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.
Your Belgian Things
The Mountain Goats Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They'll store them for you in an airplane hangar
There's guys in biohazard suits
Mud kicking on their rubber boots
They've come to keep your pretty things from danger
The men were here to get your Belgian things
They'll spend the whole day hauling them downstairs
My camera groans beneath the weight it bears
I can see you in my sleep
Playing the points for all you're worth
Walking gingerly across the bruised earth
The men were here to get your Belgian things
They waltzed right through the door and went flourescent
Their boots were black and shiny and your treasures gleamed like stars
Bones from deep down in the fertile crescent
The arteries are clogging in the mainframe
There's too much information in the pipes
I saw the mess you left up in the east bedroom
A tiger's never gonna change its stripes
I guess
I guess but Jesus what a mess
One way in and no way out
The men were here to get your Belgian things
And only I was here to see them do it
I wish you had a number where you are
It's hard with no one here to help me through it
I can see you in my sleep
Playing the points for all you're worth
Walking gingerly across the bruised earth
The Mountain Goats’ “Your Belgian Things” is a song about a woman who has passed away and the men who are there to collect her belongings. It’s a melancholic reflection on loss and the inability to truly let go of someone who has died. The men who have come to collect her things are wearing biohazard suits, as if her possessions are somehow contaminated, and they take care to protect them during the removal process. The singer has a deep connection to the woman who has died and remembers watching her play points (a game similar to darts) and walking “gingerly across the bruised earth”.
The song captures the grief and sadness of losing someone and the difficulty of moving on. The singer is left to deal with the aftermath of her death and cherished memories as her possessions are taken away. The lyrics also suggest that he is struggling to come to terms with her death and is left feeling lost and without direction. The line, “I wish you had a number where you are” emphasises his need for some kind of connection to her, even if it’s just a phone call to talk about what’s happened.
Line by Line Meaning
The men were here to get your Belgian things
A group of men came to collect the possessions belonging to you that are from Belgium.
They'll store them for you in an airplane hangar
The Belgian possessions will be kept in storage in an aviation facility.
There's guys in biohazard suits
The men present to collect the belongings wore protective clothing to ensure their safety.
Mud kicking on their rubber boots
The guards' boots had mud stains from working in the area outside.
They've come to keep your pretty things from danger
The men arrived to collect your Belgian items so they would not be at risk of harm.
They'll spend the whole day hauling them downstairs
The men will take the entire day bringing all Belgian possessions to the lower level.
I shot a roll of thirty-two exposures
The singer took many photos in succession, perhaps to remember the belongings that were collected.
My camera groans beneath the weight it bears
The camera the artist used to take the photographs was heavy and strained under the burden of its own weight.
I can see you in my sleep
The artist can recall your image even when they're sleeping.
Playing the points for all you're worth
In the artist's dreams, you are acting out a game in which every point is significant and must be valued accordingly.
Walking gingerly across the bruised earth
The person in the singer's dream walks slowly and cautiously over a ground that is battered or marked in some way.
They waltzed right through the door and went fluorescent
The individuals who came to collect your belongings entered the room without hesitation, and the lighting in the area changed to a bright fluorescent hue.
Their boots were black and shiny and your treasures gleamed like stars
The men's polished black boots contrasted with your prized possessions, which shone bright like stars.
Bones from deep down in the fertile crescent
Perhaps the collected Belgian possessions included ancient, valuable relics from the Fertile Crescent region.
The arteries are clogging in the mainframe
There is a significant amount of information in the system, perhaps causing communication issues and leading to congestion.
There's too much information in the pipes
There's an overwhelming amount of data that's creating a blockage or slowdown of some sort.
I saw the mess you left up in the east bedroom
Before you left, there was an untidy state in the bedroom to the east of the current location.
A tiger's never gonna change its stripes
People don't often change who they are as an individual.
I guess
An expression to say that the singer understands something to be true.
I guess but Jesus what a mess
The artist recognizes things are in a challenging situation, saying it is a mess.
One way in and no way out
The situation seems impossible with no foreseeable escape or solution.
And only I was here to see them do it
The artist was the only one present and witnessed the collection of your Belgian things.
I wish you had a number where you are
The singer would like to contact you but has no means of doing so.
It's hard with no one here to help me through it
The artist is struggling with the current situation and could use someone to assist them.
Contributed by Lincoln B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.