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.