the last exit

southwood plantation road by the mountain goats

i’ve got you
you’ve got whatever’s left of me to get
our conversations are like minefields
no one’s found a safe way through one yet

my favorite things by the mountain goats
(live at the bottom of the hill 5/26/2004) 

champagne bubbled up through the neck of the bottle
and sweet sounds came out through the radio
it was john coltrane
goddammit, i love john coltrane

jaipur by the mountain goats

i am the killer dressed in pilgrim’s clothing
i’m the hard-to-find stations on the AM band
i am the white sky high over Tripoli
i am the land mine hidden in the sand 

new chevrolet in flames by the mountain goats

…your mouth is sweeter than wine
and has a more complicated history than the American South 

I know it’s a tired old cliché, but I’m just a sucker for songs about bitter couples trapped in dying marriages who like to get drunk, dress up, and test drive cars for fun. 

With the suspension of adolescence, I think about parts of early indie… where there’s an idolization of childhood… There’s this idea that there was a point in our childhood when we were in some way better than we are now and we should try to hang on to that. But at the same time I think people who listen to that stuff value their adult reading skills and value their ability to listen to a song on several levels at once. I think most indie rock is trying to impress multivalent listening. I think suspended adolescence is more of a cultural trope than an artistic indie-rock one.

linda blair was born innocent (live at bottom of the hill 6/23/05) by the mountain goats

(this entire show and many other bootlegs are available for free on the Mountain Goats official site, actually)

John introduces this track by saying:

This is a song, which is about those special times you share with the ones you love, when the ones you love have a quarter-pound of quality bathtub crank. And you give ‘em a holler on the phone and you say
“Oh it’s been so long” and they’ll say
“Yes, yes, where does the time go?” and you say
“I don’t know it’s funny that way isn’t it so I hear you have a quarter pound?”
“Oh yes, wherever did you hear? I just got it this weekend from Tino. “
“Oh, is Tino out of jail?”
“Oh, yes, oh he’s fine, he’s got a Jetstream. He’s doing very well.” 

against pollution by the mountain goats

“We Shall All Be Healed” is probably the most important Mountain Goats album to me, because it deals with the nature of addiction in the most sympathetic and compelling way I’ve ever seen. Addicts are addicts for life, and if you’ve ever felt what it’s like to truly love any kind of substance, you know that a simple detox doesn’t cure your love affair. 

Towards the end of the album, there’s this song, which, through the corruption of a Bible verse or two, says that we will ultimately transcend our flaws and addictions. 

when the last days come
we shall see visions
more vivid than sunsets
brighter than stars
we will recognize each other
and see ourselves for the first time
the way we really are 

the boys are back in town/ignition (remix) by the mountain goats
(thin lizzy/r. kelly cover) 

see also: selections from 2003’s forum-board masterpiece “100 Reasons Why “Ignition - Remix” Is So Damned Great,” by John Darnielle