"Stranger Than Fiction" Lyrics Written By:  Rob Derhak Lyrics Transcribed By:   Andy Kurzon & Andy Wilson & Alex Rosenfeld Debut: December 31, 1996 Official recording(s) (if any): Tin Cans and Car Tires

Stranger than fiction
I heard the mouth of a young girl say
Stranger than fiction
Waking up every day
Off to Atlanta
By the way of the Great Divide
Back to California
Seattle if we got the time
Great Wall of China
We'll be in and out of reach in one day
Stranger than fiction
I heard the Chairman Mao say...

Stranger than fiction
I heard the mouth of a young girl say
Stranger than fiction
Waking up every day
Two days to Bozeman
Enough trucker speed will make time fly
I ain't opposin'
We'll be to Austin in half the time
Keep your hands and toes in
We're doing ninety the entire way
Stranger than fiction
???

Stranger than fiction
I heard the mouth of a young girl say
Stranger than fiction
Waking up every day
Stranger than fiction
I heard the mouth of a young girl say
Stranger than fiction
Waking up every day

(Jam)

Stranger than fiction
I heard the mouth of a young girl say
Stranger than fiction
Waking up every day
Las Vegas, Nevada
There ain't no place we ought to be
When your luck is golden
You're the center of gravity
Shit or shinola
It's just the angle at which we see
Stranger than fiction
And it's the way it will always be

Rob:

This song came about from the early days of some routing frustrations that the band was feeling.  There's also a reference to Chairman Mao, which kind of covers two thoughts I was having; lyrically it is a reference to an early touring plan that our management had, in which we'd spend a summer touring the country of China.  And spiritually it's a reference to Little Feat's "A Apolitical Blues."  I'm a big fan of Lowell George's song writing, and was inspired by him to write this song.