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.
Faithless Bacchant Song
The Mountain Goats Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where the fat pines look like my brother's arms,
Thick and ripe
I'm trying to get out for days and these green vines
Keep getting in my way
I came up to a clearing.
Where the crosswinds cooled my face.
I would've rested just a little,
But for the fire-bellied toads.
See the ground was wet and they were everywhere.
Fire-bellied toad number five
From what may or may not have been unlimited series
Opened up his little mouth
As though to speak,
And then he spoke
And then he spoke to me, and he said,
"you can't holler down a rain barrel.
You can't climb around a tree.
I don't want to play in your yard.
If you won't be good to me."
Honey it was downright creepy
The opening verse sets the scene for the song, with the singer lost in a thick forest trying to find a way out. The "fat pines" that look like "my brother's arms" are a striking image that suggests a personal connection to the natural world. The singer is frustrated by the green vines that keep getting in their way, suggesting a feeling of being trapped or held back in some way. When they emerge into a clearing, they are met with a new obstacle: fire-bellied toads. These creatures are everywhere, and the singer finds their presence to be unsettling.
The second half of the song focuses on the toads themselves and their strange message. The fifth toad in an "unlimited series" speaks to the singer, telling them that they can't control everything in their environment. The repetition of "you can't" in the toad's message drives home the idea that there are forces beyond our control, no matter how hard we try to manipulate them. The final lines of the song suggest that the encounter with the toads was a profoundly eerie experience for the singer.
Overall, the song seems to be about the struggle to navigate a world that can be unpredictable and uncontrollable. The forest and the toads are both symbols of this uncertainty, and the singer is forced to confront the limits of their own power and agency.
Line by Line Meaning
Somewhere in the damn forest...
The singer finds themselves in a forest with thick trees resembling their brother's arms and overgrown vines blocking their way.
Where the fat pines look like my brother's arms,
Thick and ripe
The trees in the forest are very similar to the singer's brother's arms in appearance, thick and full.
I'm trying to get out for days and these green vines
Keep getting in my way
Despite attempting to leave for several days, the singer is unable to navigate through the forest due to the abundance of overgrown vines obstructing their path.
I came up to a clearing.
Where the crosswinds cooled my face.
Eventually, the artist reaches a clearing that offers a relieving breeze.
I would've sat down there in the middle,
I would've rested just a little,
But for the fire-bellied toads.
See the ground was wet and they were everywhere.
The artist would have taken a break in the clearing, but the abundance of fire-bellied toads covering the wet ground prevented this.
Fire-bellied toad number five
From what may or may not have been unlimited series
Opened up his little mouth
As though to speak,
And then he spoke
And then he spoke to me, and he said,
The fifth fire-bellied toad that the singer encountered appeared to try to communicate with the singer, and in doing so, spoke to them directly.
"you can't holler down a rain barrel.
You can't climb around a tree.
I don't want to play in your yard.
If you won't be good to me."
The toad shares three seemingly unrelated phrases with the singer. It is unclear if there is any significant meaning to these phrases, but they all generally propose that some things in life cannot be accomplished, and it is not worth attempting unless there is a good reason to do so.
Honey it was downright creepy
The artist found the encounter with the toad to be unsettling or eerie.
Contributed by Taylor Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.