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Essays on the Mountain Goats

September 01, 2011 02:25PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
Hi all, new to the forums so forgive me if this question is crass or has some strange taboo that would immediately strike me down or curse me or etc etc

Anyways, why has no one chosen Hail and Farewell Gothenburg? Seems very essay worthy cool smiley
September 01, 2011 02:29PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
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Wild Creature
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AKMA
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Mithel

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fever
Writing about Get Lonely might fucking kill me.

I hope you die.

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shlack
Lame "if it kills me" joke response

I hope you both die.

For better or worse, I'm pretty confident that not only will they both die, but we all will.


not to get too analytic, but consider the following: through children, a couple can theoretically live forever, or at least live on past their own physical existence. so, to say "i hope you die, i hope we both die," the Alpha Male is refusing to have children, i.e., no children, thereby killing her off, and indeed killing both of them off, if they stay together, even without literally killing her, or himself. if you accept that, then you can say that the second line, "i hope we both die", is his way of saying, i hope we stay together forever. i will never agree to get pregnant with you, but i will also never leave you. i like this interpretation, because I am one of those who don't see tallahassee as a break-up album, but as a stay together forever (albeit perhaps in misery) album.
Man, you all should have heard the excited noises I made reading this.



midgoat
September 01, 2011 04:11PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
SF - glad you liked the point!

meus spes -- as to Hail/Farewell, there is no good reason it's not been taken --thus, if you have an interest in writing an essay, do it! let me know.

also, it's been a couple of days since i've received any essays. I'd really like to keep the momentum going for a while, so if you have anything close to finished, finish it up and i will read it and post it once i get it.



The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis
September 01, 2011 04:23PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
Meus Spes (+1 name), there is a strong and often vocal constituency here which tends to treat H&FG as something not to be discussed, in deference to JD's frustration at its premature distribution. That feeling may have abated, or the guardians of that particular portal may not have noticed your post, or... I dunno what else.

I try to tread lightly there, not seeking it out online and not taking it into consideration when I think of JD's catalogue. Others do as seems best to them — but it’s possible that your venturing in that direction would set off responses that you wouldn't anticipate if you weren't aware of the circumstances.
September 01, 2011 04:29PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
AKMA has a point, although I'm not certain a critical essay would raise a fury, although i could be wrong. if there was such a fury, i'm not sure if i would post it or not. i guess we should see what sort of reaction the suggestion gets.

as one point, nall has the lyrics up on his site, and has i think for a long time. and JD has played a lot of those songs live. so, i think a critical essay might be okay. but welcome thoughts from the community, and would likely abide by any consensus.

on this note, however, i do not think i would publish an essay on song for my stepfather, as JD has been pretty adamant as to his thoughts on this song (even though I know it is on nall's site, and JD has played it live).



The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis
September 01, 2011 06:11PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
AKMA, JD is the one who expressed his wishes we not talk about H&FG here. The "guardians" are just backing him up. As for writing an essay on WC's site I think you should go for it. There's no rules about talking about it elsewhere, and I for one would like to read what you have to say!
September 01, 2011 06:52PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
who is this caliclimber and why do i feel the happiness being sucked out of me when i read his post?
September 01, 2011 07:45PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
FFG is one of my favorite tMG albums, but other than one song (Minnesota, which I will not write about) it doesn't have the personal resonance.
Edit, damnit, it was HAFG you were talking about. Damn drunkenness. I'm going to go back to listening to Marilyn Manson now.



We belong dead.
[www.last.fm]
[sordidalley.blogspot.com]
[popwreckoning.com]
[blog.kexp.org]




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2011 07:47PM by fever.
September 01, 2011 07:57PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
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meus spes
who is this caliclimber and why do i feel the happiness being sucked out of me when i read his post?

i don't know why Cali's post is causing you unhappiness, as the way i read it he encouraged you to write the essay. i would be interested in it, as well.



The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2011 09:28PM by Wild Creature.
September 01, 2011 09:07PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
I apologize. I have a habit of thinking that people are out to get me when they really aren't. Even when its blatantly obvious nothing of the sort is occurring.
September 01, 2011 11:36PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
I think one could approach a HaFG essay as being about the context of that album and the connotations around it rather than being about the songs on it etc. It could be about artists' rights vs. fans' (perceived) rights and all of that. There's probably been many essays worth of writing about that subject on these forums but I'd read a well-written scholarly take on it.
September 02, 2011 01:36AM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
new essay up.



The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis
September 02, 2011 02:34AM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
I really like the Jack & Faye one. Captured most of what I feel about this album, in both a musical and a meta-musical sense. Props.
September 02, 2011 08:34AM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
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Wild Creature
-- Current list of proposed submissions --

* if an essay is crossed out, that means it's posted already. if i missed somebody let me know.

I believe you accidentally crossed me out! (J. Brindle tLotWtC etc :> )
I've been bogged down with other things as of late but I'm hoping to wrap this up this weekend (edit: should mention that if it's not this weekend it'll probably be the next -- I can really only allocate time for it on the weekend I'm afraid). I'm also deliberately avoiding reading SWV's Life of the World to Come essay until I've finished mine, so my apologies if anything overlaps. I'm really quite impressed with how well this project is going, though, well done everyone you are the best



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/2011 08:46AM by toaster-chan.
September 06, 2011 07:18PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
new post, by the exceptional Jamison Murphy, on All Eternals Deck is now up on Sad Young Cardinals.

Check it out!



The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis
September 07, 2011 06:52PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
is there any way i can get in on this with an essay about Full Force Galesburg and The Coroner's Gambit?
By this I mean that it'd be one essay; I've been looking for an excuse to write about my theories concerning these two albums and the parallels I draw between em.
I'll probably just write it anyway but let me know if you think it'd go well on the site!



like a vision straight outta Holly Hobbie
September 07, 2011 07:04PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
sounds awesome. do it! would love to see your thoughts on the comparisons between the 2.



The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis
September 07, 2011 07:28PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
Funny, the one I've been working on deals with tying together Coroner's Gambit and Get Lonely.



We are the ones who don't slow down at all...
September 07, 2011 10:02PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
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SaveMeASeat
Funny, the one I've been working on deals with tying together Coroner's Gambit and Get Lonely.

get that shit done, then, man! totally psyched to see how you treat it. now i just have to figure out how i'm going to do the art for an essay that deals with 2 different albums. if there's anybody out there who is good at photoshop and can mix 2 album cover arts into one, hit me up.



The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis
September 08, 2011 03:16AM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
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Wild Creature
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SaveMeASeat
Funny, the one I've been working on deals with tying together Coroner's Gambit and Get Lonely.

get that shit done, then, man! totally psyched to see how you treat it. now i just have to figure out how i'm going to do the art for an essay that deals with 2 different albums. if there's anybody out there who is good at photoshop and can mix 2 album cover arts into one, hit me up.

I'll have a go this evening.



midgoat
September 08, 2011 11:43AM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
Has "This Year" already been chosen? If not, I would like to give it a whirl.
September 08, 2011 11:59AM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
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spyfromimperialchina
Has "This Year" already been chosen? If not, I would like to give it a whirl.

Sunset Tree has been chosen, but This Year has not, so go for it. Also, though I'd like to have essays on as many LPs/songs as possible, we are accepting multiple submissions on albums, singles, etc., so if there is one already taken but you feel strongly about it, go ahead and write something.



The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis
September 08, 2011 03:38PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
i sent you something wc, it's not much, and it does not have to be published if it is not up to snuff...but it's something i've wanted to do for 6 years.

man. it's 2011.



don't clap between movements



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2011 03:40PM by mike5998.
September 08, 2011 04:19PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
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mike5998
i sent you something wc, it's not much, and it does not have to be published if it is not up to snuff...but it's something i've wanted to do for 6 years.

man. it's 2011.

i like it man. very different from anything anyone else has done, but that's you, and it fits in its own odd way. if you want to add anything, let me know. otherwise, i'm putting it up tonight, pretty much as-is....



The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis
September 08, 2011 04:36PM | Re: Essays on the Mountain Goats
hey all, by the way, i received a couple of awesome suggestions from people for combining the art for an essay comparing two albums, but I think i figured out a way to easily include both album artwork without compromising the look of the essay and keeping it looking clean. if this fails, however, i may be getting back to these people who offered assistance and pleading for their help.



The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis
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