“Surrounded” kicks off a story about people that hide among us and some questionable rewards for dark deeds.

Track: “Surrounded”
Album: Moon Colony Bloodbath (2009)

Moon Colony Bloodbath is difficult to explain, but “Surrounded” is as good a place as any to try. John Vanderslice (who produces for the Mountain Goats and is an amazing artist in his own right) and John Darnielle wanted to create a “rock opera” about the men and women who travel to a secluded moon base for six months of the year to harvest organs from bodies. In their time off they live among us, but secluded in Colorado so as to not reveal their secret. The resulting seven-song EP is outstanding and made more outstanding by John Darnielle’s mock insistence at live shows that this is not a story, but a true conspiracy that people seem to ignore.

“Surrounded” explains the upside for these workers. In their time back on the ground, they live in almost comic opulence. The narrator has their own power source to watch a 96-inch TV and six months of time to kill. The catches are numerous (they are alone, they will be alone, and they will have to go back to the moon to harvest the living again in two seasons) and thus the rewards aren’t worth it.

The mood on Moon Colony Bloodbath gets darker and darker as it proceeds towards the final, dark song, but “Surrounded” encapsulates everything. It’s the song that John Darnielle plays live and it’s really the standout. Filled with handclaps and jaunty harmonica, “Surrounded” faces the darkness with a lying smile. “Let me die, let me die // surrounded by machines” is haunting in context, but it works for so many other situations. You’ll identify with the narrator less and less as you listen to other tracks, but “Surrounded” might hit closer to home than a song that starts an album about a moon base normally should.