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.

Noctifer Birmingham
The Mountain Goats Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

i had to stop and catch my breath
when the telephone rang out as loud as death
it was three in the morning
there was a low drone of katydids behind your voice
when i came down from harrisburg pennsylvania
and i saw you by the highway

you asked me if the north was alright

and i said it got kind of cold at night
i could feel your bones shivering way down there in birmingham
and when i came down from harrisburg pennsylvania
and i saw you by the highway

you reminded me of all the things you'd given up forever
and you asked about the children
and you asked about the weather

and then i came down from harrisburg pennsylvania
and i saw you by the highway

Overall Meaning

In "Noctifer Birmingham," the singer receives a call from someone he knows in Birmingham, Alabama, in the middle of the night. The singer indicates that he had to stop and catch his breath when the phone rang as it shocked him. The conversation between the two people is muffled by the sound of the katydids in the background, suggesting that they are in different locations. The singer mentions that he came down from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and saw the other person by the highway, implying that he might be on a journey.

The singer tells the person on the other end that he had been up north, and when asked about it, he replies that it got cold at night. This response seems brief, and the singer may be uncomfortable with the question or the relationship he has with the person. The other person's bones were shivering way down in Birmingham, and the singer could sense this from the conversation. The singer reminds the singer of all the things they had given up forever, which might suggest that they had an intimate relationship that ended. The conversation ends when the singer comes down from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and sees the other person by the highway.

The song conveys a somewhat somber mood and is open to interpretation. The phone call may have come from an ex-lover or someone with whom the singer has a complicated relationship. The background noise of the katydids and the singer's hesitation to answer questions may indicate that he is not ready to communicate with the other person. The song could be about missed opportunities, lost love, or anything else that may result in separation.

Line by Line Meaning

i had to stop and catch my breath
The singer was overcome with emotion upon receiving a phone call.

when the telephone rang out as loud as death
The ringing phone was unexpected and jarring.

it was three in the morning
The phone call took place in the middle of the night.

there was a low drone of katydids behind your voice
The person on the other end of the phone call was surrounded by the sound of nature.

when i came down from harrisburg pennsylvania and i saw you by the highway
The artist and the person on the phone had previously met in person by a highway.

you asked me if the north was alright
The person on the phone inquired about the singer's well-being in a different region.

and i said it got kind of cold at night
The singer responded honestly about the temperature in the north.

i could feel your bones shivering way down there in birmingham
The artist empathized with the person on the phone's discomfort in a different location.

you reminded me of all the things you'd given up forever
The person on the phone brought up past sacrifices made.

and you asked about the children
The person on the phone inquired about the well-being of offspring.

and you asked about the weather
The person on the phone asked about the current climate.

and then i came down from harrisburg pennsylvania and i saw you by the highway
The artist once again recalls meeting the person on the phone in person by a highway.

Contributed by Chase W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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