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.
I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry
The Mountain Goats Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
he sounds too blue to fly.
the midnight train is riding low.
I'm so lonesome I could cry.
(sniff)
I've never seen a night so long,
the moon just went behind the clouds
to hide its face and die.
(sniff)
(sniff)
did you ever see a robin weep
when leaves begin to die?
that means he's lost the will to live.
I'm so lonesome I could cry.
the sign has come, a falling star.
like love, a purple sky.
they'll never wonder where you are.
I'm so lonesome I could cry.
(sniff)
I'm so lonesome I could cry.
The Mountain Goats cover of Hank Williams Sr.'s "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" is a song that deals with the depths of sadness and melancholy. The song creates an atmosphere of despair through its vivid and mournful imagery. The song begins with the singer hearing the call of a "lonesome" whippoorwill, who cannot even bring himself to fly. The image of not being able to fly is a poignant one, as it represents not just a lack of freedom but an inability to transcend one's emotional state. The train passing by is also depicted as low, reinforcing the sense of a downward spiral.
The singer then describes how the night feels interminably long, with time slugging by at a painfully slow pace. The moon hiding behind clouds is a metaphor for how everything in the world seems to be dimmed, obscured or lost. The singer then likens their sadness to that of a robin who has lost the will to live when the leaves begin to die. The final verse is perhaps the most heartbreaking, with the image of a falling star and a purple sky reminiscent of lost love, but also an indication that the person he is singing to will never wonder where he is, thus adding to his desolate feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
hear that lonesome whippoorwill
Listen to that lonely whippoorwill
he sounds too blue to fly.
It sounds like he's too sad to even move.
the midnight train is riding low.
The train is passing by and it sounds so mournful.
I'm so lonesome I could cry.
The singer is feeling incredibly lonely and sad.
I've never seen a night so long,
This night just seems to drag on forever.
when time goes crawling by.
Time is moving so slowly, like it's crawling on the ground.
the moon just went behind the clouds
The moon disappeared and seems to be hiding away from the singer.
to hide its face and die.
It seems like the moon has given up and disappeared completely.
did you ever see a robin weep
Have you ever seen a robin cry?
when leaves begin to die?
It could be because the robin is witnessing the end of something beautiful.
that means he's lost the will to live.
The robin may seem like he's given up on life and is also feeling incredibly lonely.
I'm so lonesome I could cry.
The singer repeats that they are feeling extremely lonely and sad.
the sign has come, a falling star.
A falling star is a sign that something big is about to happen.
like love, a purple sky.
The sky is a beautiful purple color, much like the way love can make you feel.
they'll never wonder where you are.
No one will ever notice or care where the singer is or how they're feeling.
I'm so lonesome I could cry.
Once again, the singer is expressing their extreme loneliness and sadness.
Contributed by William P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Carl Crispin
how does this only have 75 views?
Kgpspyguy
this is one of the weirder ones...
Genesis Corrupted
I came here thinking that i got a real weird version of this song, wanted to compare and replace... Well I have the exact same version. Japanese dub and all
James Johnson
Respectfully, I do believe that's Mexican Spanish, not Japanese.