Singer/songwriter Matt King lives in a world of contrasts. One inhabited si… Read Full Bio ↴Singer/songwriter Matt King lives in a world of contrasts. One inhabited simultaneously by conspicuous consumption and creeping poverty, sprawling suburbs and decaying rural communities, by embattled corporate chieftains and quietly struggling workaday Americans. King walks a winding path between these extremes, bringing a photographer's eye to his vivid musical portraits. Yet his lens is not given to the cinematic fantasy and marketing hyperbole that has spilled into seemingly every corner of society. Rather, he strips away the artifice of contemporary culture to reveal what is, at times, a sobering reality.
His perspective draws on the determination of Appalachian forebears who endured the iniquities of coal-mines and timber companies, but with a broad vision that looks askance at agri-giants in the Plains states and mass merchants on Main Street. His music is rooted in this timeless struggle; an American tenor struck in different keys by Steinbeck, Guthrie, Dylan and John R. Cash. Even upon such formidable foundations, however, King is a solitary structure if for no other reason than the alarming absence of such sentiment in millennial American music.
"This music is about the human condition," he explains. "We're very attracted by that of the spirit. And yet we're deeply enamored of what we're made from; trying to maintain youth and beauty, and sucking the marrow out of both ends." When that pressure needs release, King sends his characters in search of the same balms we all seek. He isn't afraid to have a little fun in his songs, or laugh at his problems. "Have I introduced you to my demons?" he smiles. "I confront them in my music, and find that they're not that big and scary after all. Well, that's everybody, just on different levels."
King's perspective is informed by a life journey that has opened his eyes to iniquity obscured by mass media's shiny veneer. His people are 'salt of the earth from westernNorth Carolina", he says. "It's not anything terribly unique. It was a sad little family, a very broken family. But I don't want to make more of it than was there. Music was a refuge. I could disappear."
Eventually, Matt's escape became his reality. He signed with Atlantic Nashville in the late nineties, writing and recording two albums that generated midlevel charting singles and a few nice reviews. And yet that brush with success was prelude to a dark time of divorce, alcoholism and near financial collapse. "I lived the sins most people try to sweep under the rug, burned through them and got out to the other side," he says. "I was buying everything that was sold to me," he admits. "one day a voice was like, 'You have been asleep for thousands of years.' And that was when everything changed. But it took a lot of personal tragedy to get to that place."
His eyes finally opened to the empty promises and shallow dreams spoon-fed through the flickering screens of our profit-driven culture. "What if you bought that thing you can't live without and it made you happy?" King asks. "What if you were actually satisfied? If the machine's promises came to pass, it would crumble. That's how you know it's a lie. And that's what this music is about."
"I went through the machine and came out an emotional sausage on the other side. But I also came out with something to say. This is just one man's view, but for once I'm being true to myself."

The Mountain
Matt King Lyrics

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Fare thee well my children
I'm a sinful man
I fell for the Devil's daughter
She loves me like a lamb

Goin' to the mountain
Gonna get saved
Gonna build me an altar

Next to my grave
Gonna burn my bible
But keep one page
When I meet my maker
I won't be afraid

Her hands began to tremble
As she begged me for his life
But I paid her no attention
Now I will pay the price

Goin' to the mountain
Gonna get saved
Gonna build me an altar
Next to my grave
Gonna burn my bible
But keep one page
When I meet my maker
I won't be afraid

Goin' to the mountain
Gonna get saved
Gonna build me an altar
Next to my grave
Gonna burn my bible
But keep one page
When I meet my maker
I won't be afraid

Goin' to the mountain

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Matt King's song The Mountain appear to be about a man who has sinned by falling in love with the Devil's daughter. He appears to be remorseful and is going to the mountain to seek redemption and salvation. The man intends to build an altar next to his grave, burn his bible, but keep one page, so that when he meets his maker, he won't be afraid.

The lyrics appear to be about a man who is at a crossroads in his life. He has sinned and fallen in love with the Devil's daughter, which is seen as a taboo in most religions. However, he still wants to seek redemption and has decided to go to the mountain to build an altar next to his grave. This suggests that he is willing to die for his sins and that he wants to make amends.

The lyrics also suggest that the man is willing to let go of everything, including his bible. By keeping just one page, he is suggesting that he has faith in his maker and that he is not afraid to face judgment. The song's message is clear, and it appears to express the idea that anybody can seek redemption, regardless of their past sins.

Line by Line Meaning

Fare thee well my children
Goodbye, my children

I'm a sinful man
I have sinned

I fell for the Devil's daughter
I was lured by Satan

She loves me like a lamb
She loves me still, but I am helpless

Goin' to the mountain
I'm going to the mountain

Gonna get saved
I will find redemption

Gonna build me an altar
I will make an offering to God

Next to my grave
Right beside where I'll be buried

Gonna burn my bible
I will destroy my religious texts

But keep one page
I'll keep a single page to remind me of the good

When I meet my maker
When I face God