hope
With truth on our side
When you turn away from me
It's not right

I think you're a Contra
I think you're a Contra
And dear Contra
I think you're a Contra

My revolution thoughts
Live in lies of desire
I wanna trace them to the source
And the wire
But it's not useful now
Since we both made up our minds
You gotta watch out for yourself
So will I

I think you're Contra
I think that you lie
Don't call me Contra
Till you've tried

You wanted good schools
And friends with pools
You're not a Contra
You wanted Rock' n' Roll,
Complete control
Well, I don't know

Never pick sides
Never choose between two
But I just wanted you
Never pick sides
Never choose between two
But I just wanted you

I think you're Contra
I think that you lie
Don't call me Contra
Till you've tried

 

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Giant

[Verse 1:]
It was all a dream
I used to read Thrasher Magazine, looking at pictures of skateboarders
California

So envy me, S.O.S. L.A.P.D.
Docking the yacht in such low waters
Alizontra

[Chorus:]
Now it's a different game
80 percent still agree
The winning cause, it pleases God
The losing cause pleases me

[Verse 2:]
At the duty-free,
Gifts of wine and Hennessey
Beautifully made from such fine waters
Robert Smithson

An ancient scene,
Spiral Jetty, favorite cheese
Leaving the rocks in such blind order
Colosseum

[Chorus: x2]

Now it's a different game
80 percent still agree
The winning cause, it pleases God
The losing cause pleases me