Elliot Valentine Lee, Mel Hornyak - Sheep in Wolf Country

Joey
Our map is old, the signs are wrong
But singing songs, we roll along
The wide open spaces
Of the land of the free

Anthony
As the setting sun grows brighter
The towns around get whiter
Joey stays smiling as
All eyes turn to me

Hao
Sheep in wolf country, gaze at taxidermy shops
See your beady eyes up there next!

Hao/anthony
Sheep in wolf country

Anthony
Getting circled by crops
Watch your service dwindle down to text

Joey/hao
Sheep in wolf country
Anthony/jÓzef
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Joey/hao
What’s more exciting and new?

Anthony/jÓzef
Wolf in sheep country

Joey/hao
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

All
Someone who’s absolutely nothing like you!

Joey
Rest stops begin feeling strange
Bit more like a firing range
Pulling over feels like life-and-death
I try to act like they don’t mind

All
But they can tell i’m not their kind

Joey
So i’d rather hold my bladder than hold my breath
Sheep in wolf country

Joey
Better watch your back

Hao
Teeth and claws could come from any direction

Hao/joey
Sheep in wolf country

JÓzef
Off the beaten track

Hao
‘round these parts, you better carry protection!

Joey/hao
Sheep in wolf country

Anthony/jÓzef
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

All
Everybody better beware!
Wolf in sheep country
Joey
(turning to hao)
Christ!

Hao
(turning to jÓzef)
Ah!

JÓzef
(turning to anthony)
Help!

Anthony
(turning to joey)
Fuck!

All
Everybody’s in for a scare!

Hao
I learned to copy what they wear
Cut and combed and slicked my hair
Make sure no one looks at me too closely

Take the short way home at night
I’m not lookin’ for a fight
Stay alone and mind my business
(with a glance at jÓzef)
…mostly

Joey/jÓzef
Wolf in sheep country

JÓzef
Widen your smiles
So you look a bit less like a threat

Joey/jÓzef
Wolf in sheep country

Hao/jÓzef
No one like you for miles
At least they don’t seem to notice yet

Anthony
(scrolling through his instagram)
Wear shoes indoors, see a bald eagle
Fireworks too, if they are legal
Eat sweet breakfasts, whittle by hand
Buy blue denim, take someone’s land

Hold blades of wheat between my teeth
Get bronco boots, spurs underneath
Figure out how the milkshakes get malted
Eat something fatty, deep-fried, and salted (x2)

See an elk and a bowling alley
A tailgate party, a homecoming rally
Shotgun a beer and make pot roast
Start a nuclear family, encounter a ghost

Hao
(in the closet; getting dressed)
Two shirts, tucked in
One belt, too thin
Shave cheek hairs clean
Look tall and mean
Look big and broad
Look tame and proud
Speak too low, but not too loud
Speak too low, but not too loud. (x2)

Jozef
(practicing english out of a book)
I am sorry
I am useful
I mean no harm
I am sorry
I am useful
I mean no harm
Sorry, useful, mean
Sorry, useful, harm

Joey
(pitching his voice down; practicing before the mirror)
What are you looking at?
What are you looking at?
What are you looking at?
That’s what i thought
That’s what i thought, partner. (x2)


Joey
Sheep in wolf country
I can use what i’ve got
Make their mountains my new frontier

Hao/anthony
Sheep in wolf country
Like it or not

All
But i’m building a home right here!

All
Sheep in wolf country
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Though it feels less than great
Sheep in wolf country
We all learn to tolerate
Sheep in wolf country

Hao/anthony
I’ll take what i’m granted

All
Sheep in wolf country

Hao/anthony/joey
I’ll grow where i’m planted!
I’m a sheep in wolf country
But here i’ll

All
Stay!