Dark in Here
Title: Dark in Here
Released: 2021
Label: Merge Records
Liner Notes
(inside of CD wallet):
the MOUNTAIN GOATS PRESENT DARK IN HERE
12 SONGS FOR SINGING IN CAVES, BUNKERS, FOXHOLES, AND SECRET SPACES BENEATH THE FLOORBOARDS
Where are: the results? the directions? the leavings? the remnants? the walls? the floors? the remaining contestants? the big blades? the blueprints? the diagnostic criteria? the surveyors who never returned from this area? where are the scissors? where is the tape? the main exits, the jump chute, the fire escape? Where is my friend who showed up here with me? The person or persons who know, and who see, a long-buried suggestion of greater design? It's dark as a dungeon way down in the mine. 1
SOME NOTES ON THE SONGS: The first song written here was "Before I Got There," and the last was probably "The New Hydra Collection," but I'm less sure about that, things get blurry. I got the idea for "Mobile" when I was in Mobile, but the song was written in the dressing room of the College Street Music Hall in New Haven, Connecticut, maximum respect to Modern but don't count Sally's out. "The Destruction of the Kola Superdeep Borehole Tower" was written in a hotel room in Seattle during the Chamber of the Wyvern tour, and I got so caught up in it that I was late for my appearance on "Dragon Talk," sorry Greg, I will be more punctual in the future. All songs end up being autobiographical if you take the long view, but "The Slow Parts on Death Metal Albums" is probably the most directly confessional of the bunch. Readingdown the tracklist I would say that if you're looking for a governing theme here, it's calamity, as all the songs are either anticipating one or reflecting one that's already happened. You can tell your own fortune by declaring an allegiance on either side of that line. Finally, "Arguing With the Ghost of Peter Laughner About His Coney Island Baby Review" is for David Berman, now at peace to our collective loss forever.
We've had the privilege of recording three songs so far with Matt Ross-Spang, who is an utter treasure and a gentleman all the way, and who, for these sessions, supplied me with a vocal mic I'll be talking about forever, specifically a 58 that once belonged to the Nashville Network; I loved working with Shani Ghandi so much on In League with Dragons that I asked her to mix Dark in Here, and as usual her work just knocks me out. I don't usually dedicate albums to anybody, but this one's kinda special to me so I want to dedicate it to Matt and Shani with endless gratitude for bringing these songs to life.
Maximum thanks to the beautiful Yellowhammer State that we called home for the week when we were making this record, a moment in time.
Table of Contents
- Parisian Enclave
- The Destruction of the Kola Superdeep Borehole Tower
- Mobile
- Darn in Here
- Lizard Suit
- When a Powerful Animal Comes
- To the Headless Horseman
- The New Hydra Collection
- The Slow Parts on Death Metal Albums
- Before I Got There
- Arguing With the Ghost of Peter Laughner About His Coney Island Baby Review
- Let Me Bathe in Demonic Light
Parisian Enclave
Signal drawn upon the bricks of a clinic for the dispossessed
Collect the brine from the rain gutters let the devil take the rest
Rats returning home to our nest
Beneath the streets of the city with my brethren in the neverending shadows
Beneath the streets of the city with my brethren in the neverending shadows, there I go
Secret hymnal with the words in a version of the mother tongue
Walls envelop all of us like a mother who protects her young
Spores at play deep down in our lungs
Beneath the streets of the city with my brethren in the neverending shadows
Beneath the streets of the city with my brethren in the neverending shadows, there I go
The Destruction of the Kola Superdeep Borehole Tower
Stick bright reflective tape to the collar of your shirt
Mind your business and you won't get hurt
Be true to the things you said you'd be true to
Always keep your objective in view
Keep two working contacts among your effects
See the tall poppies with their tender fragile necks
Solomon in all his glory not arrayed like these 2
Bending in the wind like pilgrims on their knees
Those who came to learn these lessons
Left no trace of their presence
Always have a flashlight, just in case
Show the world your true face
Burn such fuel as you need to burn
Learn to wait your turn
Count the heads in the bunks before you turn in for the night
Lace your boots up tight
Secure the rope to the pole
Keep a sense of wonder when you finally reach your goal
Those who came to learn these lessons
Left no trace of their presence
Leave nothing behind
Keep a positive thought in your mind
And if you can't find anything nice to say
Drift away
Retain a sense of grace when it's time to cut the cord
Crack through the crust fall to your knees & praise the Lord
Listen for the voices calling out from down below
Steady as you go
What will they say back home about you
Who always kept your objective in view
Whose effects included contacts that finally got found
Inside the Arctic Circle, scattered on the ground
Those who came to learn these lessons
Left no trace of their presence
Mobile
Jonah went down to the docks
To flee from the wrath of the LORD
but the mark on his forehead was visible
To everybody on board
They threw him down into the water
But he did not drown
I’m on a balcony in Mobile, Alabama
Waiting for the wind to throw me down
Now the LORD told the great fish:
"Be free of your burden" 3
And Jonah emerged from his darkness
Like a dancer crashing through the curtain
And the plant grew, but it withered,
And shriveled up and turned brown
I’m on a balcony in Mobile, Alabama
Waiting for the wind to throw me down
LORD, if you won’t keep me safe and warm
Then send down the storm, send down the storm
Jonah was sure he heard voices
Maybe just one voice, but real clear
And where he went the voice followed
Sometimes hardly loud enough to hear
Shall I not spare the wise with the wicked?
Hold back my wrath from this town?
I'm on a balcony in Mobile, Alabama
Waiting for the wind to throw me down
May I address the foreman of the jury?
Why do you hold back your fury? Don’t hold back your fury.
Dark in Here
Steal away at sundown, pick a place to hide
Check for signs of ambush, hunker down inside
Tired of running, tired of never standing still
Hear them riding up the hill
Men whose ribs are showing through their skin
Bringing up the rear
It’s high noon somewhere, it’s dark in here
Stack my ammunition, be ready when you come
You who thirst for action, I will give you some
When the smoke dies down, you can rest assured
We will know who kept his word
You who stood so proud once
I can taste your fear
You blazed like torches, it’s dark in here
It’s dark as a coal mine filling up with gas
I stand ready for the blast
Will you be ready when your moment comes?
Will your hands be steady when you reach down for your guns?
Did you leave your house in order when you came for me?
Is this really where you meant to be?
Just beyond your limits, find the new frontier
I live in the darkness, it’s dark in here
Lizard Suit
Take the trouble to pronounce the street names right
People like it when you show respect
Look out the window at the softening asphalt
The dreamy shimmer of the haze effect
Wear my lizard suit to the party
It's so hard to get noticed in this town
Almost invisible aboard the train
So many people who you just can't read
Dawdle when I reach the final station
Don't make a move until the crowds recede
Wear my lizard suit to the party
It's so hard to get noticed in this town
Wait for my cue
Search for one clue
I have to trust that my compass stays true
Let my phobias control my habits
Let my habits form the shapes of days
All alone up on the rooftop sometimes
Among the beacons where the lightning plays
Wear my lizard suit to the party
It's so hard to get noticed in this town
When a Powerful Animal Comes
We move by night
Cover our tracks well, and we pack light
Follow the shoreline when we've run clean out of land
Speak in gestures only we can understand
We've made mistakes
Everyone spots their own mess when the dawn breaks
We get so exhausted
Lost kids, just wasted
Sleep in short shifts and then rise up to our feet
Life is short, and life is hard, and life is sweet
The treeline shakes
We roll hard along some long odds when the dawn breaks
See soft peaks off in the distance
Those people in the mountains—
They will never know what hit them
We shed dead weight
It gets pretty hard to concentrate
Practice our prayers until some small hope crystallizes
Follow the shoreline 'til some better hope arises
Behold, the beast awakes
Stand trapped in his great shadow when the dawn breaks
To the Headless Horseman
Set out early, every seasoned rider knows
Keep an even pace, steady as she goes
Headed back to town after several nights away
I rode past you on the road again today
Gentle shadows in the mist among the trees
Who awakes prepared to face such sights as these?
God keep the bounty hunter who shows mercy to his prey
I rode past you on the road again today
And as you approached, I could sense the threat
But a stranger's just a friend who hasn't shared their secrets yet
Make camp by sundown, watchfire burning bright
Songs bloom in the dark and throb down in the night
I seek the gate of wisdom, the secret state of play
I rode past you on the road again today
Rise up restless, get ready for the waterworks
Shun the hollow places where my marksman lurks
One of us will tire, and one will rise and ride away
I rode past you on the road again today
The New Hydra Collection
Down in the lab
With the hopeful few
Hell bent on doing
The work that you cowards won't do
Weaving the future
From bright new threads
Prices on their heads
Someday the abomination
Is going to finally make land
We stay silent as a snowdrift
Focused on the task at hand
Dream of the day
When the calm waters break
And something rises from the lake
Someday, all of you people will know
The safe way isn't the only way to go
Movement in the grid
As fish leap in the air
It's only a test run,
And still the tension's too delicious to bear
All around the monitor station
Big smiles, high fives
According to my projections
Everybody's going to run for their lives
Still we wait until our time has come
Down here where the engines hum
Exiled priests of Rome
Bringing our troubles back home
Someday, all of you people will know
The safe way isn't the only way to go
The Slow Parts on Death Metal Albums
Jumping out of my skin
This tiny sector can't contain me
Suit up in a flash
Slipping symbols bravely, bravely
Go where I'm not wanted
Stand where the light hits hard
Almost full-grown
Drive home alone and listen to the slow parts
In a new universe
Trying to find the mask that fits me
Shaking the curse
Behaving as the beacons bid me
Denim & leather
Silver strap to please the die-hards
Let me dance 'til I die
Turn the volume up high and listen to thе slow parts
Alien ships from ancient realms
Ageless captains at their helms
Rage from the sea—
Let it begin with me
Half-life of my toxins:
Difficult to calculate
Stock up on gauze in case of accidents
Try to keep my story straight
Dozens like me
Never quite free, 4 filling out our dance cards
Mark my time on the wall
Answer the call and listen to the slow parts
Before I Got There
The acrid smell of burning branches
The relics all in ruin
Broken blades atop the altar
Cheap substitutions
And the tapestry above
Torn down, trampled, then re-hung
Now illegible forever
An oracle with no tongue
All of this
All of this
All of this before I got there
And in a pit behind the altar
The bodies of the fallen
Heavy tracks up to the lip
Just to prove that they were crawling
Faces turned toward the sky
That they would never see again
Victims of the fallout
I have failed you—sweet, young men
All of this
All of this
All of this before I got there
Arguing With the Ghost of Peter Laughner About His Coney Island Baby Review
Just imagine a time and place
Sentient objects adrift in space
Trying to do the needful math
Trying to find the secret path
Seas gone silent in the spiral shell
When you fell
Blazing torches to light the way
All fuel burned right up in just one day
Will there be another way?
That won't be for you to say
You who took with you the ancient spell
When you fell
Hurt too hard too long and die too young
Silver dollar glistening on your tongue
May your passage be assured
There may your foul afflictions all be cured
Systems closing down on several fronts
You will always have been here once
Cap the west's final wildcat well
When you fell
when you fell
when you fell
Let Me Bathe in Demonic Light
Down at the end of a bombed-out street
The shell of a house where my friends and me used to meet
Someday the old flesh will give way to the new
Find a functioning mirror inside and slip right through
And there, there I’ll be
And who? who’s coming with me?
To show me my one true face
When I arrive at my preordained place
Chain of command maybe ten years long
I emerge in Manhattan, still young & strong
Someday the hellhound will pick up the scent on the trail
Zero in on my penthouse and then pierce the veil
And there, there I’ll be
And who? who’s coming with me?
To show me my one true face
When I arrive at my preordained place
Hopeless but free
Lit up like a marquee shining over the freeway
Where will my long trail end?
Here, here with my new friend
Fruits of the spirit
Heavy on the vine
Undying hunger
Deep in the bloodline
Dodge the hook like a steelhead
Swim right through the night
Break the surface and rise like a geyser
When my time is right
There, there I’ll be
And who? who among you?
Who’s coming with me?
To show me my one true face
When I arrive at my preordained place
Album Credits
Recorded March 9-14, 2020, FAME Studios, Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Producer and Engineer: Matt Ross-Spang | Assistant: John Lee Gifford | Mix: Shani Ghandi
PERSONELL: John Darnielle: guitar, piano, vocals | Peter Hughes: bass | Jon Wurster: drums and percussion | Matt Douglas: woodwinds, piano, guitar
Spooner Oldham: Hammond B3, Wurlitzer | Will McFarlane: guitar | Susan Marshall: vocal harmony | Reba Russell: vocal harmony
Mastered by Brent Lambert at The Kitchen Mastering, Carrboro, NC | All songs ©2021 Cadmean Dawn (ASCAP) administered worldwide by Pacific Electric Music Publishing
Cover: Walpurgis Night in Bergslagen, Grandgärde in Dalarna by Ashelm Schultzberg, 1896, from the collection of the Swedish National Museum | Design: Daniel Murphy
Management: Ryan Matteson
Footnotes
- This is a line from the Merle Travis song "Dark as a Dungeon", which the Mountain Goats have covered. ↩
- This line is reminiscent of two Bible verses: Matthew 6:29 "Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." and Luke 12:27 "Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." (New International Version) ↩
- This is a line from the hymn "There is Power in the Blood" by Lewis E. Jones. The tune of this hymn was later used for the song "There is Power in a Union" by Joe Hill, which the Mountain Goats have covered. ↩
- "Never Quite Free" is a song from 2011's All Eternals Deck. ↩