+NocturnalNick you're right. for some reason that "the" makes a big difference in the search results. But it's still a rare occurence, that's almost exclusive to the mountain goats in my experience. It had no problem finding the clash, the stooges, the cure or others, when i typed their band name without the the.
This is a beautiful short film! My take is that it shows a family who all make serious mistakes without knowing or thinking through the consequences and feel heavy guilt over it, relating to the theme of the song. Quote from John: "It's a song about the shame that you carry within you throughout the world and that you can never seem to shrug yourself free of. You will get free of it someday, but I personally can't tell you how because I don't know." The events in the video lead up to everything falling apart for the family. The youngest daughter Eva gets into devil worship and the occult as a form of rebellion from her upbringing. She is becoming more withdrawn and distant, especially to her Catholic mother. Eva prefers to sit alone and draw as opposed to joining in the party with her family and neighbors. She does however appear to have a decent relation with her father Peter Peter Hughes when they work on the bike together. Eva is still in a good relationship with her older sister Toby as they build a maze for their rat. Toby rebels by sleeping with a boy and getting pregnant. It shows the mother to be very Catholic and still having feelings for her ex Jon Wurster, looking at the photo of him. Perhaps she had a child out of wedlock with Jon and kept the child because of the card in the window saying “A child, not a choice”. But the burden she feels is very much still present causing her to feel guilty and having a strained relationship with her eldest daughter. Eva has a band with her friend called Iscariot Rising and I think is being influenced by John Darnielle’s character. After the scene of John saying “I’m still here, but all is lost” to her (which I think takes place earlier the day of the party due to her wearing the same clothes and has her sketchbook), she builds the altar in the attic with the candles and mountain goat head. I think the scene between the mother and Peter in the car could be a number of things. I think it's her telling Peter about the influence John is having on Eva or maybe the mother found the altar too. This ultimately leads to Peter confronting John and killing him and that being Peter’s guilt. His hand is shaking as he drinks afterwards.
Some things you do just to see How bad they'll make you feel Sometimes you try to freeze time 'Til those thoughts are a blur of spinning wheels But I am just a broken machine And I do things that I don't really mean Long black night, morning frost I'm still here, but all is lost Speed up to the precipice And then slam on the brakes Some people crash two or three times And then learn from their mistakes But we are the ones who don't slow down at all And there's nobody there to catch us when we fall Long black night, morning frost I'm still here, but all is lost Feel the storm every night, hope it passes by Hallucinate a shady grove where Judas went to die Unfurl the black velvet altar cloth Draw a white chalk baphomet Mistreat your altar boys long enough And this is what you get Sad and angry, can't learn how to behave Still won't know how in the darkness of the grave Long black night, morning frost I'm still here, but all is lost
even though the lyrics are so dark, it's such a wonderful, joyful song that exudes empathy. Going to Georgia, Psalm 40:2, this song... Mountain Goats are so good at that
This song is a great representation of the veterinary profession for vets and nurses. Long hours and shit pay (long black nights, morning frost). The high turn over rate (mistreat your altar boys long enough and this is what you get). That feeling you get when a friend leaves for better things outside the industry (i'm still here but all is lost). Really speaks to me.
1. Very good music video, very good rat; 2. Very good song; 3. A blast to sing along with and try to do the backing vocals/whatever harmony you feel like
Ok, I'm working on a theory. The story centers around a messed-up family at a party of some kind, probably for the 4th of July. We have several major characters: -Two redheaded sisters, one older with a boyfriend and one younger who is in a band. -The dark-haired catholic mother, who had the two girls in a relationship with Jon Wurster. He is now dead or otherwise absent. -John Darnielle, who is now in a relationship with the mother. This is only implied loosely because they are on rocky ground at the party in the video. He is a terrible stepfather and seems threatening to the youngest daughter at the party. -Peter Hughes, who is JD's brother and in love with the mother as well. He has an uncle-niece relationship with the daughters. The mother has made some questionable choices, such as forcing herself to keep her child, marrying JD, and then becoming involved with PH behind his back. Her daughters echo this trend of poor decision-making; the eldest is in an abusive relationship and gets knocked up, and the younger is so isolated that she has begun to practice satanism. PH and the mother's relationship spirals so far out of control that in a drunken rage, PH kills JD. At the end of the video, every character has made a decision that will have major consequences, and their secrets will inevitably be revealed to each other. This story reflects the theme of the lyrics, which center around making brash and often disastrous decisions and being forced to live the consequences of your actions. There are a few holes, (JD's character is extremely ephemeral, and his relationship to the others is largely inferred from his few seconds of screentime) but I feel like it makes some sense in my mind.
SenorCollyWolly First of all, this is a great piece and a welcome read, but I have a couple of observations to make. First, JD doesn't seem threatening as a stepfather, to me he's just trying his best to fill JW's shoes and be a present and trustworthy dad; it's the family who's not buying it (first of all, there are no scenes where we see the mother and/or the elder daughter and JD together; secondly and more evidently, the young daughter answers to his "I'm still here" by just silently staring at him through her mask. The mask itself is a metaphor of the distance between the two). All of this makes it harder to figure why PH would kill JD. Part of me believes that JD committed suicide in the garage over the isolation he feels within his family and his own perceived failures; PH just found his body while fishing for a paintbrush (see the open jar of varnish in his hand) and is now just sitting there, dumbfounded and dazed, because he never really saw that coming. I'd also like to offer that the only sane relationship in the family seems to be that of the two sisters, who for the most part get each other, having had similar experiences in the past as their family went through its successive crises and adjustments. For the most part, they enjoy spending time together, as they built a maze for their rat with lovely detail together, and are both eager to see the result when they release the animal in it. However, theit relationship starts to deteriorate as the sisters go down different paths: the tension in the last scene is pretty palpable, as the younger sister tries to understand what her older sibling is going through and the elder one, despite the understanding and help she is implicitly being offered, realizes that they are growing apart and turns her back on the last relation she could put her complete faith in: from now on, she is emotionally alone. I'd like some analysis on the rat-in-the-maze metaphor here as well, given that the rat is given notable screentime. The only meaning I've found so far is that all beings, however intelligent, will eventually have to go down the path their condition has reserved for them, just like a rat in a maze, no matter if what lies ahead is a darkness that they would only like to escape; or, as JD himself puts it Sax Rohmer #1, "every moment leads toward its own sad end". The last observation I would offer is that throughout the video, in most scenes the characters and their actions are in enclosed spaces, surrounded by darkness, further underscoring the isolation they feel from the others.
Oh and also, it's funny how they put a few Easter eggs in the video: the mountain goat head at 2:37; the completely amateurish "metal" band at 1:16, which reminds me of Jeff's and Cyrus' similar enterprise (and of JD's old Casio songs); and PH tightly embracing the catholic mother in the car around 2:06, which makes me think of the second stanza in Jenny, the car replacing the Kawasaki motorcycle, but the protagonist still sinking his face into his lover's hair and inhaling of her smell in a moment of bliss. There may be more, but as many of MG's stories tend to have characters, themes and situations in common it's hard to tell unwanted relationships from those which were planned. For instance, most of Broom People would neatly fit here as a description of the characters' life and their possessions: the "junk in the unattached spare room", the old car in the garage (even if it is no 1936 Hudson), and so on, but I'm probably reading too deeply into this video by now
+Niccolò Frualdo I have to disagree on the father and John. Near the end, that doesn't look like a can of varnish to me. It looks like a mason jar. Farther down south it's more common that people use mason jars as glasses to drink out of. Tom me, it looks more like he killed him out of jealousy for "taking his place" in the family (which works with the daughters feeling isolated for him, and his reuniting with his ex wife, makes him jealous again. This along with John being killed on top of a plastic that is usually depicted when someone kills a person they plan on disposing of without evidence. So, where as you see it as the father unfortunately finding John dead from a suicide, I see it as a jealous father killing his "replacement " and wanting to return to his "old life". And realizing he can't do so, drinks to calm himself from his anger that sent him into a rage that killed John. "I'm still here, but all is lost". There is however the other possibility that the youngest daughter could be John's killer as she resents him for "replacing" her father. The father has no blood on him when we see him next to Johns body, but the younger sister we can only see from the shadows. I'm not saying John is depicted as an abusive father in the video, more so, a person who tried to do the right thing and be a father, but isn't given a chance because (as well as other songs including some that you listed in the Easter eggs) he isn't given the chance to. He is pre-judged for unfair reasons and assumptions, and is taken from the world in a "cavalcade of anger and fear".
+EdwardMelton same guy who wrote the second and third comment here. I can't really see the young daughter as the killer, she's too deep in her world to do anything that real. As for Peter, I can sort of see him do it. When you see him look away at 2:12, you could read that as a show of insincerity; or maybe he's just now realizing how jealous he is of John, and how he wants him dead. Maybe the jar/glass in his hand at the homicide scene is to let us think he's been drinking in order to find the strength to do the deed, and he's now contemplating what he just did while still drinking. Still, I think the conflicts here are for the most part kept inside: every person in the family keeps his own hurt for himself and finds ways to channel them out on their own. For the elder daughter that would be sex with her boyfriend; for the younger one it's her drawings, her music and her "Satanism"; the mother finds comfort in her relationship with Peter, as he does with her; Peter also drinks to keep the bad thoughts away. However, the person who suffers the most is John: John is the one who works hardest to keep the family together, and he's the one who feels the most isolated - from his stepdaughters, who are growing apart from him; from his wife, who is divided between missing her first husband, Jon Wurster, and her growing affection for Peter; from Peter, who he feels is taking over his role in the family (and Peter himself might only have a vague sense of this, up to his possible epiphany at 2:12). So he's the one who feels the most distress, and that would explain his suicide. He may even be the one who has laid the tarpaulin on which he is found, in order to make the whole thing less messy for the others to clean. Which doesn't completely make sense, but at this stage John is clearly not thinking straight anymore. The last (and only) time we see John before he's found dead, back at the at dinner party (1:47), he's still vainly trying to reason with the young daughter. Time passes (notice how every time we see Peter he's dressed differently, for instance), John grows depressed and alone (even though we don't see it as it happens) and finally reacts by killing himself.
But it's about CATHOLICISM! The good Protestant people of Moralton would *never* be associated with... that. Nah, you're totally right! The family maintaining an "everything's fine, Godly, and righteous" exterior while their reality is completely different, with darkness and secrets barely hidden under the surface definitely reminds me of Moral Orel. Particularly Season 3. My partner hates that season because it's so dark, but it's one of my all-time favorite pieces of television. It was also my introduction to The Mountain Goats (featuring No Children, Old College Try, and Love, Love, Love). I picked up Tallahassee, fell in love with the album, and became a fan. I flew out to Portland to see them live in September 2019 (they're never gonna play in Hawai'i, so 🤷🏻♀️) back when I didn't know what 2020 would bring. Now I'm incredibly F'in thankful I had the opportunity/ability to see them before... Well, ya know.
Beautiful music video even though I have absolutely no idea what the connecting narrative is. Obviously we have a woman who is in love with both Wurster and PPH who is also Catholic and pregnant when she doesn't want to be/it's a secret. A young boy (girl?) who is into Satanism. And JD who's just hangin' out being ephemeral. I actually laughed at the JD death scene. It's so out of the blue. I have such a strong feeling JD and PPH requested this scene b.c. it is just so ridiculous with the fake gore and murder weapon. Love how the band members are woven into this in bizarre ways. Just love JD in music videos period.
From my laymen knowledge of the bible Judas Iscariot (Isocariot Rising is written on the drums) was one of the 12 apostles, he was the person who betrayed Jesus, however according to the bible that death could be interpreted as leading to humanities salvation. In the end I think that Judas hanged himself. I think that the song's about making (big) mistakes (some people crash 2 or 3 times before they learn from their mistakes) (which could also be an allusion to Judas falling) and having to 'deal' with them. the line "I'm still here but all is lost" may also be about how after every thing that happens (the girl gets pregnant, ect) we still have to go on. The mice in the maze is also a metaphor for having to figure the right 'direction' to take.
Am I the only one who sees JDs character as good guy, not giving a threat but a warning. Seems like he was the only one who knew how fucked up their little community was and that his days were numbered
@NotALotOfColonial SpaghettiToGoAround you just told my life story. Because I felt unease by behaviour that family seemed blind to I had a baby very young. I loved my baby and it opened my eyes to the evil surrounding me and so I found the light sadly my baby died on the breast. I’ve never healed and I realise I never will. But I am starving myself to save anymore of my bloodline continuing.
Jenne Baram 1 second ago I think he’s stuck around because he’s buried there. To me it seems that the wife had an affair or flirted with him. The husband hit her for it, giving her a bloody nose, then killed him. His youngest daughter turned to satanism and his older daughter got pregnant out of wedlock with no option for abortion. Everyone committed a sin that meant “all is lost” in some capacity or other. And the ghost stays.
Love this song, and the album, and of course tMG in general, but I just don't get this music video. What does it mean, if anything? Either I can't follow it or it seems the characters are drifting in and out of each other's narratives, not following a cohesive plot, which is cool, and I get the sentiment
Five years later, but: I feel the same. The style looks familiar, like I've seen the artist's work before (or the artist that inspired the image in the video). I've never been able to find out who's responsible for creating that painting, and I really, really want to know.
I'd like to offer up the interpretation that Peter ends up killing JD because he sees the altar his daughter had made, and must've seen them talking by the lake. HE knows JD and if anyone's going to convince someone of the virtues of Satanism, well, it's probably JD. Maybe he saw that his wife was painting a picture of Jon Wurster, too. He says, "I've had enough TMG. It's ruining my family!" so he kills JD. Or you know there's really no backstory at all, and I'd be fine with that too.
The woman's actual love is Wurster (hence the gazing at the photo), but she gets knocked up by Peter and is forced by her religion to keep the baby (hence the catholic card and 'child, not a choice' postcard).
I assume that's an old boyfriend or a current love, and the subject of the discussion she has with her husband (Peter). What I don't quite get is whether they're in the car in the garage and we see them hugging from a distance, or if they're outside the garage and as they hug, Peter looks into the garage and sees another couple in that car. Either way, it leads to Peter killing JD with a rake and laying his bloody corpse out on a plastic tarp, as one does.
I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: the rat in this video is one of the most compelling actors I've ever seen on film.
A decade later, Peter Hughes has struck again in the mountain goats cinematic universe.
ALSO in a garage...
I get shivers when John looks at the camera and says "I'm still here"
agree.
I've been coming back for the last few years and always remember this comment. So, I'M STILL HERE
Same same same
John is life.
@@kirstymartin471 I love all you people
For some reason I really love the shot of the girl blinking behind the tiger mask. It's perfect.
same
mountain goats my favourite band, that gets overshadowed by footage of goats in the mountains when i youtube search their music
>"The"
+NocturnalNick you're right. for some reason that "the" makes a big difference in the search results. But it's still a rare occurence, that's almost exclusive to the mountain goats in my experience. It had no problem finding the clash, the stooges, the cure or others, when i typed their band name without the the.
I mean mountain goats are pretty neat too
Look up Satan's Fingers or The Hospital Bombers they're even better!
If you specifically talking about what’s come out of the Denton area.
Easily my favorite metal band.
The best metal band is Satan's fingers/the Killers/ the Hospital Bombers. Death metal that is.
Well those guys are the best death metal band to come out of the Denton area.
Will Flock True.
Several people are typing...
"metal"
Somehow that rat being impossibly cute feels completely appropriate to this song and to John's output in general.
This is a beautiful short film! My take is that it shows a family who all make serious mistakes without knowing or thinking through the consequences and feel heavy guilt over it, relating to the theme of the song. Quote from John: "It's a song about the shame that you carry within you throughout the world and that you can never seem to shrug yourself free of. You will get free of it someday, but I personally can't tell you how because I don't know."
The events in the video lead up to everything falling apart for the family. The youngest daughter Eva gets into devil worship and the occult as a form of rebellion from her upbringing. She is becoming more withdrawn and distant, especially to her Catholic mother. Eva prefers to sit alone and draw as opposed to joining in the party with her family and neighbors. She does however appear to have a decent relation with her father Peter Peter Hughes when they work on the bike together. Eva is still in a good relationship with her older sister Toby as they build a maze for their rat. Toby rebels by sleeping with a boy and getting pregnant.
It shows the mother to be very Catholic and still having feelings for her ex Jon Wurster, looking at the photo of him. Perhaps she had a child out of wedlock with Jon and kept the child because of the card in the window saying “A child, not a choice”. But the burden she feels is very much still present causing her to feel guilty and having a strained relationship with her eldest daughter.
Eva has a band with her friend called Iscariot Rising and I think is being influenced by John Darnielle’s character. After the scene of John saying “I’m still here, but all is lost” to her (which I think takes place earlier the day of the party due to her wearing the same clothes and has her sketchbook), she builds the altar in the attic with the candles and mountain goat head. I think the scene between the mother and Peter in the car could be a number of things. I think it's her telling Peter about the influence John is having on Eva or maybe the mother found the altar too. This ultimately leads to Peter confronting John and killing him and that being Peter’s guilt. His hand is shaking as he drinks afterwards.
Some things you do just to see
How bad they'll make you feel
Sometimes you try to freeze time
'Til those thoughts are a blur of spinning wheels
But I am just a broken machine
And I do things that I don't really mean
Long black night, morning frost
I'm still here, but all is lost
Speed up to the precipice
And then slam on the brakes
Some people crash two or three times
And then learn from their mistakes
But we are the ones who don't slow down at all
And there's nobody there to catch us when we fall
Long black night, morning frost
I'm still here, but all is lost
Feel the storm every night, hope it passes by
Hallucinate a shady grove where Judas went to die
Unfurl the black velvet altar cloth
Draw a white chalk baphomet
Mistreat your altar boys long enough
And this is what you get
Sad and angry, can't learn how to behave
Still won't know how in the darkness of the grave
Long black night, morning frost
I'm still here, but all is lost
even though the lyrics are so dark, it's such a wonderful, joyful song that exudes empathy. Going to Georgia, Psalm 40:2, this song... Mountain Goats are so good at that
The best band in the world strikes again! Why would anyone do anything that isn't listening to the Mountain Goats?
Just discovering Mountain goats these last few weeks and just wow
This song is a great representation of the veterinary profession for vets and nurses. Long hours and shit pay (long black nights, morning frost). The high turn over rate (mistreat your altar boys long enough and this is what you get). That feeling you get when a friend leaves for better things outside the industry (i'm still here but all is lost).
Really speaks to me.
I feel like this song goes really well with "Up The Wolves"
"I'm still here."
Not looking too confident about that there, John.
"Long black night, morning frost, Im still here- but all is lost"
Peter Hughes looks like the epitome of the 50's dad stereotype. Besides the whole killing John thing, of course.
no that part also tracks
He looks like Andrew Bird lolol
Best concert I ever saw.
This is my all-time favourite song
this song saved my life i think
The Cthulhu sketch won me over.
1. Very good music video, very good rat; 2. Very good song; 3. A blast to sing along with and try to do the backing vocals/whatever harmony you feel like
Ok, I'm working on a theory. The story centers around a messed-up family at a party of some kind, probably for the 4th of July. We have several major characters:
-Two redheaded sisters, one older with a boyfriend and one younger who is in a band.
-The dark-haired catholic mother, who had the two girls in a relationship with Jon Wurster. He is now dead or otherwise absent.
-John Darnielle, who is now in a relationship with the mother. This is only implied loosely because they are on rocky ground at the party in the video. He is a terrible stepfather and seems threatening to the youngest daughter at the party.
-Peter Hughes, who is JD's brother and in love with the mother as well. He has an uncle-niece relationship with the daughters.
The mother has made some questionable choices, such as forcing herself to keep her child, marrying JD, and then becoming involved with PH behind his back. Her daughters echo this trend of poor decision-making; the eldest is in an abusive relationship and gets knocked up, and the younger is so isolated that she has begun to practice satanism. PH and the mother's relationship spirals so far out of control that in a drunken rage, PH kills JD. At the end of the video, every character has made a decision that will have major consequences, and their secrets will inevitably be revealed to each other.
This story reflects the theme of the lyrics, which center around making brash and often disastrous decisions and being forced to live the consequences of your actions. There are a few holes, (JD's character is extremely ephemeral, and his relationship to the others is largely inferred from his few seconds of screentime) but I feel like it makes some sense in my mind.
SenorCollyWolly First of all, this is a great piece and a welcome read, but I have a couple of observations to make.
First, JD doesn't seem threatening as a stepfather, to me he's just trying his best to fill JW's shoes and be a present and trustworthy dad; it's the family who's not buying it (first of all, there are no scenes where we see the mother and/or the elder daughter and JD together; secondly and more evidently, the young daughter answers to his "I'm still here" by just silently staring at him through her mask. The mask itself is a metaphor of the distance between the two). All of this makes it harder to figure why PH would kill JD. Part of me believes that JD committed suicide in the garage over the isolation he feels within his family and his own perceived failures; PH just found his body while fishing for a paintbrush (see the open jar of varnish in his hand) and is now just sitting there, dumbfounded and dazed, because he never really saw that coming.
I'd also like to offer that the only sane relationship in the family seems to be that of the two sisters, who for the most part get each other, having had similar experiences in the past as their family went through its successive crises and adjustments. For the most part, they enjoy spending time together, as they built a maze for their rat with lovely detail together, and are both eager to see the result when they release the animal in it.
However, theit relationship starts to deteriorate as the sisters go down different paths: the tension in the last scene is pretty palpable, as the younger sister tries to understand what her older sibling is going through and the elder one, despite the understanding and help she is implicitly being offered, realizes that they are growing apart and turns her back on the last relation she could put her complete faith in: from now on, she is emotionally alone.
I'd like some analysis on the rat-in-the-maze metaphor here as well, given that the rat is given notable screentime. The only meaning I've found so far is that all beings, however intelligent, will eventually have to go down the path their condition has reserved for them, just like a rat in a maze, no matter if what lies ahead is a darkness that they would only like to escape; or, as JD himself puts it Sax Rohmer #1, "every moment leads toward its own sad end".
The last observation I would offer is that throughout the video, in most scenes the characters and their actions are in enclosed spaces, surrounded by darkness, further underscoring the isolation they feel from the others.
Oh and also, it's funny how they put a few Easter eggs in the video: the mountain goat head at 2:37; the completely amateurish "metal" band at 1:16, which reminds me of Jeff's and Cyrus' similar enterprise (and of JD's old Casio songs); and PH tightly embracing the catholic mother in the car around 2:06, which makes me think of the second stanza in Jenny, the car replacing the Kawasaki motorcycle, but the protagonist still sinking his face into his lover's hair and inhaling of her smell in a moment of bliss. There may be more, but as many of MG's stories tend to have characters, themes and situations in common it's hard to tell unwanted relationships from those which were planned. For instance, most of Broom People would neatly fit here as a description of the characters' life and their possessions: the "junk in the unattached spare room", the old car in the garage (even if it is no 1936 Hudson), and so on, but I'm probably reading too deeply into this video by now
SenorCollyWolly I have a very difficult time believing that JD would cast himself as an abusive or even unloving stepfather.
+Niccolò Frualdo I have to disagree on the father and John. Near the end, that doesn't look like a can of varnish to me.
It looks like a mason jar. Farther down south it's more common that people use mason jars as glasses to drink out of.
Tom me, it looks more like he killed him out of jealousy for "taking his place" in the family (which works with the daughters feeling isolated for him, and his reuniting with his ex wife, makes him jealous again.
This along with John being killed on top of a plastic that is usually depicted when someone kills a person they plan on disposing of without evidence.
So, where as you see it as the father unfortunately finding John dead from a suicide, I see it as a jealous father killing his "replacement " and wanting to return to his "old life". And realizing he can't do so, drinks to calm himself from his anger that sent him into a rage that killed John.
"I'm still here, but all is lost".
There is however the other possibility that the youngest daughter could be John's killer as she resents him for "replacing" her father. The father has no blood on him when we see him next to Johns body, but the younger sister we can only see from the shadows.
I'm not saying John is depicted as an abusive father in the video, more so, a person who tried to do the right thing and be a father, but isn't given a chance because (as well as other songs including some that you listed in the Easter eggs) he isn't given the chance to.
He is pre-judged for unfair reasons and assumptions, and is taken from the world in a "cavalcade of anger and fear".
+EdwardMelton same guy who wrote the second and third comment here.
I can't really see the young daughter as the killer, she's too deep in her world to do anything that real.
As for Peter, I can sort of see him do it. When you see him look away at 2:12, you could read that as a show of insincerity; or maybe he's just now realizing how jealous he is of John, and how he wants him dead. Maybe the jar/glass in his hand at the homicide scene is to let us think he's been drinking in order to find the strength to do the deed, and he's now contemplating what he just did while still drinking.
Still, I think the conflicts here are for the most part kept inside: every person in the family keeps his own hurt for himself and finds ways to channel them out on their own. For the elder daughter that would be sex with her boyfriend; for the younger one it's her drawings, her music and her "Satanism"; the mother finds comfort in her relationship with Peter, as he does with her; Peter also drinks to keep the bad thoughts away.
However, the person who suffers the most is John: John is the one who works hardest to keep the family together, and he's the one who feels the most isolated - from his stepdaughters, who are growing apart from him; from his wife, who is divided between missing her first husband, Jon Wurster, and her growing affection for Peter; from Peter, who he feels is taking over his role in the family (and Peter himself might only have a vague sense of this, up to his possible epiphany at 2:12). So he's the one who feels the most distress, and that would explain his suicide. He may even be the one who has laid the tarpaulin on which he is found, in order to make the whole thing less messy for the others to clean. Which doesn't completely make sense, but at this stage John is clearly not thinking straight anymore. The last (and only) time we see John before he's found dead, back at the at dinner party (1:47), he's still vainly trying to reason with the young daughter. Time passes (notice how every time we see Peter he's dressed differently, for instance), John grows depressed and alone (even though we don't see it as it happens) and finally reacts by killing himself.
I can't be the only one that gets a Moral Orel vibe from this, can I?
;)
Moral Orel used a couple songs from the Mountain Goats! In general, I think they have a very similar vibe.
But it's about CATHOLICISM! The good Protestant people of Moralton would *never* be associated with... that.
Nah, you're totally right! The family maintaining an "everything's fine, Godly, and righteous" exterior while their reality is completely different, with darkness and secrets barely hidden under the surface definitely reminds me of Moral Orel. Particularly Season 3. My partner hates that season because it's so dark, but it's one of my all-time favorite pieces of television. It was also my introduction to The Mountain Goats (featuring No Children, Old College Try, and Love, Love, Love). I picked up Tallahassee, fell in love with the album, and became a fan.
I flew out to Portland to see them live in September 2019 (they're never gonna play in Hawai'i, so 🤷🏻♀️) back when I didn't know what 2020 would bring. Now I'm incredibly F'in thankful I had the opportunity/ability to see them before... Well, ya know.
haha. Just realized John was wearing that same shirt at the show in Grand Rapids last night. Anyway, love this video and love this band!
The last four shots make me cry.
They move me in an indescribable way.
another thought provoking masterpiece from the wordsmith
this song helps ease my spine
I'm going to see them today!!!
I love this. So so much
love the Jon Wurster pic lol
such a good song
Beautiful music video even though I have absolutely no idea what the connecting narrative is. Obviously we have a woman who is in love with both Wurster and PPH who is also Catholic and pregnant when she doesn't want to be/it's a secret. A young boy (girl?) who is into Satanism. And JD who's just hangin' out being ephemeral. I actually laughed at the JD death scene. It's so out of the blue. I have such a strong feeling JD and PPH requested this scene b.c. it is just so ridiculous with the fake gore and murder weapon. Love how the band members are woven into this in bizarre ways. Just love JD in music videos period.
The Satanist kid is a girl
I really had to re-watch and re-read the lyrics just to have an idea of what was happening, and it's pretty clever :)
The rat grooming in the bathroom is a nice touch.
Oh my god this is amazing!
2:01-2:05 Peter Hughes is a damn fine actor.
I heard about this band in a young adult novel (where I find all of the best bands). I'm so glad I checked them out :)
I think fifty percent of the people are here because of John Green :))
Emma A And the other 50% because of Moral Orel.
druvirus Shit. we need more room, because now some fans were introduced by The Walking Dead of all places...
Seth Stone and Weeds
Laura Jane Grace brought me here.
From my laymen knowledge of the bible Judas Iscariot (Isocariot Rising is written on the drums) was one of the 12 apostles, he was the person who betrayed Jesus, however according to the bible that death could be interpreted as leading to humanities salvation. In the end I think that Judas hanged himself. I think that the song's about making (big) mistakes (some people crash 2 or 3 times before they learn from their mistakes) (which could also be an allusion to Judas falling) and having to 'deal' with them. the line "I'm still here but all is lost" may also be about how after every thing that happens (the girl gets pregnant, ect) we still have to go on. The mice in the maze is also a metaphor for having to figure the right 'direction' to take.
Beautiful!
Am I the only one who sees JDs character as good guy, not giving a threat but a warning. Seems like he was the only one who knew how fucked up their little community was and that his days were numbered
@NotALotOfColonial SpaghettiToGoAround you just told my life story. Because I felt unease by behaviour that family seemed blind to I had a baby very young. I loved my baby and it opened my eyes to the evil surrounding me and so I found the light sadly my baby died on the breast. I’ve never healed and I realise I never will. But I am starving myself to save anymore of my bloodline continuing.
Jenne Baram
1 second ago
I think he’s stuck around because he’s buried there. To me it seems that the wife had an affair or flirted with him. The husband hit her for it, giving her a bloody nose, then killed him. His youngest daughter turned to satanism and his older daughter got pregnant out of wedlock with no option for abortion. Everyone committed a sin that meant “all is lost” in some capacity or other. And the ghost stays.
1:46 for some reason is just soo good
You have perfectly expressed the sentiments of this comments section as a collective.
I’ll take songs that changed my life for 500 Alex
OK SO NOW I UNDERSTAND THIS SONG MUCH MUCH BETTER THANK YOU
Love this song, and the album, and of course tMG in general, but I just don't get this music video. What does it mean, if anything? Either I can't follow it or it seems the characters are drifting in and out of each other's narratives, not following a cohesive plot, which is cool, and I get the sentiment
Great video.
1:46 to 158 reminds me of 'Mother, Come Home'. I hope that was intentional.
This music video .
I think father is imagining, as he hugs his wife, her in the embrace of another man.
really! amazing.
Holy crap! I want the painting in the back ground when the kid is summoning the devil. Who is the artist? Very creative video BTW.
Five years later, but: I feel the same. The style looks familiar, like I've seen the artist's work before (or the artist that inspired the image in the video).
I've never been able to find out who's responsible for creating that painting, and I really, really want to know.
Peter hughes snubbed for the Oscar
Because the human body cannot sustain that many emotions that deeply for that long.
I don't know you but I love you.
That was a cool ass Cthulhu drawing in the beginning
'Cry for Judas' by The Mountain Goats. It's right below the video, you know.
sorry, but not sure what happened in the vid, but... great band!
what song is this please/ thank u
I'd like to offer up the interpretation that Peter ends up killing JD because he sees the altar his daughter had made, and must've seen them talking by the lake. HE knows JD and if anyone's going to convince someone of the virtues of Satanism, well, it's probably JD. Maybe he saw that his wife was painting a picture of Jon Wurster, too. He says, "I've had enough TMG. It's ruining my family!" so he kills JD. Or you know there's really no backstory at all, and I'd be fine with that too.
Same thing happened to me, only in black and white...small world.
Michiko Black My tie for first favorite Mountain Goats.
I LOVE IT! And their band name is super eclectic and cool.
Yeah. People always think I'm talking about some kinda weird Goat Choir when I talk about them. ^_//
Well, this is a _bit_ better than a chorus of four-legged mountain-dwelling animals. *Heavy sarcasm*
If only they knew how good it is.
I know, right?! My gods...
If you get most of it, would you be willing to share? (Not sarcasm, I am transfixed but so confused.)
I feel like I get most of it but what's with the random pic of Wurster?
Where can I buy the tape for my eight track?
Agreed.
so no one was gonna tell me sad rohmer 1 isn’t the only tmg music video
The woman's actual love is Wurster (hence the gazing at the photo), but she gets knocked up by Peter and is forced by her religion to keep the baby (hence the catholic card and 'child, not a choice' postcard).
O lawd is that a horn section?
I hate how youtube has so many ads now, they are practically shoving them down your throat till you get annoyed enough to buy youtubeRED...
i've used adblock for such a long time that i didn't even notice XD
JD explain yawself please. We want to know what all this means.
The thumbnail of 1:24 looks like a mousetrap and I find that to be interesting.
Is that guy the guy from Dawson's Creek?!? :O
Feel sympathy for the devil and cry for Judas.
1:07 I have that sweatshirt o.o
Does this video remind anyone else of the book Dark Places?
Would somebody please explain the video for me? I swear I never do this.
curious perspective to think that everyone deserves sympathy. the more i think about it the more fond if it i become
I assume that's an old boyfriend or a current love, and the subject of the discussion she has with her husband (Peter). What I don't quite get is whether they're in the car in the garage and we see them hugging from a distance, or if they're outside the garage and as they hug, Peter looks into the garage and sees another couple in that car. Either way, it leads to Peter killing JD with a rake and laying his bloody corpse out on a plastic tarp, as one does.
.....oh
is that Bill Nye?
lol the Jon Wurster/🇺🇸 headshot
"I am just a broken machine, and I do things I don't really mean"..."Officer"
0:10 hehe hoho funny minecraft noise
This video has left my confused.
Acceptance of the horrid - that's what this song means to me
Well, because they're watching John Green scream about the Mountain Goats.
My ding a ling brought me here. Like everywhere else. Literally. Not metaphorically.
Why is her nose bleeding and why did the singer get killed?
it happens sometimes
I'm new here, but fuck i love this song
One video I said....2 hours ago
I know how you feel
The nosebleed is her period
I am just a broken machine and I say things that I don't really mean
so is she prgnant with devil boys kid or someone else's? i cant tell
So why does PPH murder JD?
This must be a prequel or some sort of background for The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out Of Denton!
Oppa Judas style!!!... Judas Style (and the beat goes on)
That must be the cutest satanist I've seen
I am confused.
Probably not, the alpha couple don't have kids that they are staying together for, hence the song name "No Children"