Richard Ramirez Died Today Of Natural Causes(Tabs)

	        


Intro / most of song: 
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'When I'm there I'm gonna stroll through the old neighborhood' - 
Mark does variations on: 
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End Solo: 
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Lyrics (take a deep breath): 

Richard Ramirez died today of natural causes 
Got amped up on speed and broke into houses 
Bludgeoned people to death and wrote shit on their skin and left 'em 
They finally got him and he went to San Quentin 

His last murder was south of San Francisco 
A guy named Peter Pan from the town of San Mateo 
A little girl in the Tenderloin was his first 
In the laundry room took a dollar from her fist 

His last days were at the Bristol hotel 
I was reading Night Stalker when I went and rang the bell 
Door man buzzed me, said you're just like them all 
Gave me a key and a black cat and led me down the hall 

Had a flight today from Boston to Cleveland 
Got a death in the family, gotta do some grieving 
Lost a relative and it's eating me up 
And I miss them real bad, I need a little love 

Richard Ramirez died today of natural causes 
These things mark time and make us pause 
Think about when we were kids scared of taps on the window 
What's under the bed and what's under the pillow 

And the Jim Jones massacre got in our heads 
And the TV headlines: 'Elvis Presley is dead,' 
And the Ayatollah Khomeini hostages 
And Ronald Reagen dodging bullets 

While I'm there I'm gonna stroll through the old neighborhood 
Rick Stan's my age and still lives with his mom 
When he's not in jail from innocent stalking 
Writing bad checks, and cocaine charges 

Mark Denton had such a beautiful smile 
We always sat on his porch passing the time 
And drinking a beer and smoking a pack 
Until one day poor Mark had a heart attack 

Friend Ben's got a good job as a electrician 
Sister married the pool shark Jim Evans 
My next door neighbors whom I love so 
Loved me too but they passed long ago 

And if you walk just a few blocks down Stahl 
There's a house that was the scariest of them all 
A cute little palm with a sign 'For Sale.' 
But for those Sexton's kids' life was hell 

And I'm telling the truth and if you don't believe 
Pick up the Lowell Cauffiel's House of Secrets 
Had to fly from Cleveland to SFO 
Got 3 months off until my next show 

Gonna spend time with my girl, make a record this summer 
Fix my kitchen up and hire a plumber 
The headlines change so rapidly 
Then I came to the studio to work on something pretty 

And I saw the news on James Gandolfini 
While I was eating Ramen and drinking green tea 
The Sopranos guy died at 51 
That's the same age as the guy who's coming to play drums 

I don't like this getting older stuff 
Having to pee fifty times a day is bad enough 
Got a nagging prostate and I got a bad back 
When I fuck too much I feel like I'm gonna have a heart attack 

I woke up today I saw the headlines 
An airline crashing, two people died 
And I'm at a barbecue in San Rafael 
And everybody's drunk and feeling pretty well 

At fifty-three Richard Ramirez died but in '83 
He was very much alive 
He was the scariest killer in the band 
He had a pentagram in the center of his hand 

And everybody remember the paranoia 
When he stalked the suburbs of Southern California 
And everybody will remember where they were 
When they finally caught the Night Stalker 
And I remember just where I was 
When Richard Ramirez died of natural causes 

Enjoy.
	        

Written by Mark Kozelek