Well, guy in a skeleton costume
comes up to the guy in the superman suit
runs through him with a broadsword
Tallahassee - The Mountain Goats
Since I’m in the late stages of preparing for a half-marathon, reviewing this album has been somewhat inhibited by the fact that much if it is far too slow-paced and sedate to run to. It’s far from being the slowest music in my collection and several songs are indeed quite upbeat. But more than half of it is appropriate for a lazy summer afternoon sheltering from the sweltering heat, not running maniacally through it.
The writing on this album is at least as good as in The Sunset Tree, and a few of my very favorite Mountain Goats songs are here. One is No Children, whose meaning I cannot divine but which I cannot stop playing over and over. It seems every time I hear it the absurdly pessimistic lyrics and infectiously upbeat music seem more and more brilliantly blended.
Old College Try is another song very close to my heart. It reminds me poignantly of my ex-fiance; I walked down to the end with him because he came all the way down with me.
One pattern I am noticing about my most beloved albums, musicians and songs is that they all combine sad and happy themes in novel and counterintuitive ways. It reflects, I think, the complexity of our emotional lives, in that no feeling is ever felt in a vacuum, untainted by opposing implications. Hope and fear go hand in hand, as do pain and growth. Music - and indeed any art - that does not acknowledge the dark and light side is sorely lacking as an expression of the human experience.
What will I do when I don’t have you
when I finally get what I deserve
Next: Transcendental Youth
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