Mark Kozelek - Gustavo lyrics

I wrote a check and I bought an old house I got a TV and a worn-out couch Hired a guy named Gustavo and his friends To fix it up from the foundation Oh god, those motherf**ers drove me nuts With their electrical saws and mariachi music But they really stepped it up man And put their backs into it But they lived pretty far away They wanted to stay for a couple of months 'Til the work got done and I said sure Made ‘em a key and got ‘em a microwave Gustavo was an illegal immigrant He took the money that I gave him And he went and spent it on strippers and casinos And every once in a while with them I'd go It gets boring out in the mountains, you know Chopping wood, falling asleep to the TV snow Making ground beef tacos On the top of a potbellied stove Eating noodles from a Styrofoam cup Waiting for a ride that never shows up Walking into town, browsing the windows Looking at rifles, looking at ammo At night when everything's closed In my wet boots, in my winter clothes One night they were headed for Tahoe They asked me along but I said f** no 'Cause I was tired and my money was tight And they just laughed and said alright And on the way back they got stopped By a redneck sunnyside highway cop Gustavo was drunk and had an ounce of pot And spent the night on a jailhouse cot They deported him back to Mexico He called me collect from a Tijuana pay phone Asking man, could you wire me money? 2500 for a border coyote He needed work and he missed his family But I hung up and I said I'm sorry But I hung up and I felt uneasy I hung up and my heart was heavy I hung up and my back was aching Picking up the work they'd left in front of me The demoed walls and the pulled up floors The busted up cabinets and the broken drawers The kitchen sink was laying in the backyard And I looked down and my hands were trembling And I looked up and my roof was leaking Now I still sleep on my beat-up old couch In the living room of my unfinished house I got a licensed contractor But he quit cause his wife was dying of cancer But what the hell, I'm just here trying to find answers To find peace of mind, to get a piece of the rock A place to put my mental clock And my old guitars and gently rock Back and forth in my front porch chair Without a worry, without a care I'm doing alright but I'm still not there My house ain't done, but it's alright Floors ain't level, but I ain't some suburban Who cares about bathroom tiles Straight lines and building codes and Chinese wind chimes My house ain't done, but it's fine Come out here from time to time In December for the snow And in July to watch the roses My gardener asks had I seen Gustavo? I just laughed and I said f** no Not since that night he left His hair combed back, headed for Tahoe My girlfriend asked had I heard from that guy from Mexico? I said you mean Gustavo? And I just laughed and I said no Not since he called from the Tijuana pay phone Really I don't give much thought to Gustavo I love to go out to the mountains, though And in the fall, feel the breeze blow And in the winter, watch the falling snow And in the spring, love the rainbows And in the summer smell the roses White and red and yellow