The Mountain Goats: Difference between revisions

''you erase me'' }}

* [[The Alcoholic]]: Both of the Alpha Couple.

* [[Angry Mob Song]]: Inverted by "If You See Light," where the narrator is ''hiding'' from a mob, and in "Heretic Pride," in which the narrator is being killed by an angry mob.

** Plus [[Stylistic Suck|the laughably bad]] Anti-Music Song.

* [[Ascended Fanboy]]: John Nall runs a [http://themountaingoats.net/ fansite] and [http://www.themountaingoats.net/cgi-bin/songs.cgi?ACTION=show_all_songs near-obsessive collection of lyrics and tabs]; it's now regarded as pretty much official.

* [[The Atoner]]: Subverted in "Prowl Great Cain". The narrator feels all the guilt of his betrayals and sins but is not stopped by them in the least.

* [[Audience Participation]]: John frequently solicits requests from the audience.

* [[Audience Participation Song]]: "No Children" (''"I hope we ALL die!"''), "Hand Ball," "Carmen Cicero," "Terror Song."

* [[Break Up Song]]: Some of the most cathartic ever written. Take "Baboon": ''"I'd be grateful my children aren't here to see this / Had you ever seen fit to give me children."''

* [[Calling the Old Man Out]]: "Lion's Teeth."

* [[Character Title]]

* [[Concept Album]]: ''Sweden'', ''All Hail West Texas'', ''Tallahassee'', ''We Shall All Be Healed'', ''The Sunset Tree'', ''The Life of the World to Come''.

* [[Cover Version]]: "The Sign" by Ace of Base. John legitimately loved the song, and loved to perform it, but stopped because he believed his audience thought he was covering it ironically.

** Also "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon, on the officially unreleased yet illegally leaked album ''Hail and Farewell, Gothenburg''.

* [[The Determinator]] : "Up the Wolves." "Alpha Desperation March." "Damn These Vampires." "Sax Rohmer #1"

* [[Did Not Get the Girl]]: "Alpha Omega" reveals that the Alpha Couple never work out their issues and separate.

* [[Digital Piracy Is Evil]]: Averted... kind of. John disapproves of early leaks on artistic grounds, but happily acknowledges that Napster et.al. brought the Mountain Goats to a much broader audience. He allows bootlegs to be posted on archive.org, but would personally prefer live shows to be kept between him and the audience.

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: At the end of ''Get Lonely'', the narrator of "In Corolla" {{spoiler|walks into the Atlantic Ocean}}.

* [[Drowning My Sorrows]]: "You're in Maya." "Gameshows Touch Our Lives.'

* [[Grief Song]]: "Matthew 25:21," "Shadow Song," "Mole,' "Your Belgian Things." "Cobscook Bay," "Philippians 2:20-21,"

* [[Happily Married]]: Don't let the endless list of angsty songs fool you.

* [[Hostage Situation]]: "Cut Off Their Thumbs #1"

* [[Human Popsicle]]: Featured heavily on ''Moon Colony Bloodbath'' particularly "Emerging".

* [[Human Resources]]: The plot of ''Moon Colony Bloodbath''

* [[I Am Not Shazam]]: Even when performing solo, John will introduce himself with 'Hi, we're The Mountain Goats'.

* [[I Am the Band]]: Though he's had the same bassist for a whopping eight years now, John Darnielle is the only constant in the lineup of "The Mountain Goats".

* [[Iconic Song Request]]: "No Children!" "Going to Georgia!" "Best Ever Death Metal Band!" "GOLDEN BOY!!!!"

* [[I Did What I Had to Do]]: "Against Pollution"

* [[Interrupted Suicide]]: "Going to Georgia"

{{quote| ''And you smiled as you eased the gun from my hand''<br />

''And I am frozen with joy right where I stand'' }}

* [[Kung Shui]]: The Alpha couple in "Oceanographer's Choice" trashes a room fighting -- and then destroys it [[Slap Slap Kiss|when they start having sex]].

* [[Literary Allusion Title]]

''" But one of these days, I'm gonna wriggle up on dry land"'' }}

** "Sax Rohmer Pt. 1" fits pretty well. ''"I am coming home to you/If it's the last thing that I do."''

* [[Never Speak Ill of the Dead]]: Subverted by ''The Sunset Tree'', which chronicles in uncomfortable detail the abuse John suffered at the hands of his stepfather.

* [[New Sound Album]]: ''Tallahassee''.

* [[No Accounting for Taste]]: The Alpha Couple shares a love of alcohol and self-hatred and that is about all that keeps them together.

* [[Not Christian Rock]]: Most notably on ''The Life of the World to Come'', on which every track is named after a Bible verse, but spiritual and religious themes are pretty common Mountain Goats fare.

* [[Ode to Intoxication]]: Plenty on ''The Sunset Tree''.

** "You're in Maya" and much of ''Tallahassee'' as well.

* [[One of Us]]: John is an outspoken fan of video games, trashy TV and obscure death metal.

* [[The Oner]]: The video for "Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace"

* [[Perspective Flip]]: "Thank You Mario, But Our Princess Is in Another Castle" is from the point of view of Toad, waiting to be rescued.

* [[Power Fantasy]]: "Lion's Teeth," a revenge fantasy.

* [[Protest Song]]: "Down to the Ark" characterizes the primary voting process in the United States as a Satanic ritual. Yes, really.

* [[Pyromaniac]]: "Psalms 40:2" is about an arsonist realizing his actions are his only meaningful connection to God.

** "The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton"

{{quote| ''HAIL SATAN! HAIL SATAN, TONIGHT! HAIL SATAN! HAIL! HAIL! HAIL! HAIL!''}}

** "The Fall of the Star High School Running Back" gives one to the Notorious B.I.G.

* [[Shower of Angst]]: "Maybe Sprout Wings"

* [[Slap Slap Kiss]]: Some songs involving the Alpha couple you can't quite tell whether the lyrics are describing them trying to kill eachother, or having a vicious love session, or both.

* [[Something Blues]]: "Dutch Orchestra Blues," "International Small Arms Traffic Blues," "Jam Eater Blues," "Jeff Davis County Blues," "New World Emerging Blues," "Transjordanian Blues."

** Inverted with "Distant Stations" which John describes to be about a would-be stalker who never actually gets the nerve to venture very far.

** Played straight with songs like "The Garden Song" and "Standard Bitter Love Song #8"

* [[Textless Album Cover]]: Averted a ''lot'' in the pre-4AD era.

* [[The Power of Rock]]: ''"The best ever death metal band out of Denton will, in time, both outpace and outlive you. HAIL SATAN!"''

** Lampshaped in "You Were Cool"

{{quote| ''These are the same four chords''<br />

* [[What Could Have Been]]: The aforementioned completed-but-unreleased ''Hail and Farewell, Gothenburg'' and ''West Texas Orphans''. ''Heretic Pride'' was going to be a concept album entirely about monsters. The album version of "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" was supposed to feature [[Aesop Rock]] rapping over the end; Aesop eventually released a remix.

* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Awesome]]: "But in the long tresses of your hair...I AM A BABBLING BROOOOOOOOOOOK"

* [[Word Salad Lyrics]]: Averted, hard.

* [[Word of God]]: John was quick to clarify that "Marduk T-Shirt Men's Room Incident" was not from the perspective of a rapist.