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.

Sourdoire Valley Song
The Mountain Goats Lyrics

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Bang the small rocks on the big ones
'Til the small ones are sharp and clean
Catch something, kill something
New blade cuts real keen

And then the grass grows up to cover up
The firepit and the forge
Half a world away from the Olduvai Gorge

Chew these roots for a toothache
Chew these ones for atmosphere
Dream the pleasant dreams that people dream
When they grow up down here

And then the grass grows up to cover up
The firepit and the forge
Half a world away from the Olduvai Gorge

Take care of the old man
See if he's in pain
Have somebody stay with him
Comfort him when he complains

Keep to ourselves mostly
Few friends and fewer closer friends
Lead a long life if you're lucky
Hope it never ends

And then the grass grows up to cover up

The firepit and the forge
Half a world away from the Olduvai Gorge

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to "Sourdoire Valley Song" by The Mountain Goats depict a simple way of life, rooted in survival and community. The opening verse describes the process of sharpening stones and hunting for sustenance in order to survive. The imagery of the grass growing up to cover the firepit and forge suggest a cyclical nature, where life goes on and the world moves forward, despite the daily struggles to stay afloat.

The second verse moves into the realm of herbal remedies, with specific roots being chewed for their specific properties. The idea of "dreaming the pleasant dreams that people dream when they grow up down here" suggests a certain level of isolation, but also of contentedness in a way of life that is familiar and rooted in tradition. The final verse speaks to the importance of community, of taking care of the elderly and finding comfort in the relationships we form over the course of our lifetimes.

Line by Line Meaning

Bang the small rocks on the big ones
Use rocks to sharpen and clean smaller ones

'Til the small ones are sharp and clean
Continue grinding until the small rocks are sharp and clean

Catch something, kill something
Hunt for food

New blade cuts real keen
Use the newly sharpened blade for hunting

And then the grass grows up to cover up
Over time, nature will conceal signs of human activity

The firepit and the forge
The place where tools were made and fires were built

Half a world away from the Olduvai Gorge
A distant place with important archaeological discoveries

Chew these roots for a toothache
Use the specific roots to cure toothaches

Chew these ones for atmosphere
Chew other roots for their pleasant taste and scent

Dream the pleasant dreams that people dream
Have common aspirations

When they grow up down here
Raised in the same environment