James Joshua Li - Mt. Vernon OH lyrics

[Verse 1] I spent a week at Johnson's home in Mt. Vernon, Ohio To record some tracks for my first EP for a July release And see his high school friends like Graham, Andrew and Nora And spend time with Johnson before he left for Hungary They filled up quarries with water to create artificial lakes A ma**ive smoke stack loomed over the tall, tall trees We walked barefoot through the mud and bushes to the secret hangout We took off our clothes and swung from the rope into the cold [Chorus 1] Teenage middle-school girls, awkward and self-conscious Swam close to us, swearing at each other in young voices They left when they felt what they thought was something biting their feet It started to rain, I began to shiver, limbs rotating aimlessly Four years ago the police searched the water for a murder victim's body They never found it, just some sunken cars [Verse 2] Nora drove us to the Edge of the World at golden hour We parked inside an empty lot through a destroyed fence and a railway track Walked down the gravel road which was littered with bones, bags and dead animals Stacks of red bricks, smashed-in TV's and the hood of a car [Chorus 2] Then we found it a large expanse of concrete where a factory used to be Trees and long gra** grew out of cracks, puddles pooled sporadically It was alien and disturbing for reasons we could not explain We stopped walking when we smelled chemicals, and ran the other way [Verse 3] We explored an abandoned poorhouse that was falling apart Ran out of its collapsing floors when it started to get dark At the top of the Observatory Hill in the gra** we went star-tipping And stumbled our way back to the car when we heard something screaming [Chorus 3] We drifted around Kenyon College at midnight where Andrew gave me the tour Walked around the Church Holy Spirit and its red carpet floors I tested out the acoustics clapping my hands and singing Victoria City A moment is infinite because every moment is unique [Verse 4] On the last day we went to the Sunday Service where we talked to God On the last day Johnson's mom talked about Joe; her autistic older son She wanted to build a special-needs home for three other kids and Joe And she cried when she said that‘s how she'd provide when it was her time to go [Chorus 4] Only saw Johnson one more time that year at Pitchfork Festival It was the second night after headliners Neutral Milk Hotel And standing in Union Park with harsh lights and empty plastic bottles We hugged and left separately, it feels so long ago There's only a finite amount of times I'll go to Mt. Vernon before I die But it doesn't mean that it ain't special or that I won't at least try I'm not one for hyperbole or cheap clichéd sentimentality But Johnson is a friend I will keep and love for as long as I breathe