Out of all the subtle themes in the mountain goats bag of tricks, The cow and well.. water stand out most to me. Starting with the cow song in the hound chronicles, he even makes mention of a storage locker full of cow figurines in commandante. All i can really say any further than that is.


whats your favorite?

This doesn't really classify as a theme, but I love how the action in many tMG songs centers around doorways. There are tons of songs where people stand in/appear in doorways: Nine Black Poppies, Seed Song, Going to Georgia, Raid on Entebbe, Some Swedish Trees, Omega Blaster, Orange Ball of Hate, Alphonse Mambo... I know there are more.

My favorite songs with this imagery are West Country Dream (sure as a surgeon, you slipped your hand into the doorjam) and The House That Dripped Blood (the cellar door is an open throat - I love the sound of those words). It's a simple motif, but it's my favorite.

and, of course, "Going to..."

I love the "chickens who come on home to roost"

"you know it breaks my heart in half, in half! when I see them trying to flyy - because you just can't do, things your body wasn't meant to" ahh

Lots of moon references as well. Moon rising, colors of moon etc.

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"They tried to get me - I got them first!"

Meaningless law-breaking. Butter Teeth ("we haunted the walls of the pharmacy artlessly shoplifting random things" and driving on the railroad bridge in Twin Human Highway Flares come to mind.

Let's see...

One of the things I really like in John's songwriting is the endless amount of lists. The "Butter Teeth" example is actually pretty good for this: painkillers, cough syrup, Tiger Balm, bubblegum cigarettes, and shower curtain rings. Tiger Balm itself actually comes up a couple of times ("Butter Teeth" and "Love Love Love" as far as I know), as does baby aspirin ("You or Your Memory" and "Collapsing Stars" [changed to pseudoephedrine for the b-side version]).

The consistent use of alcoholism as a sign of a failing relationship is also one I find interesting.

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après moi le déluge



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2007 04:06AM by dormiens vigila.

citrus fruit.

So obvious, it hardly bears mentioning, but the significance of place in the songs is one of the things I quite like about them.

Yeah, it's like something Craig Finn said - the lyrics use something, in this case someWHERE very specific, to say something universal.

Windows that wind blows through, comes in, or russles blinds.