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Oh John, with your soft voice saying unsettling things. I'm being put to sleep and kept awake at the same time and by the same thing. This is a song

Oh John, with your soft voice saying unsettling things. I'm being put to sleep and kept awake at the same time and by the same thing. This is a song whose sadness is quiet and contained and no less devastating for that. It's small because sometimes the things that destroy

God, I am such a sucker for band chat in songs. There's nothing like thinking of bands as collections of voices to make the sing feel natural and like it

God, I am such a sucker for band chat in songs. There's nothing like thinking of bands as collections of voices to make the sing feel natural and like it captures a moment. And on the chorus of this odd little pastoral we get (for I think the first time

So, dates. I'm writing this on February 10 about the song for February 8 which namechecks September 19 unless you're looking at the Youtube version which namechecks September 16. One

So, dates. I'm writing this on February 10 about the song for February 8 which namechecks September 19 unless you're looking at the Youtube version which namechecks September 16. One of those dates is my birthday. So I'm starting this one off timelost. And the Youtube version of this song

"I know you're changing, god damn you for that" Sometimes love hurts. Sometimes love causes us to hurt. This is a song under a snow drift about the passage of

"I know you're changing, god damn you for that" Sometimes love hurts. Sometimes love causes us to hurt. This is a song under a snow drift about the passage of time and the fact that the only way to stop it moving is to kill it, and the times where

not much to say about this one, which isn't the same as not liking it. It's a small punchy account from the singer's life, a story of being unprepared for

not much to say about this one, which isn't the same as not liking it. It's a small punchy account from the singer's life, a story of being unprepared for the cold in a cold place, with cheerful and warm guitar behind it. This is a tough year. We're all

The beauty of the Mountain Goats as a band, a project, whatever, is that they know no limits in terms of genre or experimentation. ThHis is especially true later in

The beauty of the Mountain Goats as a band, a project, whatever, is that they know no limits in terms of genre or experimentation. ThHis is especially true later in the band's progression, but even close-ish to the start as we are now the progress of listening to John work

First appearance in this collection so far of the albun Sweden, which is not about Sweden. There's a small time jump here and it's clear in the confidence and assurance

First appearance in this collection so far of the albun Sweden, which is not about Sweden. There's a small time jump here and it's clear in the confidence and assurance of how the lyrics work with the vocals, on top of a simple but effective guitar through line. This song

There's something calypso-like about the instrumentation of this song, small and jaunty and with an odd sadness behind it. This sadness is enhanced through the lyrics, which much like much

There's something calypso-like about the instrumentation of this song, small and jaunty and with an odd sadness behind it. This sadness is enhanced through the lyrics, which much like much Mountain Goats from this time, are laced with loneliness and regret and romance. This is a small song in many

This is a big open song with big open chords, giving an odd and apocalyptic vision of a fading world. Flowers in dry soil, the birds fleeing for another world,

This is a big open song with big open chords, giving an odd and apocalyptic vision of a fading world. Flowers in dry soil, the birds fleeing for another world, a sense of survivors in a place for the last time This is an empty song. Not in the sense

February opens with a very Violent Femmes place. This is tense storytelling about love going wrong. Several parts of this feel like throw forwards to songs yet to come. The

February opens with a very Violent Femmes place. This is tense storytelling about love going wrong. Several parts of this feel like throw forwards to songs yet to come. The mentions of the young lions coming out has seeds of what will become the Sunset Tree. And the continued presence

OK, so I've been doing this for a month. or rather I haven't. I didn't start this until about 3 weeks ago when someone else mentioned the "book club" on

OK, so I've been doing this for a month. or rather I haven't. I didn't start this until about 3 weeks ago when someone else mentioned the "book club" on youtube pages. And I posted on a few. But this seemed more my speed and more like something I would

This is a song that comes out of the blocks at full pace, with seemingly no care whether if trips over its own feet a few times as it goes.

This is a song that comes out of the blocks at full pace, with seemingly no care whether if trips over its own feet a few times as it goes. It gets noticeably faster as it's going which feels like that ideal mix of thematically appropriate and not necessarily on

Sometimes John will hit you with a song that's so simple that it wrongfoots you, and the straightforward pleasure of it will have you second guessing yourself. This song is

Sometimes John will hit you with a song that's so simple that it wrongfoots you, and the straightforward pleasure of it will have you second guessing yourself. This song is small (1 minute 25) and doesn't need to be a second longer than it is. It's a thought and the

This is a song of rolling tension. The top line of the vocals is of both unsettling pitch and content, the story of someone fundamentally uncomfortable in his situation and

This is a song of rolling tension. The top line of the vocals is of both unsettling pitch and content, the story of someone fundamentally uncomfortable in his situation and his relationship and his world and his place in his song. The idea of being in a place where you

Imagine this post starts with about 22 seconds of high pitched noise. And then into a delightful lyrical john-and-his-guitar number, which fits into one of the Elvis Costello Five Themes

Imagine this post starts with about 22 seconds of high pitched noise. And then into a delightful lyrical john-and-his-guitar number, which fits into one of the Elvis Costello Five Themes for a song. For those who don't know, Elvis Costello once told Esquire magazine: "There are about five things to

The interesting thing about a year-long journey through an artist's developing back catalogue is that not all artists develop in all areas at the same rate (in fact very few

The interesting thing about a year-long journey through an artist's developing back catalogue is that not all artists develop in all areas at the same rate (in fact very few of them do) and so sometimes you get interesting chimerae. Song For Tura Satana has the clearest difference between the

A much more traditional form for an early Mountain Goats song, a slipping and sliding riff with song-spoken lyrics over the top. The form of the lyrics is a movement

A much more traditional form for an early Mountain Goats song, a slipping and sliding riff with song-spoken lyrics over the top. The form of the lyrics is a movement away from the very early "poetry with music over underneath" form though, and while this is replaced by lyrical stream

The words that jump into my head when I hear this song for the first time are "jangly pastoral". It's upbeat, slightly spiky, and giving a view of a place

The words that jump into my head when I hear this song for the first time are "jangly pastoral". It's upbeat, slightly spiky, and giving a view of a place of if not home then at least rest. Eating cold black eggs all day as the wind kicked up. Kirby

Something about this song feels like a dream. The sort of not quite asleep, not quite fully awake place where the mind creates things and latches them on to actual

Something about this song feels like a dream. The sort of not quite asleep, not quite fully awake place where the mind creates things and latches them on to actual sensation. It's a place where Nick Drake lived a lot, and much of the instrumentation in this song reminded me

This song is a rolling stampede, and a mark of John's ever increasing assurance on all fronts of his musicality. It's urgent in tone, in tempo, and in subject, and

This song is a rolling stampede, and a mark of John's ever increasing assurance on all fronts of his musicality. It's urgent in tone, in tempo, and in subject, and like the best Mountain Goats songs it universalises through close examination. I often wish I was better read on mythology,