“Neon Orange Glimmer Song” won’t tell you what happened, but it will tell you everything else.

Track: “Neon Orange Glimmer Song”
Album: Sweden (1995)

There are a dozen websites where people post lyrics and folks try to guess what they mean, but SongMeanings was the first one I found when I was younger. The page for “Neon Orange Glimmer Song” has a long, thoughtful attempt from one user who thinks it’s about someone who killed someone in self defense. It also has a much shorter one where someone says “well this song is vague but some guy made a mistake while a capsicum pepper was in the backyard.”

I love this comment. It’s a joke, for sure, but it’s also a statement about John Darnielle’s love of unrelated storytelling. The thoughtful explanation assumes the pepper plant represents a murderer trying to stay grounded to keep their story straight. The shorter one says dude, it’s a pepper plant. They’re both right. There are tons of Mountain Goats songs that use this device. Why is it a pepper plant here and why is it sometimes water boiling? Don’t worry about it. Or do, it’s your call.

Whether you think there’s a lot happening here or nothing at all, our narrator is stressed. They’ve done something, but we don’t know what it is. It’s specific with details that ground it as a real story about a real person, but the one thing we’d need to understand if they’re right or wrong is missing. John Darnielle really sells the tension and Rachel Ware’s vocals fill out the experience, but you’re always going to be missing the center. What you think happened is exactly what happened, or it can be if you need it to be.