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.

Get Lonely
The Mountain Goats Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I will rise up early and dress myself up nice
and I will leave the house and check the deadlock twice.
and I will find a crowd and blend in for a minute
and I will try to find a little comfort in it.
and I will get lonely and gasp for air.
and send your name up from my lips like a signal flare.

and I will go downtown, stand in the shadows of the buildings

and button up my coat, trying to stay strong, spirit willing.
and I will come back home, maybe call some friends,
maybe paint some pictures,
it all depends.

and I will get lonely and gasp for air.
and look up at the high windows, and see your face up there.

Overall Meaning

The Mountain Goats' song "Get Lonely" is a poignant expression of the universal experience of loneliness. The singer begins by detailing his daily routine, describing how he tries to find solace among a crowd of strangers. He engages in a futile effort to escape his own mind, gasping for air as if drowning in his own thoughts. In this state of desperation, he finds himself calling out the name of a loved one, hoping that somehow they will hear and come to his aid.

Throughout the song, the singer uses vivid imagery to convey the emotional intensity of his experience. He describes standing in the shadows of buildings, buttoning up his coat as if to protect himself from the harsh reality of the world around him. He alternates between trying to distract himself with activities like painting, and simply staring up at the sky, searching for some kind of connection.

Line by Line Meaning

I will rise up early and dress myself up nice
I will make an effort to prepare myself for the day ahead.

and I will leave the house and check the deadlock twice.
I will take precautions to ensure the safety and security of my home.

and I will find a crowd and blend in for a minute
I will try to immerse myself in the energy of a group of people for a brief moment.

and I will try to find a little comfort in it.
I will attempt to find solace in the temporary escape the crowd provides.

and I will get lonely and gasp for air.
I will experience a deep sense of isolation, leaving me struggling to breathe.

and send your name up from my lips like a signal flare.
I will call out your name as a desperate plea for connection and companionship.

and I will go downtown, stand in the shadows of the buildings
I will venture into the heart of the city, seeking refuge in the shadows of the towering buildings.

and button up my coat, trying to stay strong, spirit willing.
I will make a conscious effort to keep myself composed, despite the intense emotions I am feeling.

and I will come back home, maybe call some friends, maybe paint some pictures, it all depends.
I will return to my residence and contemplate different ways to distract myself from my loneliness.

and look up at the high windows, and see your face up there.
I will glance upwards at the high-rise windows and imagine your silhouette in the glass, yearning for your presence.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

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