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.

Going to Bolivia
The Mountain Goats Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I cut myself a two-foot switch from some tropical hardwood nearby
And the sounds of a carnival drifted miraculously through the air from a thousand miles away
The monkeys jumped from tree to tree, it sent a deathly chill through me
In Bolivia

Wildcats I had never seen claimed places in my room
Animal noises rang through the thick brush like voices from the tomb
I saw the freshly polished chrome gleaming in the midday sun

And I knew that you were coming home to Bolivia

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to The Mountain Goats’ song Going to Bolivia are deeply evocative of the experience of being in a new, unfamiliar environment. The singer has cut themselves a switch from tropical hardwood, indicating their need to protect themselves in a place that is potentially dangerous. The sounds of a carnival are drifting towards them from a distance, perhaps symbolising the idea of the singer being on the outside of society, observing something they don’t fully understand. The monkeys jumping between trees is described as sending a “deathly chill” through the singer, suggesting that they are anxious and fearful.

The second verse continues this theme of fear and unfamiliarity, with wildcats claiming spaces in the singer’s room and animal noises ringing out like voices from the tomb. The environment is described as being thick with brush, indicating the density and complexity of the singer’s surroundings. The image of freshly polished chrome gleaming in the sun is particularly interesting, as it suggests that there is something in the singer’s environment that is shiny and well-maintained amidst the chaos.

Overall, Going to Bolivia is a powerful and haunting piece that evokes a sense of discomfort, fear, and wonder at the unknown. The singer is clearly out of their element, struggling to come to terms with a new landscape that is both beautiful and terrifying.

Line by Line Meaning

I cut myself a two-foot switch from some tropical hardwood nearby
I found a sturdy stick to take with me on my journey to Bolivia.

And the sounds of a carnival drifted miraculously through the air from a thousand miles away
I heard the distant sounds of a festival and was amazed that it could travel so far.

The monkeys jumped from tree to tree, it sent a deathly chill through me
The sight of monkeys leaping from tree to tree gave me a feeling of fear and unease.

In Bolivia
All of these experiences occurred while I was in Bolivia.

Wildcats I had never seen claimed places in my room
I encountered unfamiliar wildlife, including wildcats, that had made their way into my living space.

Animal noises rang through the thick brush like voices from the tomb
The sounds of various animals in the dense foliage created an eerie atmosphere that reminded me of death and the afterlife.

I saw the freshly polished chrome gleaming in the midday sun
I spotted something shiny and clean, which stood out in the bright sunlight.

And I knew that you were coming home to Bolivia
The gleaming chrome reminded me of someone who was returning to Bolivia soon, possibly someone I cared about deeply.

Contributed by David Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS