This is a song aimed at the heavens, under the joyfully lamenting hope that that's where its intended audience is. There's something hard to process about songs for people who

This is a song aimed at the heavens, under the joyfully lamenting hope that that's where its intended audience is. There's something hard to process about songs for people who aren't necessarily in a position to hear them. Words that you want to elevate beyond the material, but which will

Well, the world continued. And so did we. And this is a simple song about small moments of love. If you've ever been awake late at night past the time

Well, the world continued. And so did we. And this is a simple song about small moments of love. If you've ever been awake late at night past the time when the person you love is awake, and you've looked over and listened to the sound of their breathing, and

I don't know if I have anything to say about this song today. I'm in a place of horror. I hope that at some point I look back and see

I don't know if I have anything to say about this song today. I'm in a place of horror. I hope that at some point I look back and see what a silly thing this was to be horrified by, but right now the situation with Iran has me feeling

It's been spring already for either a month or about 2 weeks depending on where you start (I, a weirdo, think it's spring from March the first). Long enough for

It's been spring already for either a month or about 2 weeks depending on where you start (I, a weirdo, think it's spring from March the first). Long enough for things to start waking up. My lilac tree, planted to replace the one the gardeners killed, is growing for the

There's something fascinating as someone who grew up without any religion of seeing the shapes that belief makes when it is instilled but then carefully considered. There are aspects of

There's something fascinating as someone who grew up without any religion of seeing the shapes that belief makes when it is instilled but then carefully considered. There are aspects of imagery and language that to me are learned and to some people are second nature, and it creates as much

Tape hum, I have missed you. And the songs have moved on since you and I last broke bread. This is a small pastoral about disappearing. A simple idea that

Tape hum, I have missed you. And the songs have moved on since you and I last broke bread. This is a small pastoral about disappearing. A simple idea that commits to its imagery rather than using it as disguise. It's a hymn to the pleasures of leaving, to the

This song doesn't exist. Neither does this blog post.

This song doesn't exist. Neither does this blog post.

I'm going to say something odd about this one. Some background first. I'm a later Mountain Goats fan. Didn't listen to them until probably 2019. First album was The Sunset

I'm going to say something odd about this one. Some background first. I'm a later Mountain Goats fan. Didn't listen to them until probably 2019. First album was The Sunset Tree. I think that sets the scene as to how this band first grounded with me, as a fairly mature

This is kind of a tough one. It's unreleased, the only recording seems to be a single recorder version of a performance where John was belting it out and his

This is kind of a tough one. It's unreleased, the only recording seems to be a single recorder version of a performance where John was belting it out and his voice was suffering as a result. It touches on a lot of John of This Period themes. Strained love, moving

It's October 2008. You're in a small sports bar next to a Best Western in a town in West Virginia whose name you genuinely do not remember. You drove half

It's October 2008. You're in a small sports bar next to a Best Western in a town in West Virginia whose name you genuinely do not remember. You drove half of the day and say in the passenger seat for the other half while your wife drove. You're going from

OK, so rhyming Brendan Behan and Tripoli, and puts me entirely on this song's side, and boy is that ever just the start. John is flying with this one, soaring

OK, so rhyming Brendan Behan and Tripoli, and puts me entirely on this song's side, and boy is that ever just the start. John is flying with this one, soaring through Americana like a pair of bottle rockets, in a Chairman Mao coat with a jetpack strapped to his back.

Hitting the rough edges of (deeply religious) punk here, as John looks at the parts of the bible most likely to get him in trouble with certain other people of

Hitting the rough edges of (deeply religious) punk here, as John looks at the parts of the bible most likely to get him in trouble with certain other people of faith. It's a funny thing, wickedness. Or the assumption of wickedness. Collective punishment is justified by the idea that everyone

This song begins at the intersection of a variety of John's abilities hitting their full maturity. The guitar work, confidence of voice, and beauty of the lyrics all come together

This song begins at the intersection of a variety of John's abilities hitting their full maturity. The guitar work, confidence of voice, and beauty of the lyrics all come together into a rather perfect piece of folk music about the past becoming even more the past. I've lived in North

Not a blues, let's start there. Which is pedantic and silly about a song that's joyful and silly. And also sad. This is a sing about faith in the hidden

Not a blues, let's start there. Which is pedantic and silly about a song that's joyful and silly. And also sad. This is a sing about faith in the hidden things. About yearning for the reassurance that better things are happening somewhere, just a little too quiet for you to

I don't know if this is the first time I've heard an electric guitar in a Mountain Goats song, but it's certainly one of the earliest examples to leap out

I don't know if this is the first time I've heard an electric guitar in a Mountain Goats song, but it's certainly one of the earliest examples to leap out at me, an electric sound with vibrato buit no distortion, in a full background of instrumentation. This song is a

What a delightful whimsical little song. Edges of Big Rock Candy Mountain, with the sort of sincerity of someone who with their entire heart and soul believe they are being

What a delightful whimsical little song. Edges of Big Rock Candy Mountain, with the sort of sincerity of someone who with their entire heart and soul believe they are being a lil goof. Done with anything less than sincerity, done with horror of horrors irony this would be insufferable. it

I can feel the landscape of this song. It's an early morning, some fog in the air, and there's a calm in the air. And somewhere within that a fantasy

I can feel the landscape of this song. It's an early morning, some fog in the air, and there's a calm in the air. And somewhere within that a fantasy made of choppy guitar and harmonica. It's a small one, this. A quick scene that is the edge of pastoral,

Welcome back tape hum. John sets a table here, a beautiful domestic scene of a garden being planted, a kitchen being outfitted, a series of events that will survive the

Welcome back tape hum. John sets a table here, a beautiful domestic scene of a garden being planted, a kitchen being outfitted, a series of events that will survive the singer. This is a small gem, a bleak song of hope. Things pass, but we can make sure things endure.

A couple of songs into Full Force Galesberg and the first thing that is striking me about this record is how much fuller the sound is than what has come

A couple of songs into Full Force Galesberg and the first thing that is striking me about this record is how much fuller the sound is than what has come before. Not just that there are more instruments, but that this album's exploration of the folk space is lending itself

It's late. Not absurdly late, not so late it's actually early again. But, like 1:30. There's a party going on nearby, and you're not quite at it. You were at

It's late. Not absurdly late, not so late it's actually early again. But, like 1:30. There's a party going on nearby, and you're not quite at it. You were at it, but the house has a porch and you didn't want that many people near you. You're talking to a