“Family Happiness” uses Russian literature as a jumping off point for a very familiar Mountain Goats situation.

Track: “Family Happiness”
Album: The Coroner’s Gambit (2000)

“Family Happiness” is linked in my mind to “Waving at You.” They aren’t necessarily really connected, but whenever I hear one of the loud, screaming ones I think about how John Darnielle once said that people think those are the ones he really feels, but he thinks it’s more the quiet ones like “Waving at You.” There may be an exception to be found to that rule and it may very well be this one.

John Darnielle’s voice cracks during the scream at the end, but all through “Family Happiness” you can hear the strain. This one is loud, fast, and both definitions of “furious.” These two people share a car and a relationship, but not much else. “When I mouth my silent curses at you // I can see my breath” would be an all-time barb except for what immediately follows and slams home the hate with “I hope the stars don’t even come out tonight // I hope we both freeze to death.”

The title comes from Tolstoy, who is also referenced in the text, but the narrative here is recognizable in other Mountain Goats songs. What maybe sets this one apart is the repeated phrase “you can’t make me go to war.” At the end of the first verse, this seems to be the narrator insisting that no matter how bitter their lover becomes they will not give in and give them the satisfaction. By the end, we see that was never an option and it becomes less effective as a supposed defense. We only have one side of this argument, but it’s safe to say no one here is blameless in how we got here.