A repetitive Casio keyboard and a desperate narrator entreat a lover to not go through with a mysterious plan on “Pure Love.”

Track: “Pure Love”
Album: Songs for Petronius (1992) and Bitter Melon Farm (1999)

“Pure Love” is 25 years old at the time of this writing. John Darnielle played it in October in Colorado, which you can check out here, and mentioned that it was the second time it had ever been played live. It would be impossible to describe it without using the word “obscure.”

It’s played on the old Casio keyboard that makes many appearances in the early Mountain Goats work. When John Darnielle played it in Colorado he played it on piano, which is fitting considering the upcoming album is the first to be entirely without guitar. He’s been slowly heading that way more and more and it will be really fascinating to see the result of an all-piano album.

The keyboard songs aren’t a good place to start if you’re a new fan. “Pure Love” especially is a little grating, if we’re being honest, though the playful, repetitive tune matches the lyrics well. “It won’t be necessary,” John Darnielle repeats, as he pleads with another character. The other lover, we can assume, is up to no good. The narrator presumes as much in the first verse and is more direct in the second as they ask their lover to remove a ski mask. Crimes and potential crimes abound on Mountain Goats albums, and even if this is a metaphorical one, it’s one our narrator fears.

Across the five songs on Songs for Petronius you will notice lots of repetition. None of them use the device like “Pure Love,” where the narrator’s resolve cracks as they keep saying “it won’t be necessary.” You must always question the reliability of your narrator, and you know, I think it just might end up being necessary in this case.