“Shadow Song” was written for one person who is no longer here, but for you, it can be for anyone.

Track: “Shadow Song”
Album: The Coroner’s Gambit (2000)

I have to be careful with “Shadow Song.” If you know yourself well, you can understand what I mean if you think about what your version of this is. When I sit down to write these, I do my research and I sit with the song itself, even if it’s one I’ve heard a million times. I do not need to listen to “Shadow Song” again, but I honor my process and I do the thing. “Shadow Song” is about death, but it’s also about talking to someone that you think probably can’t hear you anymore. Like much of The Coroner’s Gambit, it is directly speaking to Rozz Williams, a musician and a friend of John Darnielle who passed on. It does not need to be that for you. It should be, I feel, at least a little bit, to respect the intention and the dedication, but it is probably about someone else for you.

There are other, more specific songs in the Mountain Goats catalog that fill similar space. The generality of “Shadow Song” is what really does it for me, though, and that’s not something I would say for a lot of John Darnielle’s music. I had a good relationship with my own father, so “Pale Green Things” does not make me think of him. He did pass on at a time in my life that was a crossroads, so “You or Your Memory,” however, does. “Shadow Song” is not, for me, about one person, but it’s a constant symbol of whoever is on my mind most recently. It’s a beautiful song, but it’s also so clearly about what it is about that it forces you to pay attention and to insert someone. Spend a few minutes with them, whether they can hear you or not.