My Don't commit insurance fraud, it's not worth it song has people asking a lot of questions already answered by the song. In all seriousness, this is a delightful, ominous

My Don't commit insurance fraud, it's not worth it song has people asking a lot of questions already answered by the song. In all seriousness, this is a delightful, ominous song about love burning down, which is a common theme in this era of Mountain Goats. It's a song that

The summer came in carrying spring in its mouth is an incredible first line, and the rest of the song follows as poetic metaphor that starts from love but soars

The summer came in carrying spring in its mouth is an incredible first line, and the rest of the song follows as poetic metaphor that starts from love but soars into something elemental. There's an interesting thing happening with John's lyrics as time goes by. His content isn't getting more

I don't know, man. I think I'm tired. A long stretch of days, some good, some bad, with today as a good one that wore me out. It's meant when

I don't know, man. I think I'm tired. A long stretch of days, some good, some bad, with today as a good one that wore me out. It's meant when I came to my Mountain Goats song at the end of today it played over me and i didn't have

Hearing full or even partial band Mountain Goats from this period (this is another Devil in the Shortwave track) is a really interesting experience, because it feels like watching something

Hearing full or even partial band Mountain Goats from this period (this is another Devil in the Shortwave track) is a really interesting experience, because it feels like watching something emerge. This is true nowhere more than in this track, which starts off with simple guitar and strings and builds

There's something especially American about the aimless road trip, the small towns flitted through when you're going not towards but away, places that must have their own life but which

There's something especially American about the aimless road trip, the small towns flitted through when you're going not towards but away, places that must have their own life but which you only experience as lonely and quiet stops on the way towards you don't know what. One of the things

I'm not sure if this is the happiest song about getting a bloody injury, but the only competition I can think is Me And You Against The World by Space,

I'm not sure if this is the happiest song about getting a bloody injury, but the only competition I can think is Me And You Against The World by Space, and that's far less of a rousing folk ballad. This is a song about revelation at the wrong moment. The

God, I needed this today. One of my favourite Mountain Goats songs for years. The best happy songs are the ones that don't bullshit you. They don't pretend that everything's

God, I needed this today. One of my favourite Mountain Goats songs for years. The best happy songs are the ones that don't bullshit you. They don't pretend that everything's good, or that evil doesn't exist. What they tell you is that the world is fucked but that sometimes there's

This is a goodbye. The last song on an EP about last songs. It's someone not saying what's happening, but not saying it more blatantly than just saying it. One

This is a goodbye. The last song on an EP about last songs. It's someone not saying what's happening, but not saying it more blatantly than just saying it. One of the most common sentiments of my life - and one of the ones that gets me twisted around myself

An honest to goodness blues song beginning with the words woke up this morning. This has a wonderful smoky uneasy tone to it of someone fundamentally uncomfortable in the world.

An honest to goodness blues song beginning with the words woke up this morning. This has a wonderful smoky uneasy tone to it of someone fundamentally uncomfortable in the world. Trying to live like they know they're supposed to live and finding at each point they are the wrong shape

I take back any smack I have talked about previous loud tape recorders. And with that momentary swipe I will sit and just listen to this absolutely lovely relaxing beach

I take back any smack I have talked about previous loud tape recorders. And with that momentary swipe I will sit and just listen to this absolutely lovely relaxing beach song. Simple pastoral lyrics of going back to places filled with ghosts. This is a song about endings, of going

This is the musical equivalent of the moment in a sitcom where someone walks in and everyone applauds. Jenny is a huge figure in the shared fiction that is Mountain

This is the musical equivalent of the moment in a sitcom where someone walks in and everyone applauds. Jenny is a huge figure in the shared fiction that is Mountain Goats songs, a figure of wildness and adoration and chaos and trouble and so much more, and hearing this second

There's something about a rowdy, revolutionary church song that reaches even to those who were never part of the congregation. I never had a faith to lose, I hnever had

There's something about a rowdy, revolutionary church song that reaches even to those who were never part of the congregation. I never had a faith to lose, I hnever had a church to find to be rotten, I never had this as a structure to be moved on from. And

You're taking a nap in the middle of the day with the person you love. The two of you snuggled. Maybe cats but not necessarily cats. And you're warm and

You're taking a nap in the middle of the day with the person you love. The two of you snuggled. Maybe cats but not necessarily cats. And you're warm and you're content and you've perhaps been apart but are now together. And for a fleeting moment, almost to brief to

This is one of the purest folk songs from this period of the Mountain Goats. It's an ode to useless material worth and poisoned love: two people who depend on

This is one of the purest folk songs from this period of the Mountain Goats. It's an ode to useless material worth and poisoned love: two people who depend on each other to the point where it's making both of them sick and preventing either of them from leaving. The

The blurred space between song and poem and fiction sketch is the place where the Mountain Goats live best, and this song is a wonderful example of this, acting as

The blurred space between song and poem and fiction sketch is the place where the Mountain Goats live best, and this song is a wonderful example of this, acting as a crack we can look through to see the two occupants of this car in the dark as it rides

Simple but very strong chord progression on this one, which puts me in mind (in feel and lyrical content) of Dilaudid from The Sunset Tree, which feels like a song

Simple but very strong chord progression on this one, which puts me in mind (in feel and lyrical content) of Dilaudid from The Sunset Tree, which feels like a song that will come from this at some point. Mountain Goats songs about relationships crumbling aren't rare, but this is one

This is an interesting song because it sneaks up on you in a way. The story of a high school sport's star's fall from grace is fertile and oft visited

This is an interesting song because it sneaks up on you in a way. The story of a high school sport's star's fall from grace is fertile and oft visited territory, and I felt like I could hear the line about blowing out his knee before I heard the line

OK, so we've started to hit the songs that I can hear without listening to them. There's something simple and wonderful about this song, which is a simple yarn about

OK, so we've started to hit the songs that I can hear without listening to them. There's something simple and wonderful about this song, which is a simple yarn about rebellion and friendship and passion and repression and Satan, and that would be enough for it to be a small

And our trilogy of death continues from a different point of view. This is a tremendously lively song for what it represents, with a beat that put me in mind

And our trilogy of death continues from a different point of view. This is a tremendously lively song for what it represents, with a beat that put me in mind of the best of early Billy Bragg, and the same combination of strumming energy and considered thought. I don't know

This is clearly a season of partings, of people going ahead, leaving, whether they mean to or not. When you go (voluntarily or involuntarily) you take parts of people with

This is clearly a season of partings, of people going ahead, leaving, whether they mean to or not. When you go (voluntarily or involuntarily) you take parts of people with you. Those parts don't always last, and it's not actually a bad thing necessarily that they don't. But sometimes when