“Rotten Stinking Mouthpiece” is both a reference to a 1956 film and a journey removed from it entirely.

Track: “Rotten Stinking Mouthpiece”
Album: All Survivors Pack (2011)

I think I might have said this before I started, but several hundred songs in, I have to say the most important element in a Mountain Goats song is specificity. I do not have the same interests as John Darnielle, but I don’t need to in order to appreciate his lyrics. I have virtually no background in the kind of music he listens to, but the sort of greater Ozzy Osbourne universe he’s created and the world of Goths both feel very real because of how much he loves them. Do you need to see the movie The Lady from Shanghai to appreciate the song “The Lady from Shanghai?” Not really, no, but it’s there if you want to go deeper.

“Rotten Stinking Mouthpiece” is a reference to the Lon Chaney, Jr. film Indestructible Man, and I’ll confess it’s one of the pieces of ephemera that I’m not familiar with across the world of things that made John Darnielle who he is today. Someday, sure, but life is short, and I’ve been feeling the effects lately of trying to be a completist about things. One must make compromises, and mine on this afternoon is accepting that John Darnielle loves this thing and wants to share a piece of it as a song. The resulting song is a little haunting and a little insistent, as a Mountain Goats song tends to be, but I want to highlight the joy of slight understanding. Before I saw The Lady from Shanghai, the song about it felt mysterious. After seeing it, there wasn’t a lightbulb of recognition. It’s not a password that opens a door, it’s just another lens. It’s your decision if you want to add to your experience.