Album of the Week: Tallahassee

Tallahassee is the album of the week. This was the first of the higher quality albums put out by The Mountain Goats. If I were to describe The Mountain Goats concisely I would probably say they are depressing, prolific, and well-read.

I think the lyrics of this band really need to be put at the front stage, so check out these samples:

From Southwood Plantation Road:

All night long you giggle and scream Your brown eyes deeper than a dream I am not going to lose you We are going to stay married In this house like a Louisiana graveyard Where nothing stays buried On Southwood Plantation Road Where the dead will walk again Put on their Sunday best And go with unsuspecting Christian men La la la la la

And from the classic 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 die

Notice a theme? That goes through almost all of the albums by The Mountain Goats. This album is actually entirely about “the alpha couple” but other albums have them too, except in those albums the song title starts with “Alpha.”

My favorites on this album are: Southwood Plantation Road, No Children, Peacocks, See America Right, and Oceanographer’s Choice.

Colors: Brown, Tan.

Posted Sat, Mar 7, 2009

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