August 16th - The Autopsy Garland

Another rich vein of Mountain Goats songs: songs about Guys.

This is a haunting and oppressive piece of music, one that sounds like night, the kind of night with something in it. There's a darkness in it, and some themes dealt with much more directly than in most Mountain Goats songs. Mentions of rich men loving their twelve year olds are direct and painful body blows, dangerous noises that let you know that someone had been exploited and someone had been failed.

It's obviously a song about Judy Garland, moving west as it does towards the Emerald City, and as concerned as it is about what lurks behind paper-thin smiles.

This isn't a Chestertonian song. It doesn't tell us that monsters can be beaten. It just tells us that monsters are out there. And maybe they can be avoided.