Jeff and Cyrus stand in for all the downtrodden in “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton.”

Track: “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton”
Album: All Hail West Texas (2002)

“The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton” is arresting, the first time you hear it. It’s a story song where you will learn about Jeff and Cyrus, who go through turmoil as teenagers because the adults in their lives don’t understand what they’re trying to do. These two want to create something that reflects how they feel about the world. “When you punish a person for dreaming their dream // don’t expect them to thank or forgive you,” says John Darnielle, and he sums up the universal response of people who the world tries to correct. Round pegs won’t go in square holes, and forcing them isn’t going to help.

It’s become one of the band’s most popular songs. The Mountain Goats wiki lists more than 200 live performances and that list is no doubt incomplete. With rare exceptions, most shows end with “No Children,” “This Year,” or “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton.” They’re the scream-along songs that unite a crowd, which is great energy to put out into the world and to bring an audience together. If you’ve never seen the band live, you can only hope they end on one of those.

The song is self explanatory, but it’s worth spending a moment on the “hail Satan” part. The ending devolves into John Darnielle (and the crowd) yelling versions of “hail Satan.” Satan feels like a simple concept, but it isn’t, and this song asks you to latch onto this as an idea of righteous rebellion rather than a symbol for pain and destruction. John Darnielle has talked about this a lot over the years and I encourage you to go to the source, but it’s worth noting this isn’t direct praise of darkness. It’s a light that comes from standing in your own truth.