Today my life seems surrounded with the vibe of The Mountain Goats for several reasons.
Reason #1: For Chicago residents, there is a FREE screening tonight of a film featuring John Darnielle performing the new album The Life of the World to Come in its entirety.
Reason #2: For residents of everywhere, the album of the same name is currently streaming on ColbertNation.com, and Mr. Darnielle himself will be appearing on The Colbert Report on release day tomorrow night. I've listened to the stream a couple times this evening, and have yet to fully digest it, but I highly recommend track #3 - Genesis 3:23 - to any curious parties, as it's clearly the most accessible song (or verse?) on the album. You can also download the mp3 of that song at the TMG site.
Reason #3: Were I to put together a list of "weeks in my life" ranked by quality, last week would hover toward the bottom of said list. I'm debating adding "writing pointless cover letters" under the skills portion of my resume, if only to create another discussion topic for the next repeat interview I schedule concerning a job I will ultimately not get. Nonetheless, my current plan to avoid spiraling into a self-loathing pit of depression involves a heavy dose of repeatedly screaming the chorus of "This Year" as my daily affirmation. It's working surprisingly well thus far.
This song appears on The Sunset Tree, a concept album that leans heavily on lyrics regarding Darnielle's childhood and the abuse suffered at the hands of his stepfather. I think it's fair to say domestic violence has never sounded so catchy! Darnielle's brilliance has always been evident in how he writes about the small details that color the big picture. Despite the bleakness running rampant through verses, the chorus beams in defiant optimism.
I am going to make it through this year, if it kills me! If anyone needs me today, I'll be continually muttering this out loud like I'm Stuart Smalley.
I'll also be cranking out cover letters like nobody's business.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment