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.

The Admonishing Song
The Mountain Goats Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

tell me why.
tell me why.
tell me why you lied.
that was not a nice thing to do.
not a nice thing to do.
it wasn't very nice of you.
not a nice thing to do.

tell me why.
tell me why.
tell me why when you got caught in it you told the same lie.
that was not a nice thing to do.
not a nice thing to do.
it wasn't very nice of you.
not a nice thing to do.

tell me why.
tell me why.
tell me why you made threats against the life of the prime minister of canada.
that was not a nice thing to do.
not a nice thing to do.

it wasn't very nice of you.
not a nice thing to do.

Overall Meaning

"The Admonishing Song" by The Mountain Goats is a seemingly simple song with repetitive lyrics, yet it conveys a complex feeling of disappointment, anger, and hurt. The song is an admonishment, a reprimand directed towards someone who has done something wrong. Throughout the song, the singer demands to know why the person lied, why they continued to lie, and why they made threats against the Prime Minister of Canada. The singer's tone is not aggressive, but rather sad and frustrated, as if they genuinely believed in the person's goodness and were let down by their actions.

The repetition of the lyrics "not a nice thing to do" drives home the gravity of the situation, emphasizing the harm done by the person's misdeeds. However, the song does not explicitly call for revenge or punishment, but rather for the person to take responsibility for their actions and own up to the harm they have caused. The lyrics hint at a desire for forgiveness and reconciliation, but only if the person is willing to change their ways and make amends.

Overall, "The Admonishing Song" showcases The Mountain Goats' talent for capturing complex emotions in simple yet impactful lyrics. The song's universal theme of disappointment and betrayal is relatable to anyone who has been let down by someone they trusted.

Line by Line Meaning

tell me why.
Please explain to me the cause or reason for your actions.

tell me why you lied.
Please tell me why you did not tell the truth about something.

that was not a nice thing to do.
What you did was wrong and hurtful to others.

not a nice thing to do.
Your actions were unkind and not acceptable behavior.

it wasn't very nice of you.
You did not exhibit good manners or kindness through your actions.

tell me why when you got caught in it you told the same lie.
Please explain why you continued to lie even after being caught in the act.

tell me why you made threats against the life of the prime minister of canada.
Please explain why you thought it was acceptable to threaten the life of an important political figure.

Contributed by Jackson T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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