The saddest Mountain Goats album ends with “In Corolla,” a brief prayer, and then one final walk.

Track: “In Corolla”
Album: Get Lonely (2006)

Get Lonely is an extremely difficult listen. There’s a great story that has never seemed true to me (but great stories never really need to be) that John Darnielle asked the author of the Get Lonely review for Pitchfork what they thought about the new album. The reviewer said they were still processing it and John Darnielle asked if they had a girlfriend. They responded affirmatively and John Darnielle said “I hope she leaves you. Then you’ll understand it.”

Even as a joke it seems a little blunt for John Darnielle, but that’s what makes it a great story. Get Lonely is the “sad” Mountain Goats album, and while that’s certainly calling this the wettest water to a certain degree it’s also a critical designation. Characters are further out away from humanity here than on most of the other albums. By the final track, we should be prepared for anyone to tell us anything, so long as it isn’t good.

“In Corolla” is crushing. The story is very simple, but it seems to take people some time to admit what’s happening. Most online discussion features a few people who push back against the narrative and insist the character is speaking in metaphor or something, but, no, this is a song about someone drowning themselves and knowing “no one was gonna come and get me.”

There really isn’t much more to say than that. I’ve always been partial to it, as I am most of the album closing tracks, but it’s best not to look too closely at “In Corolla.” The band used to close live shows with it, briefly, which has given way to songs like “Spent Gladiator 2” in recent years. Be careful to come back to the shore, even when you feel like you want to keep walking.