The Life Of The World To Come
The Mountain Goats have released another outstanding album, and what’s really amazing is that the rather agnostic John Darnielle has taken inspiration for each track on this album from the scriptures.
I know that some people will roll their eyes and assume that I’m only interested because of the “theme” of this album, but as a proud owner of a number of Mountain Goats albums I can say that this is a much better release than the previous album “Heretic Pride” and its really the first release for a couple of years that’s really had me singing along to the lyrics.
Each track’s title is taken from a scripture reference, but the link between the lyrics and the text are sometimes fairly hard to figure out, so don’t expect him to be knocking out some sort of badly written Hillsong lyric, instead the links are much more quirky and much more beautiful than that.
And don’t expect him to be knocking out some anti-christian / anti-god rhetoric in these songs either, I don’t think he’s out there to make a point, instead he’s really allowing the text to inspire him in a way that creates some really beautiful songs and stories.
The song titled “Matthew 25:21.” reflects on the death of someone suffering with cancer, with deep honesty and utter respect he tells his story, enough to make one weep if they were to listen to the music hard enough and allow the lyrics to truly speak to them.
One of my favourite tracks is Genesis 3:23, which people may remember to be the verse where God sends Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden to till the soil. The song tells the story of someone breaking into the house they used to live in and exploring their household, something that might not be too strange for many people, when home in Adelaide I will occasionally drive past our old family household and wonder who lives there and how they live…
I’m in love with this album, yet I’m still trying to find the best space to listen to it as with most Mountain Goats albums it’s not a great driving cd, yet there are some great driving songs and it’s not a happy cd, so perhaps listening to it on a bus or at work may not be a good idea either. So far I’ve found that listening to it in the dark before sleep hits as the best place to listen and allow the beautiful and confusing lyrics to do their work.
If you’ve got the spare cash, head over to iTunes now and purchase the cd, turn off the lights and listen to one of my favourite cds of the last year, and if not for the odd independent radio station picking up an occasional track you won’t be hearing it anywhere else.
Beautiful, strange, dizzy, odd, stunning, emotional, groovy, disturbing, inspirational….
The lyrics of Genesis 3:23 are:
House up in Clearlake
Where I used to live
Picked the lock on the front door
And felt it give
Touch nothing move nothing stand still
Keep my ears open for cars
See how the people here live now
Hope they’re better at it than I was
I used to live .. here
I used to live .. here
I used to live .. here
I used to live .. here
Pictures up on the mantle
Nobody I know
I, stand by the tiny furnace
Where the long shadows grow
Living room to bedroom to kitchen
Familiar and warm
Hours we spent starving within these walls
Sounds of a distant storm
I used to live .. here
I used to live .. here
I used to live .. here
I used to live .. here
Fight through the ghosts in the hallway
Duck and weave
Stand by the door with my eyes closed
When it’s time to leave
Steal home before sunset
Cover up my tracks
Drive home with old dreams of play in my mind
And the wind at my back
Break the lock on my own garden gate
When I get home after dark
Sit looking up at the stars outside
Like teeth in the mouth of a shark
I used to live .. here
I used to live .. here
I used to live .. here
I used to live .. here
Check out another couple of articles on this album:
