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.

Crane
The Mountain Goats Lyrics

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Picked up a fat, gold watch for you
Down where the river washes over the avenue.
And i listened to it tick away the minutes.
Looked out at the awful sky.

I was afraid that my arm was broken,
But it was only kinda run down.
I went walking after two last night,

Felt like i was the only guy in town.
And i'm not.
I know.
And i don't need you to tell me so.
Look at this watch.

Look at this watch.
You won't believe what this thing can do

Overall Meaning

The Mountain Goats's song Crane is a complex and layered piece of music with a deeply thought-provoking lyric. The song begins with the singer buying a fat, gold watch for someone, and standing by the river, listening to it tick away the minutes. The vivid imagery of the river washing over the avenue conjures up a sense of calm and tranquillity. However, as the song progresses, it becomes evident that the singer is grappling with profound loneliness and isolation. He walks alone at night, feeling like he is the only guy in town, which is a metaphor for his sense of alienation and detachment from society.

The song takes a poignant turn when we realize that the watch, which is a symbol of time and its relentless march, also represents something greater. The singer is deeply aware that time is running out, and he feels a sense of urgency to do something, anything, to snap out of his emotional malaise. The watch, therefore, becomes a talisman that represents hope, redemption, and a desperate desire to break free from the chains of loneliness.

Overall, Crane is a haunting and evocative piece of music that captures the essence of human loneliness and the struggle for connection and companionship.

Line by Line Meaning

Picked up a fat, gold watch for you
I bought a valuable and expensive timepiece for you.

Down where the river washes over the avenue.
I purchased the watch at a location near the river with overwhelming water flow passing through the street.

And i listened to it tick away the minutes.
I can hear the watch ticking and measuring the time that passes by.

Looked out at the awful sky.
I observed the gloomy atmosphere and dark clouds in the sky.

I was afraid that my arm was broken,
I was scared that my arm was fractured.

But it was only kinda run down.
However, it was just feeling fatigued and tired.

I went walking after two last night,
I went for a stroll past midnight.

Felt like i was the only guy in town.
I felt as if I was the sole inhabitant in the vicinity.

And i'm not.
But I know that is not true.

I know.
I am mindful of my surroundings and of others who share my world.

And i don't need you to tell me so.
I do not require someone else to remind me of this fact.

Look at this watch.
Admire this sophisticated and exceptional timepiece.

Look at this watch.
Take a glance at this watch.

You won't believe what this thing can do
You will be astonished and amazed by the multitude of features and capabilities of this watch.