Author: Alex Russell

265. The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones

Alex Russell Unreleased , , , , , , , , ,

“The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones” is about what you think it’s about.

Track: “The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones”
Album: Unreleased (Released on Soundcloud by Rian Johnson in 2017)

The Mountain Goats song “The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones” is about a Jedi who eats everyone else’s bones. There’s a powerful urge in me to make this entire entry just that sentence, but there is more to say.

The title really does tell you what you’re dealing with, but it’s worth explaining the story. When The Last Jedi was announced, John Darnielle joked that his song “The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones” wasn’t accepted as part of the movie. The title was pretty clearly a joke, but director Rian Johnson told him he had to write it and because John Darnielle is who he is, he did.

I don’t think the content of “The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones” needs much discussion. It’s in the same vein as “Foreign Object” and “Beach House” as a “funny” song, but one that’s mostly funny because you don’t expect it to be delivered the way it is. “Specifically just their bones,” the narrator insists, and says over and over that this Jedi is going to eat their bones. It’s hard to miss, but the repetitions of something you already know is part of the joke of so many Mountain Goats songs.

He’s played it twice, that I can find, since releasing it himself and it seems safe to say those two might be the only two performances. In one he joked that he hoped someone would delete the recording, but conceded that he knows people don’t operate like that. The other performance tells the whole story of how Rian Johnson and John Darnielle got to know each other, and if you’re interested in such things you should check it out.

264. Jenny

Alex Russell All Hail West Texas , , , , , , ,

The fantasy of running away from life’s problems is a seemingly real possibility in “Jenny.”

Track: “Jenny”
Album: All Hail West Texas (2002)

Jenny is a character in four Mountain Goats songs. She calls the narrator in “Straight Six” and “Night Light” and she sends postcards in “Source Decay.” She’s only an active participant in the song that bears her name. In “Jenny” she shows up on a motorcycle and steals the narrator away into a night free of consequence. They roar off and chant a happy tune. This is the ideal vision that you want when things are not going well.

John Darnielle says that Jenny doesn’t show up when things are going well for people. All four songs show us characters that are struggling and characters that want to live in better times. We don’t know enough to know if these fears are warranted. “Jenny” unites these ideas and helps us understand what Jenny, the character, is supposed to represent. She’s a lack of responsibility and a chance at a simpler, better life. Is that actually better? It depends on your perspective and your dreams for yourself, but these characters seem to believe it would work for them, thank you.

By the end of the song “Jenny,” even God has taken eyes off of these characters. In the context of the song, this represents a lack of pressure to a cosmic degree. Everything is open to this narrator and Jenny, and that means that everything that came before isn’t a concern anymore. In most situations, you wouldn’t trade your entire past for a clean slate. You mostly are a product of your past and you hope to learn from mistakes and benefit from experience to improve your future. Even still, you can appreciate the desire to hop on the back of the bike and ride off with Jenny.

263. The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton

Alex Russell All Hail West Texas , , , , , , ,

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.

262. Amy AKA Spent Gladiator 1

Alex Russell Transcendental Youth , , , , , , ,

The message of the Mountain Goats couldn’t be more clear than it is in “Amy AKA Spent Gladiator 1.”

Track: “Amy AKA Spent Gladiator 1”
Album: Transcendental Youth (2012)

John Darnielle has written a lot of songs about what happens to people who can’t escape addiction. “All Along the Seething Coast” and “Steal Smoked Fish” come to mind, both of them feature characters who are addicts and who probably aren’t going to make it through things to see the other side. The message is never hopeless, but it’s sometimes realistic about the odds and the feelings that come from being in those situations.

“Amy AKA Spent Gladiator 1” starts off Transcendental Youth with an aggressively hopeful counter message. It’s about Amy Winehouse, who didn’t make it, but no one really makes it. It’s reductive to think about someone’s life in those terms, but John Darnielle wants us to consider the challenge rather than to pity people. There are so many songs that approach life through this lens, often ones that people hold up as anthems. Go to a live show and listen to how people sing along with songs like “Broom People” and “You Were Cool” and you’ll see what I mean.

John Darnielle once introduced “Amy AKA Spent Gladiator 1” by saying it speaks for itself. He’s right, which is why I don’t have much to add beyond marveling at the message. “Just stay alive,” John Darnielle says, over and over, and by the end of the song he’s screaming it. The message to people struggling could not be more clear. It’s impossible to miss the message, but it’s worth commenting briefly on the delivery method. “Spent Gladiator 2” is the sister song and it’s a much quieter one, but the explosion of the first one really forces you to pay attention. If you’re in a position where this song can help you, John Darnielle wants to do all he can to make you listen to it.

261. Waco

Alex Russell All Hail West Texas , , , , , ,

Two doomed lovers talk about their circumstances in grandiose terms in “Waco.”

Track: “Waco”
Album: All Hail West Texas (2013 reissue)

Counting the alternate version of “Jenny,” the reissue of All Hail West Texas in 2013 had seven songs that weren’t on the first release. One is safe to assume that “Waco” was the closest to making it originally, as it’s the only one that seems to have been played live. In the liner notes of the reissue, John Darnielle says he liked the song but didn’t like the second take, so this demo version is all you get. That explains why it ends so abruptly and why something this complete isn’t on the album.

“Waco” would fit right in on All Hail West Texas. The title explains the first verse, as this is about the Branch Davidians who met their end during the raid in Waco, Texas in 1993. If you’re an American of a certain age, the word “Waco” isn’t something you connect to anything else other than that event. It’s a disaster that is grand in scope, and it’s not surprising to hear a Mountain Goats narrator connect their crumbling relationship to a tremendous event.

The parallels between the verses are purposeful. The first verse seems to be actually the Branch Davidians, speaking figuratively about the dead rising and Jesus offering the only salvation people are interested in. The second verse borrows the zombie language that John Darnielle typically reserves for miserable relationships, but then inserts the same chorus to show how much the two can resemble each other. These two talk about coming to Waco to “get away from our friends” and to “relish the short time left.” They aren’t going to die in fiery disaster in a compound, but they’ve got bad things coming to them and they feel just as doomed.

260. All Devils Here Now

Alex Russell Unreleased , , , , , , , , ,

The neighbors look in on the Alpha Couple in “All Devils Here Now.”

Track: “All Devils Here Now”
Album: Unreleased (Released on Twitter by John Darnielle in 2012)

John Darnielle released “All Devils Here Now” himself on Twitter and said it “shares psychic & geographic space with all the other stuff I was writing about in 2002 & 2003.” Even if he didn’t offer that directly, you’d pick out the Alpha Couple from the story.

Most of the songs about the ill-fated couple in Tallahassee, Florida focus on how they fall in and out of love with each other as they realize this isn’t going to work. It’s rare to get an outsider’s perspective, but “All Devils Here Now” shows us what it’s like to live next to these people and consider their existence without all the details. From what we know, these neighbors see enough, but lines like “you see us at the grocery store // you wonder what we’re shopping for” are evocative. Who among us hasn’t felt that?

The few live versions that exist don’t do justice to the song, for my money. The bugs in the background are real, as John Darnielle confirmed when he released the song, and live it becomes more jaunty than the demo. The demo has the feel of being on the back porch with these two and hearing them tell you these things. There’s an element of self awareness to the delivery mechanism. The Alpha Couple always knows they are doomed and what sets them apart is usually their willingness to engage with that fact, if only internally. They don’t embrace the darkness until the end, which puts this probably closer to the end of the trajectory, but “shrieks and squeals” and “worse for wear” could describe any weekend with these two.

259. Supergenesis

Alex Russell Black Pear Tree EP , , , , ,

We hear from the serpent on what happened after the fall in “Supergenesis.”

Track: “Supergenesis”
Album: Black Pear Tree EP (2008)

A. K. M. Adam, a Biblical scholar at Oxford University, wrote a lengthy paper in 2011 about John Darnielle’s use of religious symbols. It’s the kind of thing that any Mountain Goats fan should be in awe of, not just for the scope but for the origin of it. This is a scholar, someone who has dedicated their life’s work to this subject, that feels it is important to spend a lot of time digging through Mountain Goats songs.

He spends some time on “Supergenesis,” from the 2008 collaboration between the Mountain Goats and Kaki King. The song is about the Biblical serpent from Genesis and what happens after the snake is forced from Eden. The paper is worth reading for far more than that, but Adam calls out specifically that the “battle plan” this snake is waiting to enact and the judgement it feels is so unfair are both about God. I suppose that’s obvious, but it really makes you contend with what is happening in “Supergenesis.”

The Mountain Goats toured with Kaki King around the release of Black Pear Tree and played much of the EP most nights. Live, “Supergenesis” often became a sprawling jam where Kaki King opened up for minutes at a time. It’s worth checking a few of those out, because the message of the song is striking once you reckon with the scale of the conflict, but the guitar is really what makes “Supergenesis” something to get lost in.

258. Sinaloan Milk Snake Song

Alex Russell Zopilote Machine , , , , , ,

The Bright Mountain Choir delivers a strange, beautiful performance on “Sinaloan Milk Snake Song.”

Track: “Sinaloan Milk Snake Song”
Album: Zopilote Machine (1994)

“Sinaloan Milk Snake Song” has been played live and recorded a handful of times. There are even a few videos you can find, which isn’t common and is sometimes discouraged directly by John Darnielle. There’s a compulsion as a fan to want to see everything, but also it’s understandable that John Darnielle wants to keep some mystique. In most cases, I’d suggest live versions of songs as John Darnielle is an incredible performer and you owe it to yourself to witness how consistently he goes for broke. “Sinaloan Milk Snake Song” is a rare case where I have to side with the album.

The Bright Mountain Choir is four people, including former bassist Rachel Ware, who performed backing vocals on a lot of early Mountain Goats albums. They may never be better represented than “Sinaloan Milk Snake Song.” The chorus mixes John Darnielle’s drone with their harmony to create a much different vibe than most other songs from the period. Different members of the Choir jump in and out with fluttering sounds, sometimes hitting the words and sometimes not, and it feels panicked in a deliberate way. It’s reductive to say “you have to hear it” but you really do, in this case, have to hear it.

“I’ve got a message for you // but you’re gonna have to come and get it” is a threat, most likely, and “ever since I came here // all I could think about is water” is an extremely John Darnielle thing to say. The lyrics are something, but it’s really the Choir that sells this one. John Darnielle’s voice cracks in key places and it may not be everyone’s style to view “voice cracks” and “drone” as positives, but this narrator sells us on their situation and it all mixes quite nicely with the harmonies.

257. Orange Ball of Hate

Alex Russell Zopilote Machine , , , , , , , ,

We only get one side of the story in “Orange Ball of Hate,” but what we do see tells us enough.

Track: “Orange Ball of Hate”
Album: Zopilote Machine (1994)

There are four “Orange Ball” songs that aren’t connected beyond the title format. All four “fit” within the catalog, but “Orange Ball of Hate” is the closest one to other Mountain Goats songs from the early 90s. Our narrator is in love, in their way, but is also furious with their partner. “I sure do love you” has never felt so sarcastic.

It’s not the most interesting detail in the song, but “Orange Ball of Hate” is one of few Mountain Goats songs to gender either character explicitly. John Darnielle has said that people assume his narrators are male because he is male, but even aside from that detail, most songs don’t list enough detail within the text to assume gender of speaker or audience. Here the narrator reveals their audience through a joke, as they say “one of us, I’m not saying who, has got rocks in her head.” I mention it only because it happens so rarely, I don’t think there’s anything to it other than needing a gender for the joke to work.

The feeling here is less rare. So many narrators occupy this space of a mix of positive and negative feelings towards a partner. John Darnielle has said it’s about the moment that “you know it’s not going to get any better” and most discussions of the song mirror that sentiment. “I sure do love you,” the narrator snarls, again and again, and it cuts worse than being directly hateful. By the end of the third verse, our narrator feels the need to defiantly say that they do know the children’s song the other character is singing, they “just don’t feel like singing it.” This kind of sullen pettiness signals nothing good.

256. Hospital Reaction Shot

Alex Russell Hex of Infinite Binding EP , , , , , ,

The death of Judy Garland and what comes after is one snapshot in “Hospital Reaction Shot.”

Track: “Hospital Reaction Shot”
Album: Hex of Infinite Binding EP (2018)

There are several Mountain Goats songs about Judy Garland, often more directly so than songs about other figures. Without context you might not be able to pick this one out, but John Darnielle released album notes that describe “Hospital Reaction Shot” as “drawn from a picture of Mickey Deans holding a press conference to inform the world of the death of Judy Garland, to whom he had been married for three months.”

Hex of Infinite Binding is one of a handful of EPs released in the last few years, at the time of this writing. Most of the albums have accompanying singles, but now the band is also releasing a relative flood of one-off EPs. I don’t know if this is a common sentiment among fans, but I never seem to digest these EPs as fully as the albums. I haven’t spent as much time with Hex of Infinite Binding as I have with the other recent material, but “Hospital Reaction Shot” feels especially distant.

Despite the traditional subject matter, it’s really not a traditional Mountain Goats song. There’s a brief instrumental bridge, which is just about unheard of in a Mountain Goats song. John Darnielle’s vocal delivery is deliberately thin, with a distant effect as though he’s Mickey Deans himself, overcome in the moment and not sure how to tell the world. I can’t find the specific photo the song references, but I don’t think you need to see it in place of that delivery. In other songs we hear about the terrible influences and the struggle Judy Garland faced, but in the reaction shot, we just need to consider the moment it all goes away.