The Mountain Goats are an American band formed in Claremont, California, by… Read Full Bio ↴The Mountain Goats are an American band formed in Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle, despite the plural moniker. The Mountain Goats are, for all practical purposes, the endlessly clever and prolific John Darnielle and whatever musicians he surrounds himself with, which means that while the soundscape may change from project to project, the overall tone and feel of Darnielle's work remains remarkably consistent. At his best, he writes finely observed, slightly surreal, impressionistic vignettes that manage to mix life as we live it with life as we wish we could live it, and as such he has more in common with a novelist than he does with the typical singer/songwriter, which is fitting, as he's also a published author. Darnielle's early Mountain Goats releases were lo-fi, cassette-recorded efforts cut with a rotating lineup of musicians, such as 1995's Nine Black Poppies and 2000's The Coroner's Gambit. By 2005's The Sunset Tree, his recordings had become cleaner and less cluttered, but his characters studies were just as vivid, and as the Mountain Goats finally cohered into a stable lineup (with Darnielle joined by Peter Hughes, Matt Douglas, and Jon Wurster), they recorded tuneful, thematically unified albums such as Beat the Champ (2015) and Goths (2017) that ranked with their finest work.
Darnielle began the new millennium with The Coroner's Gambit for Absolutely Kosher before signing to 4AD for the release of the surprisingly polished Tallahassee in 2002. We Shall All Be Healed followed in 2004, and one year later, Darnielle was back with The Sunset Tree. Remaining as prolific as ever, Darnielle turned away from the intensity of The Sunset Tree for a calmer, more reflective set of songs on 2006's Get Lonely. The accessible and assured Heretic Pride appeared in 2008. Next up was the Bible verse-inspired The Life of the World to Come, the group's sixth album for 4AD, in 2010. Switching to Merge Records in 2011, Darnielle released All Eternals Deck, which was recorded in four different studios in Brooklyn, Boston, North Carolina, and Florida with four different producers -- John Congleton, Scott Solter, Brandon Eggleston, and Morbid Angel guitarist and Hate Eternal frontman Erik Rutan -- helming various tracks. That year the band was also handpicked by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival that he was curating in Minehead, England, but they were ultimately unable to appear due to scheduling issues.

Absolute Lithops Effect
The Mountain Goats Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

After one long season of waiting
After one long season of wanting
I am breaking open

My insides are pink and raw
And it hurts me when I move my jaw
But I am taking tiny steps forward
And I, I feel sure that my wounds will heal

And I, I will bloom
Here in my room
WIth a little water
And a little bit of sunlight
And a little bit of tender mercy
Tender mercy

The big trucks come up the highway
And the big wheels rattle my windows
And night, night comes to Texas

After one blind season alone in here
After one long sweltering summer
I, I'm going to find the exit
And I will go to the house of a friend I know
And I, I will let myself forget
With a little water
And a little bit of sunlight

And a little bit of tender mercy
Tender mercy

Overall Meaning

The first verse of this song describes the aftermath of a long period of waiting and wanting. The singer is now breaking open, which suggests that they have finally found a way through their struggles and are ready to move forward. However, they are still in pain and healing, as indicated by the raw insides and difficulty moving their jaw. Despite this, they are optimistic that they will heal and bloom, fueled by the water, sunlight, and tender mercy that they offer themselves.

In the second verse, the singer hears the big trucks rumbling by and nightfall settling in. This scenic description offers a stark contrast to the more internal musings of the first verse. The singer is now ready to leave behind their isolation and suffering, choosing instead to go to a friend's house to forget and start anew.

Overall, "Absolute Lithops Effect" is a song about overcoming hardship and finding a way to heal and move on. The tender mercy that the singer offers themselves is a powerful reminder that self-compassion and self-care can help us find a way through even the darkest times.

Line by Line Meaning

After one long season of waiting
After waiting for a long time

After one long season of wanting
After wanting for a long time

I am breaking open
I am finally letting my emotions out

My insides are pink and raw
My emotions are raw and vulnerable

And it hurts me when I move my jaw
My emotional pain is affecting me physically

But I am taking tiny steps forward
I am making progress, no matter how small it may seem

And I, I feel sure that my wounds will heal
I am confident that I will recover from my emotional pain

And I, I will bloom
I will grow and flourish

Here in my room
In the safety of my own space

With a little water
With a little bit of care

And a little bit of sunlight
And a little bit of positivity