Philyra

207. Third Snow Song

Alex Russell Philyra, Protein Source of the Future...Now! , , , , , ,

A lone character bangs a key against an icy bridge in a statement about what it’s like to live in the cold in “Third Snow Song.”

Track: “Third Snow Song”
Album: Philyra (1994) and Protein Source of the Future…Now! (1999)

At a show in Florida in 1998, John Darnielle played “Third Snow Song” on request. He dedicated it to anyone who has lived “in snow” and told the Tallahassee crowd to thank “whatever forces control your life” that they don’t have to experience multiple feet of snow. What’s more, after he finished the song, he asked the requester if they only asked for it because it’s an obscure song.

At the time, the only way to know “Third Snow Song” would be to have a copy of Philyra. Here in 2019 a copy will cost you about $30 USD, but there’s no telling how hard it would have been in 1998. John Darnielle mentioned that he didn’t even have one. It was re-released on the compilation Protein Source of the Future…Now! the next year and obviously, now, it’s everywhere online, but it makes one wonder what that person wanted from this song in 1998 in Florida.

It’s a short song with some catchy guitar. The into is toe-tapping and John Darnielle’s voice is upbeat. His character walks down Broadway in Portland and scrapes ice off the bridge with an old key. The goal seems to be to read the bridge’s dedication plaque. I’m unable to find what it says, but it doesn’t feel like it’s critical to the song. The character may or may not care, but given what we know about John Darnielle’s time in Portland, it’s more likely that they just needed a goal, however arbitrary.

If you’ve ever lived somewhere with lots of snow, you can sympathize with the feeling of trying to bang snow and ice off of something. You can feel yourself against a huge structure and the larger world as the cold makes you feel like the world itself is out to get you.

200. The Monkey Song

Alex Russell Philyra, Protein Source of the Future...Now! , , , , ,

Does a song about a monkey in the basement hold greater meaning or is this really just “The Monkey Song?”

Track: “The Monkey Song”
Album: Philyra (1994) and Protein Source of the Future…Now! (1999)

“The Monkey Song” is not a traditional Mountain Goats song. It’s impossible to sing without a smile, given the absurd chorus about a monkey in the basement. “How did the monkey get there” and “where did the monkey come from” sound like lyrics from a children’s song. When played live, people have a good time and laugh along with John Darnielle. He sometimes even offers a mocking grand statement about the song to drive home the contrast with how silly it is.

There’s nothing wrong with a silly song. You will definitely wonder what this monkey is supposed to represent and why it’s in the basement, but you’ll just as quickly decide that you shouldn’t think so hard about a song called “The Monkey Song.” Given its placement on Philyra with a song about Portuguese water dogs, the urge to dismiss greater meaning is strong. But then, the other two songs on the album are serious, intense meditations on love and struggle. The other releases in 1994 tackle dark topics. What’s it all mean?

I’d like to say that “The Monkey Song” is the key to all of it. I’d like to suggest that it’s one of the songs that seems like it has a deeper meaning to unlock and in doing so, you gain a greater understanding of John Darnielle and yourself. More likely, it’s a silly song with a chorus that crowds can pick up on quickly. John Darnielle once told a story about playing in Europe and hearing a voice in the crowd yell something like “play monkey song!” in heavily accented English and how shocking it was. It’s not that there isn’t anything to understand here, it’s just that it may not always be the most important point.

149. Pure Honey

Alex Russell Philyra, Protein Source of the Future...Now! , , , , ,

“Pure Honey” asks the most unimportant question in the catalog but will keep you guessing just the same.

Track: “Pure Honey”
Album: Philyra (1994) and Protein Source of the Future…Now! (1999)

In November of 2016, John Darnielle played a set for charity in Chicago. It is one of very few instances where you can hear “Pure Honey.” You should check it out.

“Pure Honey” is a stupid song. Songs like “Going to Maine” and “The Monkey Song” are similar songs that sound silly when compared to most of the 500+ song Mountain Goats catalog, but a song is allowed to be stupid or silly. These aren’t insulting terms. John Darnielle describes them the same way. You just have to be honest when you’re singing a song about the dangers of seals or a funny ode to ancient British people.

John Darnielle sometimes mentions his early career and talks about how he didn’t like being “the guy with the funny songs.” He was a poet first, so one can understand the fun of people laughing along with something silly competing with “serious” craft.

The best Mountain Goats experiences have both. “New Chevrolet in Flames” has a bunch of jokes in it, but it’s about two people who shouldn’t be together and delay the end of their experience by lighting a car on fire for fun. There are tons of these songs in the recent past, but the early songs tended to be shorter and had less room to explore their ideas.

Keep all of that in your head as you listen to someone pay $200 for John Darnielle to play “Pure Honey” in 2016. It is a song that entirely exists for a repeated joke and the absurd idea it conjures in your mind. Did this person just want to tie a $200 donation to something that silly or is “Pure Honey” something more to them? Could be either, but I personally don’t think either is any more fitting than the other.

104. Love Cuts the Strings

Alex Russell Philyra, Protein Source of the Future...Now! , , , , ,

 

Numerous deep-cut references make the exciting “Love Cuts the Strings” a lyrical puzzle worth solving.

Track: “Love Cuts the Strings”
Album: Philyra (1994) and Protein Source of the Future…Now! (1999)

As of this writing, the most recent Mountain Goats album is about wrestling. Like everything else in the catalog it’s not solely about what it’s “about,” but the songs that explore the consistent themes of the band (loneliness, deserved rewards, external and internal struggles, etc.) are about wrestling, this time. Similar experiments include the meth album, the stepdad album, and the divorcing-couple-in-Tallahassee-Florida album.

No matter how out there the structure gets, though, you’re still listening to a Mountain Goats album. The themes repeat like they do for all artists who write about the things they really care about. Two decades ago while writing Philyra, John Darnielle clearly wanted to couch his themes in much more obtuse subject matter. There isn’t one connecting element to the four songs, but they definitely still feel at home in the catalog.

“Love Cuts the Strings” is the most raucous of the four. Darnielle strums at light speed and barks out lines like “punch-drunk, snowblind, as though the whole thing were a bad dream.” It’s easy to get into the beat and to nod along with the intensity, but just what the lyrics are talking about is a little murky.

Kypris is another name for Aphrodite, who also shows up in the last verse as “the green-eyed goddess” who prepares for war. As near as I can tell, the narrator is imagining the concept of love as something that’s following them as they flee. They mention recognizing the figure but not understanding how, which seems about right for a Darnielle narrator’s relationship with affection. Finally, they picture the air around love turning red as they feel “a dull chill” come over themselves.