Sun Kil Moon - Hugo lyrics

You woke up and said
"What do you think about going to
An old Chinese town called Isleton?
It’s out in the delta"
And I stretched and I smiled and said
"That sounds fun"

We crossed the George Miller Bridge and I saw
So many little islands on your dashboard GPS
River Island, Chipps Island, Winter
Island, Ryer Island, roe Island

Moving along Highway 4 East was
Such an enchanting sight
Marshlands, tall weeds, cranes, so
Louisiana life

After a while we came upon the
Delta Farmer’s Market and we parked
I sat on a bench and watched a man
Playing and singing with all his heart


While Caroline gathered
Strawbеrries, cherries, and tangеrines
When she was done shopping, I said
"Let’s listen to this guy finish
This beautiful song he’s singing"
And when he finished, The
Youngbloods’ Get Together
He explained that the song was timeless
And that it made so much political
Sense every 10 years or less

We arrived in Isleton, parked
Along Main Street, and we walked up and down
And saw a lot of old Chinese signage
Most of the stores were closed
It was practically a ghost town
We browsed an antique shop
I asked a woman there
About the town’s history
She said it’s an old Chinese town
That pickers used to live there and that
It was flooded in the 1970s
And that it went belly-up when
The real estate market crashed
And I said, "Well what goes on in this town?"
She said, "Not a lot" she said
"There are two places in this town
That do well selling pot
And other things that go
With pot and whatnot"

At the end of the road
We saw a family fishing down a dirt path
On the bank of the Delta, two young boys
With their mom and their dad
They each had two poles, and they
Were using anchovies for bait, with one
While they used lures with the other
It was fun watching the kids cast
Their dad was covered to the hilt in tattoos
His name was Hugo
We talked to him for quite a while
But one of the kids eventually said
"Our dad hates to watch us fish"

Hugo then explained that they
Weren’t his kids
And that they were his friends’
And his friend had a fishing
Accident where he took
A cast with a lure with two treble hooks
And they got caught in his hand
That he had to have his hand
All stitched up and that
Their dad wouldn’t even come along
To hold a net
When I asked about their little poodle, he
Said, "That’s not mine, that’s their mom’s
And he’s spoiled" at one point
One of the kids got snagged
And their mother told Hugo
"Jump in there and un-snag it"
He jumped to it, Hugo was charismatic

We asked him about the delta and what
Kind of fish were in the river
He said, "Pike, catfish
Striped bass, sturgeon
And largemouth bass and striped bass hybrid"
We talked and talked
And he gave us more history of the town
He said he was born and
Raised there, he said, "yeah
We go to the Bay Area every then and now
But, I like to come back
Here where it’s quiet, i live a simple life"
I could see it in his eyes, his contentment
He was comfortable in his skin
And he was zen-like

I asked him, "What’s the main demographic of
People here in Isleton?" he said
"We used to get a lot of traffic
From the crawdad and Chinese festival tourism
But they moved out to another area"
I said, "Well
What kind of people live here?" he said
"People who like to steal stuff
And things like that"
Hugo was everything but a bore he said
"The police got discouraged with the town
And there’s no police department anymore"

We told the family how nice it was to
Meet them and wished them happy fishing
Hugo asked us our names, he said, "You
Guys should try the Mei Wah Room
They have a lot of beer
Not like this beer that I’m holding
But beer that they make" we told him, "Okay"
Caroline and I went to the Mei Wah
Room and shared an NA beer
The place used to be an
Opium den and a brothel
There were all kinds of old
Chinese liquor bottles around the
Room and framed photos of the town from way
Way back we talked to the bartender

He was friendly and he told us to go check
Out the old towns of Walnut Grove and Locke
Old Chinese towns, he said
"With buildings slanted like this: "
He was holding his hands up in
A slightly to the left, vertical position
From there we drove to Locke and Walnut Grove
And I fell in love with Locke
It was like an old town out of a western
That was once owned and run by Chinese
We went to two antique shops
We saw some cute kittens in one and
I bought some Pacific pottery in another
There were all these
Old dilapidated structures
Abandoned offices and stores
I told Caroline, "Imagine moving to
A town like this way

Way back from another country
When it was fully
Populated because of a job you were offered
Or you were an exchange student or something
And you ended up marrying
Someone from here when
You were young and you never left
And you stayed here throughout
Your entire life
And it’s the only version of
California you ever knew
You lived there and died there
You know what I mean? This town
Is so surreal and un-California-like
It’s like no place I’ve ever seen" she said
"Those words you just said… put
Them in a song"

Then we went to Rio Vista and we had a
Nice Italian dinner at a
Place called Lucy’s café
On the main street, I had spaghetti and olio
She had chicken piccata and a caprese salad
The street was full of old signage
We took a nice walk to the delta
But we saw a plaque dedicated
To Humphrey the Humpback Whale
He made his way up the delta from
The Pacific Ocean back in the 80s

We saw people fishing on a pier
So we walked out there
We looked around taking in the scenery
We then drove around the town, and
Like all charming little towns
I wondered if I’d be able to
Spend any amount of time there
And make an album
Or just hang around fishing
But it became clear to me that
It was mostly a boat community
Every person we passed were huddled
And talking boat lingo
It was a nice little town, but overall
Not for me

We headed back, and when we got home
We turned on the TV and there was Trump, in
Tulsa, speaking to 16
000 people packed into an arena like sardines
I told Caroline, "I don’t get it
Why is he allowed to do that when
Musicians aren’t allowed to play concerts?"
I went to bed feeling frustrated
I finished John Fante’s West
Of Rome and didn’t
Fall asleep until the sun came up
I had a dream that I was finishing a
Tour and counting up envelopes full of cash
For the last six weeks, every
Time I fall asleep, i
Dream of being on stage, or
Racing to a hotel
Or to a venue to soundcheck

After the tour part of the dream
The dream changed to me standing in
A field across from Peter Frampton
Only Peter was black, not white
There were a group of people
In a circle around us who seemed to be
Entranced by our conversation
He asked me how things were going with music
I felt embarrassed, like, compared to him
How could I enlighten him
On anything regarding music?
He’s the guy I learned
The DADGAD tuning from

From his song Penny for Your Thoughts
I turned it around and said, "Peter
I’m more interested in hearing about
How it’s going with you"
He started to answer and I
Interrupted him and said
"Peter, when I was a kid
A copy of Frampton Comes Alive! was in
Every single home in my neighborhood
Probably in every home in the entire world
For that matter
Some of my favorite memories are of being
A kid and listening to those songs
Like Show Me the Way and Lines on My Face
You know?" and my voice started to quiver
And then we hugged each other
A long strong hug

And I started crying uncontrollably
I continued talking to him, "You know
Listening to those songs as a kid way back
Before all the bullshit happened"
I woke up, my eyes and pillow full of tears
I held Caroline and said
"I just had the most beautiful dream"