Naming Day by the Mountain Goats, a bonus track from Get Lonely
I fucking LOVE TJIS SON
“Going to Dade County”
When the rainbows disappeared from the skies of northern Florida Because the rain had gone away And I looked out on the front lawn and I saw you there It was 6:31 AM on a Saturday And you morphed into a housecat And you all think I’m making this part up But you are wrong
“This couple that, that was supposed to get a divorce and then didn’t in a number of songs I wrote spend a good two years of their lives, uh, living in a motel in Florida, and this song is one of those that never made it onto anything. It’s called ‘Going to Dade County’.”
– John Darnielle at Vinyl Fever in Tallahasse, FL on February 7th, 1998
Mountain goats, Oreamnos americanus, love the mountain life.
Native to the Cascade Mountains in Washington, mountain goats can be found in the subalpine and alpine environments. They like the places with fewer trees, more meadows, and lots of cliffs. It’s the rocky cliffs that give them protection from predators. Using their hooves with soft centers, they can quickly climb and scale rocky areas leaving black bears and mountain lions far behind.
But living high up on the mountain means being ready for snow and cold. Mountain goats grow extra thick winter wool to stay warm in these icy places. Even with a lower elevation home range during the winter, thick wool is a necessity. By summer time, around June and July, they start to lose their heavy winter wool. As they move back to their summer range, they sometimes look a bit mangy. Eventually, they lose their winter wool and stay cool in their sleeker, summer wool.
During the summer, you might see them in the high meadows. Have you been out hiking or backpacking and seen mountain goats? What was you most striking memory of seeing these mountaineers in their home? ~ams
More information on hoofed mammals, like goats, in the national park can be found here https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/nature/hoofed-mammals.htm
These photographs are from years past and do not reflect current conditions. NPS/NAB Photo. A distant view of a herd of mountain goats in a meadow. September, 1970. NPS Photo. A close-up view of a mother mountain goat with a baby. August, 2006.
“Alpha Double Negative: Going to Catalina”
I hear you starting up again I see you standing on the deck I hear your voice start to carry I see the veins throbbing in your neck
And I know what you’re saying And I know what you’re saying it for But I’m not listening I’m not listening anymore
“It’s about a boat.“
– John Darnielle at McGarrigle’s in Sligo, Ireland on October 8th, 2002
182. Yoga
As a general rule, Mountain Goats song titles tend not to appear in the lyrics – they shoehorn in some extra data. What yoga has to do with this song about fugitives who are about to betray each other, I don’t know (other than that it mentions Bombay), but I appreciate the sentiment?
Compare “And the hurricane lamp threw our shadows on the ceiling” with “We boxed with our shadows like a couple of kangaroos” from Evening in Stalingrad and “We see shadows on the walls” from Minnesota.
“I wondered how we’d ever get by without it” reminds me of “I don’t know what I ever did without it” from No, I Can’t. “Poison in the water” reminds me of “The water tower crew are total devils / Toxicity near saturation levels.”
There are better-quality recordings of this, but I chose this one for Matt Douglas’s sax playing, which is awesome!
Commandante
I got a great big secret written down somewhere I got a rosary to protect us both from harm I got a storage locker full of cow figurines And a laundry list of grievances longer than my arm And I am never going back to Cincinnati All those bridges have burned down to the ground I got the jet pack strapped to my back And I’m waiting for you to come around
Yeah, put on your Chairman Mao coat And let me clear my throat Let’s turn this whole place upside-down, yes And shake it ‘til the coins come falling out of its pockets Yeah put on your Che Guevara pin Call the troops on in We’re gonna sail through the night sky like a pair of bottle rockets
from Devil in the Shortwave (2002)
god this song has a choke hole on me
“Star Dusting”
I thought I heard bells ringing But then I remembered that I no longer knew what bells sounded like I thought we’d maybe strike up a conversation ‘Til bad luck cruised by on his ten-speed bike I got real cold And I grabbed my coat And I saw that the ringing was coming from your throat What are you saying anyway
“This actually, um – the seeds of Tallahassee are in this song, right. This is a story that – I liked the feeling… boiling someone alive. At least, I don’t know if anyone deserves that. The question of what anyone deserves is a pretty complex philosophical question. The people in this song deserve better than each other. They’re not going to get it.“
– John Darnielle at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, California on June 14th, 2014.
poorly explaining internet horror in a single sentence
- Local58 - What if “The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask” was even more horrifying than it already is?
- The Mandela Catalogue - Adam and Eve fucked around and found out
- The Walten Files - Chuck E. Cheese on crack
- Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared - Sesame Street but the street is in Detroit
- The Monument Mythos - The Statue of Freedom is in a silly goofy mood
- The Nixonverse - Richard Nixon: cha cha real smooth *teleports to an alternate timeline*
- The Trinity Desk Project - Fantastic Four but worse
- Mystery Flesh Pit National Park - There is no ethical consumption under capitalism
- Possibly in Michigan - Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss
black pear tree, 2008
going to maine, 1993
the day the aliens came, 2005
i only listen to the mountain goats: episode 114, 2018
waylon jennings live!, 2019
heel turn 2, 2015
somethingiswrong-tournament
[ID: First, a poster for Mystery Flesh Pit National Park. It shows a large hole with stairs descending down into what looks to be a large mass of blood. It reads "Discover verdant forests, majestic scenery, and cosmic terror. Enjoy:
- Legendary trout fishing
- Geotectonic carbal moans
- Broken philosophy
- Backcountry hiking
Spelunker-led descents, campfire programs, abyssal copepod. Mystery Flesh Park National Park.
Second is a photo reading "No Image Found" /End ID]
Pipefishes (female and pregnant male)
john darnielle was so real for writing over 500 songs where he just played the same four chords and put people into new and unusual fucked up relationship dynamics
“Orange Ball of Hate”
when I hear the screeching weather vane in the wild wind and the pissing rain I know that one of us, I’m not saying who, has got rocks in her head the rain comes through the open window but you don’t think so
I sure do love you I sure do love you
“This is a song - takes place in California - it was on the first CD - it’s about that moment in which you know it’s not going to get any better, but you want to prove to somebody exactly how strong you are.“
John Darnielle at the Cow Haus in Tallahassee, FL on February 6, 1998
“Alphabetizing”
and though it’s very true that I love everyone with every ounce of energy left in me I love you especially because
I saw you, coming through the screen door on the second floor up on the balcony
“I will defend this song, from the earlier ones. I think it’s all right.” – John Darnielle at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA on December 2, 2006