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.
Birth of Serpents
The Mountain Goats Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Peer into the screen until you see it all like a vision in a crystal ball
Let it all fill with smoke
Is this somebody's idea of a joke
Let the fixer work until the silver's washed away and take the picture from the tray
Look hard at what you see and then remember you and me and let the truth spring free
Like a jack-in-the-box
From the Oregon corners
To the Iowa corn
To the rooms with the heat lamps where the snakes get born
Crawl through the tunnel and follow, follow the light northwest
See that young man who dwells inside his body like an uninvited guest
See the tunnel twist
Clutch your birthright in your fist
Let the camera do its dirty work down there in the dark
Sink low, rise high, bring back some blurry pictures to remember all your darker moments by
Permanent bruises on our knees
Never forget what it felt like to live in rooms like these
From the California coastline
To the Iowa corn
To the rooms with the heat lamps where the snakes get born
The lyrics of The Mountain Goats’ song “Birth of Serpents” are rich and full of meaning, painting vivid images of a journey through darkness and into the light. The opening lines propose an invitation to look beyond the surface and into the frame of the camera, to examine what lies beneath. The metaphor of the crystal ball reinforces this sense of seeking out truth, while the image of smoke and a joke question whether the viewer is really prepared for what they might find.
The lyrics continue to build the theme of exploration and revelation, referencing jack-in-the-boxes and cuckoo clocks as symbols of the cyclical nature of life, of the way events repeat themselves over and over. From the corners of Oregon to the cornfields of Iowa and the heat lamp rooms where snakes are born, the song takes us on a journey—through dark tunnels and into the light. The allusion to a young man trapped in his body like an uninvited guest could refer to a number of different situations, but it adds to the overall sense of discomfort, of searching for something that is elusive and hard to pin down. As the song progresses, the chorus emerges as a kind of mantra, reminding the listener to never forget the bruises that we accumulate over a lifetime, to remember the hardships and the dark moments that shape us as people.
Line by Line Meaning
Let the camera pull back 'til the fullness of the frame is clear and plain
Zoom out until the entire picture is visible
Peer into the screen until you see it all like a vision in a crystal ball
Stare at the screen until everything becomes clear
Let it all fill with smoke
Obfuscate the truth
Is this somebody's idea of a joke
Question the validity of the situation
Let the fixer work until the silver's washed away and take the picture from the tray
Develop the photograph until it's complete
Look hard at what you see and then remember you and me and let the truth spring free
Analyze the image and come to a realization about it
Like a jack-in-the-box, Like a hundred-thousand cuckoo clocks
Unexpected, jarring occurrences
From the Oregon corners to the Iowa corn, To the rooms with the heat lamps where the snakes get born
Traveling across the country to less-than-ideal places
Crawl through the tunnel and follow, follow the light northwest
Navigate through the darkness towards the light
See that young man who dwells inside his body like an uninvited guest
Owning up to the pain and sadness within oneself
See the tunnel twist, Clutch your birthright in your fist
Brace yourself for a bumpy ride and hold onto your core beliefs
Let the camera do its dirty work down there in the dark
Let the camera capture what's happening in the shadows
Sink low, rise high, bring back some blurry pictures to remember all your darker moments by
Experience the highs and lows of life, but remember the struggles
Permanent bruises on our knees, Never forget what it felt like to live in rooms like these
Physical and emotional scars from previous experiences
From the California coastline to the Iowa corn, To the rooms with the heat lamps where the snakes get born
Continued travels across the country to similarly undesirable places
Lyrics © SCHUBERT MUSIC PUBLISHING INC.
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