Hi. I want to tell everyone here about this band called the Mountain Goats. I recommend that everyone here should give them a listen and come up with their own conclusion.
John Darnielle, the lead singer and writer, is a storyteller. He's also a devout Catholic, but not your normal Catholic. He writes with a cryptic tone, leading you to decipher what he means. He uses his songs to explore themes such as religion. I say this because I want to let everyone know that the lyrics I post are STORIES, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of the band. Rather, they bring attention to different points of view. The Mountain Goats do not promote any of the views, but just call attention to them.
I want to focus on a couple songs that they have done in an album called "The Life of the World to Come." Every song on that album was titled with a Bible verse. But, I put this in the Secular Music section. The song is somewhat related to the Bible verse, sometimes even exploring the same theme.
The first song is "1 Samuel 15:23." "For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."
This song obviously about someone committing the sin of witchcraft. But, he wants to help people. He wants to welcome people who don't belong anywhere. He uses crystal healing to help the sick. He wants to go to Hell for the sole purpose of aiding the souls who wound up there. The man in this song is the manifestation of "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." Which is an interesting thing to think about.
Notable lyric: "There's more like me where I come from, so mark our shapes. Go down to the netherworld, plant grapes."
The second one is "Psalm 40:2" "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand."
The narrator is definitely a Christian, but not a good one. His view of God is extremely unhealthy. My view of this song is a bit more murky, because there's a lot of different ways you can go with it. He either worships God only because of his power and thinks that he would stop him if he wanted to, or that he's testing God to see if he will stop him, or that he thinks God is supporting what he's doing. A perplexing glimpse into the mind of a madman.
Notable lyric: "Lord, send me a mechanic if I'm not beyond repair.
He has fixed his sign in the sky.
He has raised from the pit and he will set me high."
Again, the Mountain Goats are just telling stories. These two narrators are meant to be examined, not taken up as role models. Anyway, these guys are interesting. I hope this hasn't offended you in any way. If it has, I apologize.
(I cannot post links yet, so look these songs up if you are interested.)
John Darnielle, the lead singer and writer, is a storyteller. He's also a devout Catholic, but not your normal Catholic. He writes with a cryptic tone, leading you to decipher what he means. He uses his songs to explore themes such as religion. I say this because I want to let everyone know that the lyrics I post are STORIES, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of the band. Rather, they bring attention to different points of view. The Mountain Goats do not promote any of the views, but just call attention to them.
I want to focus on a couple songs that they have done in an album called "The Life of the World to Come." Every song on that album was titled with a Bible verse. But, I put this in the Secular Music section. The song is somewhat related to the Bible verse, sometimes even exploring the same theme.
The first song is "1 Samuel 15:23." "For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."
This song obviously about someone committing the sin of witchcraft. But, he wants to help people. He wants to welcome people who don't belong anywhere. He uses crystal healing to help the sick. He wants to go to Hell for the sole purpose of aiding the souls who wound up there. The man in this song is the manifestation of "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." Which is an interesting thing to think about.
Notable lyric: "There's more like me where I come from, so mark our shapes. Go down to the netherworld, plant grapes."
The second one is "Psalm 40:2" "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand."
The narrator is definitely a Christian, but not a good one. His view of God is extremely unhealthy. My view of this song is a bit more murky, because there's a lot of different ways you can go with it. He either worships God only because of his power and thinks that he would stop him if he wanted to, or that he's testing God to see if he will stop him, or that he thinks God is supporting what he's doing. A perplexing glimpse into the mind of a madman.
Notable lyric: "Lord, send me a mechanic if I'm not beyond repair.
He has fixed his sign in the sky.
He has raised from the pit and he will set me high."
Again, the Mountain Goats are just telling stories. These two narrators are meant to be examined, not taken up as role models. Anyway, these guys are interesting. I hope this hasn't offended you in any way. If it has, I apologize.
(I cannot post links yet, so look these songs up if you are interested.)
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