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.

Love Cuts the Strings
The Mountain Goats Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

the first thing that happened was the river overflowed
the water running through the streets and was sweet and cold
i knelt by the water like a doe by a stream
punch-drunk, snowblind, as though the whole thing were a bad dream

and then love pulled out the heavy artillery
kypris took the horses by the bit for the morning ride
i count my blessings, but you can only be expected to count so high

when love cuts the strings

i smeared myself with pennyroyal to keep the hounds at bay
you poked your head out of an alley half a block away
and i recognized you, though i'm not sure how
and the air turned red around you
as a dull chill came down over me

and then love summoned up the infantry
and the green-eyed goddess got ready for all out war
and i'd count my blessings,
but i don't even know what the word blessing means

when love cuts the strings
yeah!

Overall Meaning

"The Mountain Goats's song Love Cuts the Strings" appears to be about heartbreak and its associated pain. The song opens with the mention of a river overflowing, a natural disaster that suggests the chaos and confusion that accompanies the end of a relationship. The singer kneels by the water in a state of disorientation, stunned and unable to process their emotions.

The second verse references the Greek goddess of love, Kypris, who represents the irresistible force of attraction that can pull people together despite their better judgment. Love becomes a weapon against the singer, thrusting them into a battle that they are not prepared to fight. They smear themselves with pennyroyal, a natural insect repellent that has also been used for centuries to induce menstruation (suggesting perhaps the pain of losing a lover). At this point, the singer sees their ex-partner, although they are not sure how they recognize them - this could imply that the breakup was sudden and unexpected.

The chorus repeats the theme that "love cuts the strings" - that is, love can abruptly sever the ties between two people and leave them adrift. There is a sense of powerlessness here, as if the singer is caught in the crossfire between love and loss. The song ends with an exclamation mark, suggesting a burst of anger or frustration that has been building throughout the lyrics.

Line by Line Meaning

the first thing that happened was the river overflowed
A natural disaster occurred causing the river to overflow

the water running through the streets and was sweet and cold
The overflowed water was flowing through the streets and was cold and refreshing

i knelt by the water like a doe by a stream
I kneeled by the flowing water like a deer kneeling by a peaceful stream

punch-drunk, snowblind, as though the whole thing were a bad dream
I was overwhelmed and disoriented, as if the entire situation was a nightmare

and then love pulled out the heavy artillery
Love began to use extreme methods to win over my heart

kypris took the horses by the bit for the morning ride
Kypris, the goddess of love, started her campaign and took control of the situation

i count my blessings, but you can only be expected to count so high
I try to be grateful for what I have, but there's only so much goodness when love is in control

when love cuts the strings
When love takes charge and decisions are made that affect your fate

i smeared myself with pennyroyal to keep the hounds at bay
I tried to protect myself from danger by using pennyroyal to keep away the vicious dogs

you poked your head out of an alley half a block away
You appeared out of nowhere, half a block away from me

and i recognized you, though i'm not sure how
I knew who you were despite not recalling how I knew you

and the air turned red around you
The atmosphere shifted and became tense upon your arrival

as a dull chill came down over me
A cold feeling of dread came over me

and then love summoned up the infantry
Love gathered its troops and started a forceful attack on my heart

and the green-eyed goddess got ready for all out war
Kypris, the green-eyed goddess of love, prepared for a battle for my affections

and i'd count my blessings, but i don't even know what the word blessing means
I don't see any positives in this situation, and blessings seem meaningless when love is involved

when love cuts the strings
When love takes charge and decisions are made that affect your fate

yeah!
An expression of approval, excitement or agreement

Contributed by Isaiah R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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