The other songs on Transcendental Youth may sell the idea better, but also find hope in “Tribe of the Horned Heart.”

Track: “Tribe of the Horned Heart”
Album: Unreleased

Early Mountain Goats narrators are talking to “you,” the person that wronged them or that they wronged or that is in some sort of complicated situation. The more modern ones, especially in unreleased live-only songs, are talking to you, the Mountain Goats fan. I was originally going to call this a “natural progression” but that’s only true if you imagine the narrator as John Darnielle. It’s really important to remember it isn’t, but for some of these songs it at least is someone very, very similar.

“Tribe of the Horned Heart” is for people who had a difficult time in middle school. You do not hide out behind the power plant if you are doing okay. You do not look for signs unless you need to find signs. You do these things because you need to do these things, and Darnielle is here to offer good news to people who absolutely need it. “Some friendly ghost is listening to the prayers they used to say // at the slack end of the rope” is the clincher, but “no secrets can be kept from you // if your faith is strong enough” is what you need to take with you. This era of the Goats is full of hope, which is so beautiful, but it comes in this bundle that tells you that you must push through this part to find what comes next.