The act of fitting in is different than the feeling of fitting in, as we see in “Lizard Suit.”

Track: “Lizard Suit”
Album: Dark in Here (2021)

If you feel like an outsider for any reason at all, the Mountain Goats have a song for you. If you feel like an outsider for every reason at once, they have “Lizard Suit” for you. Our narrator cannot understand this world and is putting in an awful lot of effort to push through that feeling. They wait even at the end of the train line for the crowd to thin out before they dare exit. They have found a way to make it through, but it’s playacting.

My favorite line is “let my habits form the shapes of days.” You can feel the strain in that line. This person is reacting to the point where the reaction has become a way to survive. Surely you can relate to that on some level, but hopefully not to this degree. The instrumental cacophony at the end feels like the natural summary of the structured, careful approach we see through the lyrics. You can go through the motions every day and you can allow that to be a sort of instruction manual, but inside, you’re better off admitting to yourself what’s underneath.