The Great project: Entry 4
The Mountain Goats are an incredibly prolific band, publishing four albums in 2002 alone. Tallahassee was one of them, and it is the only Goats album I own. It is one of my favorite ‘one guy and a guitar’ albums. Many find the Goats vocals to be nasaly and hard to listen to, but I think they are pretty solid, and compliment the songs well. The lyrics are spectacular! This album contains one of my favorite break up songs ever, “No Children.”
I hope that our few remaining friends
Give up on trying to save us
I hope we come up with a failsafe plot
To piss off the dumb few that forgave us
I hope the fences we mended
Fall down beneath their own weight
And I hope we hang on past the last exit
I hope it’s already too late
And I hope the junkyard a few blocks from here
Someday burns down
And I hope the rising black smoke carries me far away
And I never come back to this town
Again in my life
I hope I lie
And tell everyone you were a good wife
And I hope you die
I hope we both dieI hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow
I hope it bleeds all day long
Our friends say it’s darkest before the sun rises
We’re pretty sure they’re all wrong
I hope it stays dark forever
I hope the worst isn’t over
And I hope you blink before I do
Yeah I hope I never get sober
And I hope when you think of me years down the line
You can’t find one good thing to say
And I’d hope that if I found the strength to walk out
You’d stay the hell out of my way
I am drowning
There is no sign of land
You are coming down with me
Hand in unlovable hand
And I hope you die
I hope we both die
Hopefully it won’t ever again have personal significance. But the themes on this album are mature and the lyrics are smart. The guitar work is amazing, remaining fresh all the way through.
I don’t think I can part with this cd, because they never made a vinyl version. However, I don’t think I need any other Goats albums, this one satisfies me completely.
Good Lord, that’s horribly sad.