I saw the posters popping up around the city Pale blue and washed-out red I went down to the arena, pushing through Hoping I'd run into you Sweet freshly-scrubbed smell of the crowd All the excitement in their eyes We were all made young when he stepped onto the stage Like an animal escaping from his cage Raise the trumpet Sound the drum He whom the prophet spoke of long ago has come All of us too dazed to leave when it was over Dawdled by the vendors for a minute Gathered underneath a summer sky I was hoping you'd pass by But though I didn't see you that day, or the next I'm pretty sure that you were there Making your way among the young and happy horde Headed down to your award Raise the trumpet Sound the drum He whom the prophet spoke of long ago has come
The melody and use of piano here somehow feels to me like a combination of White Cedar and Color in Your Cheeks (two favorites). Love it, can't believe I've just now run across it.
I always just thought this song was about the end of the world - the antichrist has sent note of his arrival, he's appeared where he said he'd be, people went to see if it was really him and they're aware that it's the end of the world. The character in this song is hoping that he'll see either a friend or a romantic interest at such an event, but they're nowhere to be found. Even as the world is about to end, the character can't find who they're looking for. And there's a good chance they'll never see them again. Political, realistic, any sort of theory really - it doesn't matter. I take the words at face value, and it paints a lonely picture. And if there's something that the Mountain Goats do well, it's painting a lonely picture. With words.
maybe there's a connection to "blues in dallas", another tmg song with a similar combination of themes (but a different relationship with the other person)
@qumran48 yeah.... life of the world to come and other closely related songs are just beautiful.... of my top ten, I'm assuming half of which are in that category.
I think too much of the Mountain Goats’ discography tries to get the listener to empathize with people who have become outsiders or outcasts for this song to be the kind of straightforward account of the world ending or some unknowable malevolent being showing itself to humanity - and I think focusing on it is akin to pointing at the TV when watching a horror movie with a friend and criticizing the thing for it not actually being scary, even though you both know what’s going to happen in it and you’re here for each other, not the movie. Now, my personal take on the song is that the Satanic aspect is meant to help flavor the relationship between the characters; they both have comfort with this being or performance framed by a lot of loud voices and intrusive institutions as the ultimate baddie, the icon of sin; and the protagonist in the song is hoping they can spend their brief moments basking in the icon’s light with this person they care about. It doesn’t matter if it’s the endtimes or just another concert in the park or whatever; what matters is that you can still cherish and share the experience with others, and that - not some moralistic judgment or some specter of impending doom - is what’s going to make it special. Having said that it would be fucking sick to see Satan shred or spit live on stage so I’m inclined to take the Satanic part literally just to make the scene cooler, for myself and myself alone.
Okay, so, basically this song is about a person going to a concert of a band or musician (probably heavy metal) who is associated with satanism or satanic imagery. The artist becomes elevated to in fact *being* Satan via reference to the book of Revelations: Raise the trumpet/Sound the drum/He whom the prophet spoke of long ago has come. This is an example of ambivalent isotophy borrowing from Christian beliefs: the references to Satan are clear, but the way the artist is talked about, he might as well be Jesus come again. But the stanzas mostly focus on the experience of the attendants (including the narrator) experiencing the concert, with the narrator hoping an old friend may also have been in attendance. Thus, the focus of the lyrics are on the sense of community of those who have interests that make them outcasts, giving them a sense of belonging and closeness (themes that pop up in a lot of Mountain Goats songs with all sorts of nuances).
That’s such a great response…. It’s the difference between going to a horror movie to see the makeup and special effects (and get a little jump scare and whatnot), verses going to a horror movie to delight in depictions of suffering, torture. and terror. I guess one can see pretty clearly the interior of one’s heart heart, and if it’s not clear, may I suggest Serpent Eyes and a mirror? Hail Satan! (In Jesus’ name) 🐇 🐇 Hail Satan!
People saying this is about Obama using the "headed down to your reward" line to say its about his Nobel Peace Award, songs written in 2008, the announcement of Obamas award was in 2009, cmon guys
It's so bizarre to hear a song about the antichrist that sounds so pleasant and chill. I just wanna go to sleep and dream about clouds while hearing this, it's so nice and yet creepy just behind its face.
It’s like it’s conveying the acceptance of destruction/damnation. The joyful and exuberant people in the crowd KNOW in their hearts that the Anti-Christ is there to herald the end of days. But at that point, doom is already at hand, so why not cheer?
Well, I think the song is about perspective. From the perspective of someone who's been waiting for a long time for the antichrist's arrival, with trepidation and glee, it'd be a joyous event, just as the second coming of Jesus would be for a Christian.
He specifically said in an interview this song has nothing to do with politics. I will add that your "Obama" interpretation is immature and detracts from the gravitas of the song. This song is quite obviously about the marketing of evangelical Christianity. "Hoping I'd run into you" is referring to the Messiah the song is about, who he hopes to find in the crowd. The "he" on the stage, however, is some televangelist showman who riles up crowds and takes their money. "Hoping you'd pass by" refers to the Messiah again, this is Biblical language, think Zacchaeus waiting in the Sycamore tree for Jesus to "pass by." And the vendors are a warning sign. Think the money changers in the temple. Jesus never liked vendors much in the places of God. "Didn't see you that day or the next" refers to the true Messiah, if there is one, or if not the idea of a Messiah, the months of talking to oneself that used to be talking to God which so often marks the losing of true faith. Oddly enough, this is a strange light in which to think of the opening to "woke up new"--it isn't what that song is about, I don't think, but it applies. The "pretty sure that you were there" refers to the idea of Jesus that passes for a messiah in the religious right these days. "Headed down to your reward" im hell, or a wasted and pointless life following a lie, the reward for following a false messiah, the reward technically given to them by the true messiah, if he exists, because he would have planned the whole thing. The song deals with the commercialization of religion, the corruption and slick marketing that some along with it, and the loss or shaking of faith it causes in the speaker.
Hello Jay, Like many songs with great texts, this one is open to several interpretations. Yours is the most well thought out and detailed one I have seen so far. I think if other people find that this song speaks to them more deeply as a political text, that's also great really. and it means the song has achieved its goal of making us all think a little. I love the subtle effect of the frankly "in yer face" song title and the lovely warm ballad that it goes with.
+Jay Jackson There is of course when he says "Heading down to your award" which could represent the Nobel Peace Prize Obama received. And how does the Obama interpretation "immature and detracts from the gravitas of the song"? It is a pretty much a perfect interpretation of the song. And yes, of course, you're entitled to your own opinion- just as I am.
+Kieran Barker except how this song came out a year before Obama won the Nobel prize. And as I mentioned, John Darnielle says it's not about Obama or politics at all.
+The “Invisible” red and blue can reprisent many things, hot and cold, angry and upset, exuberant passion or desolate depression. The politicians don't own those colors or the rhetoric they filled your subconscious mind with, they own you.
It's funny reading the comments years after the Obama administration. And even thought I hate Trump, it's not about him either. I don't even think it's about any current politician. To me it's about a concerned friend trying to find someone they care about caught up in fervor for the literal anti-Christ. Yes you can obviously make some lazy political observation of the current political climate, but It's more of a somber song about searching, and failing to find a lost soul. If you need to make a real world comparison, someone in the comments already has, and it's Jim Jones, or any other cult leader for that matter. Just my interpretation.
i got lucky... i goggled the satanic messiah download link and clicked a bunch of them til one worked... if you cant find it, shoot me your email in a you tube message. I'll just email it.
The pale blue and washed out red posters line is definitely talking about the Obama posters, sounds like he's describing a rally or speech. Very cool song. The amount of conspiracy tirades that I hear is astounding. I thought maybe GW Bush could have been the anti-christ. When I said so in my highschool political science class, I swear a few people were going to burn me at the stake. Good Times!
I saw the posters popping up around the city
Pale blue and washed-out red
I went down to the arena, pushing through
Hoping I'd run into you
Sweet freshly-scrubbed smell of the crowd
All the excitement in their eyes
We were all made young when he stepped onto the stage
Like an animal escaping from his cage
Raise the trumpet
Sound the drum
He whom the prophet spoke of long ago has come
All of us too dazed to leave when it was over
Dawdled by the vendors for a minute
Gathered underneath a summer sky
I was hoping you'd pass by
But though I didn't see you that day, or the next
I'm pretty sure that you were there
Making your way among the young and happy horde
Headed down to your award
Raise the trumpet
Sound the drum
He whom the prophet spoke of long ago has come
the song that brings me back to sitting in church with my grandmother, in an itchy dress that was too big
also reminds me of Jim Jones
I feel that. Also you’re cute :)
The melody and use of piano here somehow feels to me like a combination of White Cedar and Color in Your Cheeks (two favorites). Love it, can't believe I've just now run across it.
i like them more and more everytime you put up a video
I always just thought this song was about the end of the world - the antichrist has sent note of his arrival, he's appeared where he said he'd be, people went to see if it was really him and they're aware that it's the end of the world. The character in this song is hoping that he'll see either a friend or a romantic interest at such an event, but they're nowhere to be found.
Even as the world is about to end, the character can't find who they're looking for. And there's a good chance they'll never see them again.
Political, realistic, any sort of theory really - it doesn't matter. I take the words at face value, and it paints a lonely picture. And if there's something that the Mountain Goats do well, it's painting a lonely picture. With words.
maybe there's a connection to "blues in dallas", another tmg song with a similar combination of themes (but a different relationship with the other person)
I thought it was about me, but most songs I like this much are.
Having read Universal Harvester, I imagine this song is about religious cults. And looking for someone lost to one.
It’s about seeing Ozzy Osborne live, so pretty much
Or political extremism
I love that album art.
11 years too late but I simply love that your pfp is a green m&m
@qumran48 yeah.... life of the world to come and other closely related songs are just beautiful.... of my top ten, I'm assuming half of which are in that category.
I think too much of the Mountain Goats’ discography tries to get the listener to empathize with people who have become outsiders or outcasts for this song to be the kind of straightforward account of the world ending or some unknowable malevolent being showing itself to humanity - and I think focusing on it is akin to pointing at the TV when watching a horror movie with a friend and criticizing the thing for it not actually being scary, even though you both know what’s going to happen in it and you’re here for each other, not the movie.
Now, my personal take on the song is that the Satanic aspect is meant to help flavor the relationship between the characters; they both have comfort with this being or performance framed by a lot of loud voices and intrusive institutions as the ultimate baddie, the icon of sin; and the protagonist in the song is hoping they can spend their brief moments basking in the icon’s light with this person they care about. It doesn’t matter if it’s the endtimes or just another concert in the park or whatever; what matters is that you can still cherish and share the experience with others, and that - not some moralistic judgment or some specter of impending doom - is what’s going to make it special.
Having said that it would be fucking sick to see Satan shred or spit live on stage so I’m inclined to take the Satanic part literally just to make the scene cooler, for myself and myself alone.
Yesterday I was listening to Down to the Ark.
Same.
Okay, so, basically this song is about a person going to a concert of a band or musician (probably heavy metal) who is associated with satanism or satanic imagery. The artist becomes elevated to in fact *being* Satan via reference to the book of Revelations: Raise the trumpet/Sound the drum/He whom the prophet spoke of long ago has come. This is an example of ambivalent isotophy borrowing from Christian beliefs: the references to Satan are clear, but the way the artist is talked about, he might as well be Jesus come again. But the stanzas mostly focus on the experience of the attendants (including the narrator) experiencing the concert, with the narrator hoping an old friend may also have been in attendance. Thus, the focus of the lyrics are on the sense of community of those who have interests that make them outcasts, giving them a sense of belonging and closeness (themes that pop up in a lot of Mountain Goats songs with all sorts of nuances).
That’s such a great response…. It’s the difference between going to a horror movie to see the makeup and special effects (and get a little jump scare and whatnot), verses going to a horror movie to delight in depictions of suffering, torture. and terror. I guess one can see pretty clearly the interior of one’s heart heart, and if it’s not clear, may I suggest Serpent Eyes and a mirror?
Hail Satan!
(In Jesus’ name)
🐇
🐇
Hail Satan!
This song is about a concert.
Nyarlathotep.
Theyre going to a performance of this cool new play called "the yellow king"
People saying this is about Obama using the "headed down to your reward" line to say its about his Nobel Peace Award, songs written in 2008, the announcement of Obamas award was in 2009, cmon guys
sounds almost like "Gone to carolina in my mind"
It's so bizarre to hear a song about the antichrist that sounds so pleasant and chill. I just wanna go to sleep and dream about clouds while hearing this, it's so nice and yet creepy just behind its face.
It’s like it’s conveying the acceptance of destruction/damnation. The joyful and exuberant people in the crowd KNOW in their hearts that the Anti-Christ is there to herald the end of days. But at that point, doom is already at hand, so why not cheer?
Well, I think the song is about perspective.
From the perspective of someone who's been waiting for a long time for the antichrist's arrival, with trepidation and glee, it'd be a joyous event, just as the second coming of Jesus would be for a Christian.
The Apollo 🌹
by any other name as sweet
Hint: the one on the stage is just a distraction (as is the title of the song). The nameless one in the crowd however...
at the end of his life he will be incapable of screaming and red and he will rear a thing you could scarcely call a head
WHAT
that is a terrifying sentence! thank you!
Where is it FROM my google fu fails me
He specifically said in an interview this song has nothing to do with politics. I will add that your "Obama" interpretation is immature and detracts from the gravitas of the song.
This song is quite obviously about the marketing of evangelical Christianity. "Hoping I'd run into you" is referring to the Messiah the song is about, who he hopes to find in the crowd. The "he" on the stage, however, is some televangelist showman who riles up crowds and takes their money.
"Hoping you'd pass by" refers to the Messiah again, this is Biblical language, think Zacchaeus waiting in the Sycamore tree for Jesus to "pass by."
And the vendors are a warning sign. Think the money changers in the temple. Jesus never liked vendors much in the places of God.
"Didn't see you that day or the next" refers to the true Messiah, if there is one, or if not the idea of a Messiah, the months of talking to oneself that used to be talking to God which so often marks the losing of true faith. Oddly enough, this is a strange light in which to think of the opening to "woke up new"--it isn't what that song is about, I don't think, but it applies.
The "pretty sure that you were there" refers to the idea of Jesus that passes for a messiah in the religious right these days.
"Headed down to your reward" im hell, or a wasted and pointless life following a lie, the reward for following a false messiah, the reward technically given to them by the true messiah, if he exists, because he would have planned the whole thing.
The song deals with the commercialization of religion, the corruption and slick marketing that some along with it, and the loss or shaking of faith it causes in the speaker.
Hello Jay,
Like many songs with great texts, this one is open to several interpretations.
Yours is the most well thought out and detailed one I have seen so far.
I think if other people find that this song speaks to them more deeply as a political text, that's also great really.
and it means the song has achieved its goal of making us all think a little.
I love the subtle effect of the frankly "in yer face" song title and the lovely warm ballad that it goes with.
+Jay Jackson There is of course when he says "Heading down to your award" which could represent the Nobel Peace Prize Obama received.
And how does the Obama interpretation "immature and detracts from the gravitas of the song"? It is a pretty much a perfect interpretation of the song. And yes, of course, you're entitled to your own opinion- just as I am.
+Kieran Barker except how this song came out a year before Obama won the Nobel prize. And as I mentioned, John Darnielle says it's not about Obama or politics at all.
thejayjayjay OK, OK... (still doesn't explain the blue & red posters).
+The “Invisible” red and blue can reprisent many things, hot and cold, angry and upset, exuberant passion or desolate depression. The politicians don't own those colors or the rhetoric they filled your subconscious mind with, they own you.
It's funny reading the comments years after the Obama administration. And even thought I hate Trump, it's not about him either. I don't even think it's about any current politician. To me it's about a concerned friend trying to find someone they care about caught up in fervor for the literal anti-Christ. Yes you can obviously make some lazy political observation of the current political climate, but It's more of a somber song about searching, and failing to find a lost soul.
If you need to make a real world comparison, someone in the comments already has, and it's Jim Jones, or any other cult leader for that matter. Just my interpretation.
i got lucky... i goggled the satanic messiah download link and clicked a bunch of them til one worked... if you cant find it, shoot me your email in a you tube message. I'll just email it.
The Song is called Satanic Messiah and according to wikipedia is a "vinyl run of 666"
lol i think we all know what 666 is.
Pfff. Thanks, Obama.
THANKS OBAMA. >:C
For inspiring this great song! :D
it's been 4 years and you're still a fucking idiot
The pale blue and washed out red posters line is definitely talking about the Obama posters, sounds like he's describing a rally or speech. Very cool song. The amount of conspiracy tirades that I hear is astounding. I thought maybe GW Bush could have been the anti-christ. When I said so in my highschool political science class, I swear a few people were going to burn me at the stake. Good Times!