The Mountain Goats
Feb. 27th, 2021 04:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ermingardenI listened to the band The Mountain Goats a lot as a moderately angsty high schooler, not at all in undergrad, and have started listening to them again as a significantly less angsty law student. (The decline in angst can be attributed almost entirely to pharmaceutical intervention - better living through chemistry and all that.) It's interesting how different my relationship to TMG's music is now than it was before. Listening to some of my old favorites, I remember how much I used to relate to those songs and am very grateful that I no longer feel the same way.
The band is premiering a second video recording of the "Jordan Lake Sessions" (they got together and recorded those in August) tonight at 9:30 EST on YouTube here. I stumbled on the first recording, which premiered last night, about halfway through. YouTube has a realtime chat function during "premieres", and seeing people reacting to the video created an unexpectedly strong feeling of connection. In the isolation of the pandemic, it was somehow exactly what I needed.
A current favorite is "Never Quite Free":
...It's okay to find the faith to saunter forward
With no fear of shadows spreading where you stand
And you'll breathe easier just knowing
That the worst is all behind you
And the waves that tossed the raft all night
Have set you on dry land...
And, of course, "The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones", a song that starts out philosophical before becoming pretty silly (but somehow poignant nevertheless, in a very Terry Pratchett-esque way):
Stay true to the path young Jedi
Cleave to the precepts you’ve been given
Remember those who went before and cleared a way for you
Let your deeds give hope and comfort to the living
Let your deeds give hope and comfort to the living
Do your best in city or in swampland
Peace over anger, honor over hate
At the end of all your days one Jedi waits for you
With the dust of Jedi bones piled high like parsnips on his plate
With the dust of Jedi bones piled up like parsnips on his plate...
Apparently John Darnielle (TMG lead singer and generally The Main Dude) is friends with Rian Johnson (director of The Last Jedi), which is a weird little factoid. Small world, I guess.
The band is premiering a second video recording of the "Jordan Lake Sessions" (they got together and recorded those in August) tonight at 9:30 EST on YouTube here. I stumbled on the first recording, which premiered last night, about halfway through. YouTube has a realtime chat function during "premieres", and seeing people reacting to the video created an unexpectedly strong feeling of connection. In the isolation of the pandemic, it was somehow exactly what I needed.
A current favorite is "Never Quite Free":
...It's okay to find the faith to saunter forward
With no fear of shadows spreading where you stand
And you'll breathe easier just knowing
That the worst is all behind you
And the waves that tossed the raft all night
Have set you on dry land...
And, of course, "The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones", a song that starts out philosophical before becoming pretty silly (but somehow poignant nevertheless, in a very Terry Pratchett-esque way):
Stay true to the path young Jedi
Cleave to the precepts you’ve been given
Remember those who went before and cleared a way for you
Let your deeds give hope and comfort to the living
Let your deeds give hope and comfort to the living
Do your best in city or in swampland
Peace over anger, honor over hate
At the end of all your days one Jedi waits for you
With the dust of Jedi bones piled high like parsnips on his plate
With the dust of Jedi bones piled up like parsnips on his plate...
Apparently John Darnielle (TMG lead singer and generally The Main Dude) is friends with Rian Johnson (director of The Last Jedi), which is a weird little factoid. Small world, I guess.
