“The Diaz Brothers” isn’t really about the Diaz brothers, it’s about the people you never get to see.

Track: “The Diaz Brothers”
Album: Transcendental Youth (2012)

How many times have you heard “The Diaz Brothers?” If you have been a fan of the Mountain Goats to any degree for more than about ten years as of this writing, that number is probably very high. It’s just one of those songs that you can come back to again and again. It might be one of the better choices to play for a new fan, except that you’d have to say the titular brothers are minor characters from Scarface.

Scarface is a modern classic, sure, but it’s got a weird spot in culture. The violence of the film disgusted people and the message of the film tends to get either lost or completely reversed, depending on your analysis. The Diaz brothers aren’t even in it, they’re just referenced as characters. John Darnielle was watching Scarface and his infant child smiled at the mention and thus we have this song.

As for what the characters are doing in “The Diaz Brothers,” I think you can largely hand wave it away. The point is the characters in the film don’t get any screen time, they’re just guys that matter in a cosmic sense but never show up. That idea, not the broader plot of Scarface, is what’s compelling. We aren’t the main character and neither are they, but that doesn’t mean we can’t spend a little time going deeper on what they’re doing.