Similar to other songs about fighting for money but different in tone, “Cruiserweights” is a standout that will make you think.

Track: “Cruiserweights”
Album: Undercard (2010)

I love the storytelling in “Cruiserweights.” The title tells you this is a boxing story, but you probably already knew that. When you really get into it, though, this is a cousin to the wrestling story in “Blood Capsules.” It’s about the fight, sure, but it’s about the guy fighting as much as it is what happens in the ring. “Take a couple shots right to the liver // then remember what the food was like in prison // stick to the game plan // stall for time,” is among the best writing on any Mountain Goats, Extra Glenns, or Extra Lens song. I don’t know who this is about specifically, not like the very similar “Pinklon” which gives away the game in the title, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a story of someone who knows that if this doesn’t work, their next plan will be much more desperate.

There are a lot of connected stories in John Darnielle’s songwriting catalog, but this theme really is explored through all three of these songs. Boxing or wrestling are jobs, which it’s easy to forget given the spectacle. There’s no spectacle in this gym with a bucket of blood and a “PA system borrowed from the high school.” Someone is watching and someone cares, but no one has more on the line than the guy in the ring. That’s something you can understand when you see him get hurt, but I really love John Darnielle and Franklin Bruno asking you to consider what happens later. “Blood Capsules” is more explicit about the next steps, but both songs really walk you right to the edge to understand that getting punched is not the worst thing that might come next.