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.

Linda Blair Was Born Innocent
The Mountain Goats Lyrics

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Gentle hum of the old machines
Here we come scrubbed and scoured
Patches on our jeans
When the drone sounds
In the cool night wind
We pick up the call
Kick all the traces in
Hungry for love

Ready to drown
So tie down the sails
We're going downtown

Great big drain on the power grid
You may not like Tate's methods
But you've got to admit
She's a real nice kid
We walk light
Down the wires
Higher than weather baloons
Empty hearts on fire
Hungry for love
Ready to drown

So tie down the sails tonight
We're going downtown

Overall Meaning

In "Linda Blair Was Born Innocent," The Mountain Goats draw us into a world of restless energy and misguided rebellion. The song paints a picture of a group of young people ready to act on their desires, hungry for something they don't yet understand. The "old machines" and "drone sounds" allude to the industrial setting in which they find themselves, perhaps a factory or a straightforward rural town. Yet their patchwork clothing suggests a countercultural lean as they prepare to "kick all the traces in" and head downtown. They are searching for love and fulfillment, heedless of the consequences and unprepared for what they might find.

The second verse seems to shift focus to a specific individual, Tate, who embodies the group's ideals in some way. The mention of her questionable methods hints at a darker side to their endeavor, while the assertion that she's a "real nice kid" underscores their idealism and reverence. The image of walking "down the wires" suggests a precarious balance, as if they're hovering between achieving their dreams and falling far short. The final lines repeat the refrain of their hunger for love and willingness to risk everything, doubling down on their desire for a life beyond the ordinary.

Line by Line Meaning

Gentle hum of the old machines
The soft sound of the outdated equipment

Here we come scrubbed and scoured
We arrive immaculately clean

Patches on our jeans
We wear patched denim trousers

When the drone sounds
As soon as the buzzing starts

In the cool night wind
Under the chilly breeze of the night

We pick up the call
We answer the summons

Kick all the traces in
Ignoring all the signs of caution

Hungry for love
Craving affection

Ready to drown
Prepared to succumb

So tie down the sails
Secure the sails tightly

We're going downtown
We're headed towards the city center