[Coming-Out Party] 1
Red-hot corrugated steel walls
Glowing bottles bursting on the shelves
This is not another vision
This the coming-out party for our true selves
Let the vivid colors rise
Let me see them dancing on your eyes
I'm going to hold you in my arms
Because my love for you is powerful and terrible
But it's almost all used up by now
As the heat becomes unbearable
We pour the good stuff straight into our mouths
As we start whooping like a pair of cranes
Deny the stinking flesh
Let the spirit sake the reins
We lurch and stumble up and down the aisle
Our coreography is terrible
Our love is truly almost all used up
And then the heat becomes unbearable
We crack open high-end bottles and we laugh
Tip our hats and tap our canes
Deny the stinking flesh
Let the spirit take the reins
Step light
I will show you what you mean to me tonight
Cool Hundred 2
Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Way out in the back trace. Me with that chrome taste in the back of my throat. You with that stupid look on your face. Taking the lock off the barn. Swinging the door open wide. Letting the yellow light fall on the prize inside. We had an amazing machine. It was going to change everything. It was money in the bank. We were written on the water.
Diamonds in the engine. Canaries in the mine. Slight songs echoing through the darkness. Everything was going to work out fine. Watching it gleam in the musty air. Hearing it purring in the straw. Teetering dumbly over the long night's open jaw. We had an amazing machine. It was going to change everything. It was money in the bank. We were written on the water.
Going to Fennario 3
Now children, gather 'round, as we lay Sweet William down
To sing him to his final shore
And sing a song for me, and for these men, forever free
To sail without a captain evermore
To sail without a captain evermore
Now when he left this country,
He had one thing on his mind
To wipe away the memory
Of everything he left behind
No cost too great to shoulder
No burden too high to bear
I'm going to Fennario
If they have to carry my body there
Now children, gather 'round, as we lay Sweet William down
To sing him to his final shore
And sing a song for me, and for these men, forever free
To sail without a captain evermore
To sail without a captain evermore
Out on the wild blue ocean
In the company of thieves
Every man on this planet
Hopes it knows his name before he leave
Try to leave a big impression
In the mind of every man he meets
I'm going to Fennario
If they have to drag me through the streets
Now children, gather 'round, as we lay Sweet William down
To sing him to his final shore
And sing a song for me, and for these men, forever free
To sail without a captain evermore
To sail without a captain evermore
And sing for the night that lasts forever
And sing for that man who's gone today
Who for his true love's sake left burnt cities in his wake
And killed every good man in his way
They're cutting down the timber
Soon all of this will be a memory
But there'll just be an empty cabin
When the wolf comes by for me
Pour out liquor for the captain
Sing around the fire until the dawn
I'm going to Fennario
Let everybody know I'm gone
Like Possums 4
Someday sleep will come
Like a roadside thief
And strip us of these things
That give our dreams relief
Sharp hearing, sharper visions
Stay on guard all night
Seek the lower engine
Toolkit fine and bright
Feel drained, feel sick
Feel awesome
Steal through the dawn like possums
Several Other Things 5
There cane a day when all the treasures I'd gathered
Began to weigh me down like chains
I got a blowtorch from a friend down at the body shop
It's always good to have good friends
Picture me at the curb before sunrise
Fresh flame noisy and blue
Getting rid of the dead weight,
And the evidence,
And several other things I'm never ever going to confess to
Never in this world, nor in the next one
Never at the point of the blade
Never in the living memory of anybody now present
Never when the memories fade
Long ago by a fire in the canyon
The prophets sang about the troubles to come
Traitors and vandals, cracks in the city walls
Gas leaks in the critical zone
Picture me among the desperate, forever
Doing what I have to do
Getting rid of the dead weight,
And the evidence,
And several other things I'm never ever going to confess to
Footnotes
- This untitled song's lyrics were included in the book This Year: 365 Songs Annotated: A Book of Days. The nickname "Coming-Out Party" is used here for ease of reference; it is not a title. The lyrics in strikethrough are from an early draft, excised in later revisions. The song is otherwise unreleased and the author of this site is not aware of any extant recordings of it. ↩
- This song's title and lyrics were included in the book This Year: 365 Songs Annotated: A Book of Days. It is otherwise unreleased and the author of this site is not aware of any extant recordings of it. ↩
- This song was digitally released as a single on January 16th, 2026. ↩
- A file of this song in demo form was shared on a post on John Darnielle's Bluesky account. Also on Bluesky, Darnielle noted that the song "was intended for 'goths' but didn't get finished." Accessed 12/18/2025. ↩
- This song's title and lyrics were included in the book This Year: 365 Songs Annotated: A Book of Days. It is otherwise unreleased and the author of this site is not aware of any extant recordings of it. ↩