the island, part 7: down here
This is the seventh in a song-by-song series about why I chose FULL FORCE GALESBURG by The Mountain Goats as the one CD I would take to a desert island. Previous installments are available here.
There is a large world, and a larger universe, and I am next to nothing in its wake, even in the best of times. But here, on an island, in the middle of nowhere, it is easy to feel like absolutely nothing, utterly insignificant to the rest of the universe.
Back in the real world, I used to sometimes obsess over what I could do that would benefit the world. I would like to think that posting on a blog would help people wake up and realize attacking Iraq was a bad idea. Not so young, even then, but still full of naivete and righteous ire.
Balanced precariously in a tree at the top of a hill, at the center of the island, I stare off into the mid-afternoon sky. The boombox, set at the base of the tree, is playing "Down Here" on repeat.
The scale is so vast, the ocean goes on forever. I could swim and swim and swim. All I would do is guarantee my watery death.
Who knows what goes on in the world, what events I have no control over. Besides all of them. The needs of friends and family. The suffering of strangers. The posturing of governments. The manipulations of multinational corporations. The irritation of government agencies. They all continue, without me. Possibly indifferent to me, possibly not. I have no hard evidence, and only my ego to use as a gauge.
I wonder if my flatmates have rented my room out yet. Probably not.
I survey the grounds of the island, for from this point I can see just about everywhere. I have pretty mixed feelings about this, knowing there is little left to discover. But then, the truth is that it is hubris to think that just because you have a survey of everything that you know everything about it.
Perhaps that's the point of "Down Here", a driving song that I've never quite understood, a brief minute and a half that takes us from Venus and Australia to "here", which is presumably somewhere in the heart of the midwest that makes up the setting of the rest of the album. There may be a universe of activity, but what happens around you is more than enough to fill up your life.
The mind wanders. Down here is a recurring phrase in the Goats' discography.
What did I come down here for? You. - "Tallahassee" (TALLAHASSEE) - a song about two lovers at the end of the line, ending themselves in a haze of liquor and bad decisions amidst decay.
Down here where the heat's so fine, I'll drink to your health, you'll drink to mine. - "Fault Lines" (ALL HAIL WEST TEXAS) - another song about two lovers at the end of the line, drowning themselves in a sea of conspicuous over-consumption.
Basically, most of the Mountain Goats songs are about two lovers at the end of the line. Which is reason enough to assume "Down Here" is, as well. That no lover is mentioned is a perplexing elision, however.
I listen again. Hah. There it is, the detail I've missed.
I don't speak the language down here
I've heard the lyric plenty of times, but this time it's with the attention and focus that comes with having only one album to listen to for months on end, and with that comes the recognition that this isn't a throwaway phrase; rather, it's the repeated assertation that drives the album, and here, another sideways use that reinforces the metaphor of knowledge of language as one of dislocation.
Everything churns through my brain, language and feeling trapped and the way the sun glints off the sea, and reflects on to that shiny area in the sand on the farthest beach.
Shiny area in the sand?
There is, perhaps, more to this island than I knew.
It is time to investigate. I extricate myself from the tree, hit the ground with the last words of the songs, air guitar along to the little riff that provides the coda of the song, shut down the boombox, and walk to the far beach, to see what secrets it holds.
------------------------------------------
VIDEO #7 for people who can't stand The Mountain Goats: a trailer for the upcoming Silkworm documentary, COULDN'T YOU WAIT?, that looks much better than I expected it to:
There is a large world, and a larger universe, and I am next to nothing in its wake, even in the best of times. But here, on an island, in the middle of nowhere, it is easy to feel like absolutely nothing, utterly insignificant to the rest of the universe.
Back in the real world, I used to sometimes obsess over what I could do that would benefit the world. I would like to think that posting on a blog would help people wake up and realize attacking Iraq was a bad idea. Not so young, even then, but still full of naivete and righteous ire.
Balanced precariously in a tree at the top of a hill, at the center of the island, I stare off into the mid-afternoon sky. The boombox, set at the base of the tree, is playing "Down Here" on repeat.
The scale is so vast, the ocean goes on forever. I could swim and swim and swim. All I would do is guarantee my watery death.
Who knows what goes on in the world, what events I have no control over. Besides all of them. The needs of friends and family. The suffering of strangers. The posturing of governments. The manipulations of multinational corporations. The irritation of government agencies. They all continue, without me. Possibly indifferent to me, possibly not. I have no hard evidence, and only my ego to use as a gauge.
I wonder if my flatmates have rented my room out yet. Probably not.
I survey the grounds of the island, for from this point I can see just about everywhere. I have pretty mixed feelings about this, knowing there is little left to discover. But then, the truth is that it is hubris to think that just because you have a survey of everything that you know everything about it.
Perhaps that's the point of "Down Here", a driving song that I've never quite understood, a brief minute and a half that takes us from Venus and Australia to "here", which is presumably somewhere in the heart of the midwest that makes up the setting of the rest of the album. There may be a universe of activity, but what happens around you is more than enough to fill up your life.
The mind wanders. Down here is a recurring phrase in the Goats' discography.
What did I come down here for? You. - "Tallahassee" (TALLAHASSEE) - a song about two lovers at the end of the line, ending themselves in a haze of liquor and bad decisions amidst decay.
Down here where the heat's so fine, I'll drink to your health, you'll drink to mine. - "Fault Lines" (ALL HAIL WEST TEXAS) - another song about two lovers at the end of the line, drowning themselves in a sea of conspicuous over-consumption.
Basically, most of the Mountain Goats songs are about two lovers at the end of the line. Which is reason enough to assume "Down Here" is, as well. That no lover is mentioned is a perplexing elision, however.
I listen again. Hah. There it is, the detail I've missed.
I don't speak the language down here
I've heard the lyric plenty of times, but this time it's with the attention and focus that comes with having only one album to listen to for months on end, and with that comes the recognition that this isn't a throwaway phrase; rather, it's the repeated assertation that drives the album, and here, another sideways use that reinforces the metaphor of knowledge of language as one of dislocation.
Everything churns through my brain, language and feeling trapped and the way the sun glints off the sea, and reflects on to that shiny area in the sand on the farthest beach.
Shiny area in the sand?
There is, perhaps, more to this island than I knew.
It is time to investigate. I extricate myself from the tree, hit the ground with the last words of the songs, air guitar along to the little riff that provides the coda of the song, shut down the boombox, and walk to the far beach, to see what secrets it holds.
------------------------------------------
VIDEO #7 for people who can't stand The Mountain Goats: a trailer for the upcoming Silkworm documentary, COULDN'T YOU WAIT?, that looks much better than I expected it to:
Labels: the island, videos for people who don't give a shit about the Mountain Goats.
25 Comments:
This totally made me sad but not in a bad way. I so feel island-ish right now (it's really muggy here).
Is there a shell of ease and casual comfort that permeates this blog? Public masturbation?
Is it public masturbation if you live on an island many time zones and seasons away? I don't really care what the answer is with this series. I'll circle jerk with you.
Btw, even your "for people who can't stand the Mountain Goat fans" video made me sad. Dahlquist was killed here in Chicago in a bizarre and deliberate (though apparently random) car wreck. His car was stopped at a light and a young girl drove her car directly into his in an apparent suicide.
Anyway, why did you not expect good things from the documentary? Any specific reason?
btw that last comment is the gayest thing sorry about that.
Anyway, why did you not expect good things from the documentary? Any specific reason?
Mostly that I just expect most home-funded music docs by people I've never heard of about bands that most people have never heard of to look pretty shambolic and not particularly well-crafted. Often such things attract people with more passion than filmmaking ability. At least judging from the trailer, these guys know what they are doing, which is a relief, particularly as the story is a tragic one and deserves good treatment.
killian,
your body is filling itself full of great daddy hormones right now. it is great. it is TRUE. so just embrace it. it is not gay.
I had those same reservations about the Silkworm doc, but the trailer, at least, is very good. I'm looking forward to seeing the whole thing.
happy late birthday, hope you got some cake on your desert island.
i have some very meticulous questions to ask you about your desert island because as i place in the mind i'd like to visit, i just can't get there. i know it's better not to get hung-up on the details, but i'm a very detail oriented person. just try getting through any movie with me without having me point out all of the unrealistic plot details.
right now, i'm trying to reduce some delinquent-invoice- paying-clients into 'buddhist challenges' that were put on this earth in order for my spirit to grow. unfortunately, if they don't pay soon i'll be late on my student loans, rent, and have my electricity and phones cut off. bastards. no, wait... spiritual growth opportunities...
last quip was probably more relevant to last week's Taoist post. quip pertains to my shortcomings, not yours.
I'm not passionate about Silkworm so maybe that's why the trailer doesn't do anything for me, though I'll probably put it in my queue because I had a positive experience with Dig even though I'm not passionate at all about the Dandy Warhols or Brian Jonestown Massacre. I'm also utterly not passionate about Metallica, but then I pretty much was totally bored by Some Kind of Monster.
I'll bet you've seen a whole lot of less than stellar documentaries.
Ask meticulous questions if you want, but you may be disappointed. Ironic for someone who works in the film world, but I'm not a very visual person. For instance, I couldn't tell you the eye color of anyone I've dated. (Although this is probably partly because my eye color shifts, so I never keep track of anyone else's either.) That said, I will attempt a less intellectual and more sensory processing next week of my experience.
Buddhism is so not Taoism. I have no truck with the transcendent religions, only the immanent ones.
Kilian, you're right ... I have seen a lot of bad docos. I did really like SOME KIND OF MONSTER, though. I don't know that the trailer for COULDN'T YOU WAIT? would necessarily sell it to somebody who's not already passionate about Silkworm (guilty as charged), but assuming that the film is crafted with the same level of care (never a safe assumption but more likely on no-budget things, both in the positive and the negative sense) as the trailer, it will be at least a solid piece of craft, and of course the story is just breaking regardless what you think of Silkworm. I only met them a few times, but Michael was one of the most genuine, happy people I'd ever met, and ... what a tragedy.
the use of the word 'passionate' in some of the comments on this thread is making me cringe. It sounds so overtly dramatic. Isn't there a better way to say you really really like a band?
the use of the word 'passionate' in some of the comments on this thread is making me cringe
You know, I saw Ricky Martin last night (you read that right) and I lost count of the number of times I heard the word "pasión." Must be a Puertoriqueño thing.
I'm still trying to get the projectile vomit out of the cracks of my desk from the Circle Jerk visual.
Well doors are opening. I can't say I'd ever been in a circle jerk before doing NAP. A part of me did breath a sigh of relief when Doug said he wasn't visual.
Btw, Doug - you can't remember the eye color of anyone you have ever dated? And you don't put baby making together with marriage? What is going on down under. Are you trying to tell us something.
p.s. feel free to rip me a new one for that if you'd like. damn this circle jerking feels good!
the use of the word 'passionate' in some of the comments on this thread is making me cringe. It sounds so overtly dramatic. Isn't there a better way to say you really really like a band?
Maybe, but I've been using it for a decade and I'm not going to stop now.
Kilian, I don't know what yr. insinuating. This may fall under willful ignorance. I'm literally not sure I can tell you the eye color of anyone that I know - girlfriends are just the ones who are more likely to hassle you about these things, in my experience. And I've never wanted to have kids, so getting married isn't about having kids for me. Neither of these things are new or have anything to do with my currently very boring private life. Unless that statement, too, is an act of willful ignorance.
Justin, I think you need to delay the Marshall Tucker blog for a week to explain further.
May I register my discomfort with the masturbation-related components of this discussion? Thanks.
Mostly just having fun (or not fun) with you. Because, yeah it does seem like something that would upset a girl (or boy sniff). And the first thing that came to mind about the kids is that even if you don't want kids it's gonna be something that comes up unless...well...unless, you know.
I think your eyes are green?
Doug,
I think what Kilian is trying to say is that he's a homosexual, and if you ever got curious, he's there for you.
so, will practicing an immanent religion in some way help me get over my delinquent clients? which religion lets me just shoot them?
Well, how are you going to get your money if you shoot them? That doesn't make any sense. I think what you want is the religion that is OK with torture, which would be just about any American evangelical religion.
Speaking of religion - it sounds to me from the description of taoism that Doug is talking about that this is more of a philosophy than the heavily ritualized religion thingy it became. (Sorry I did a freshman report on Taoism. It had to come out.)
I think anybody who follows taoism as a philosophy can be ac/dc about faith.
I also did a report on alchemy. That was pretty close to a religion too. You can definitely kill people with alchemy.
HS, Thanks for the translation service. I think.
Kilian, Dan Savage and his partner have a kid and they're gay as gay can be. In refutation to what I think you're saying even though you're not saying it.
As far as Taoism goes, I've pretty naive and confused about the whole thing. It's entirely possible you know more than I do. But it is still what I try to cling to.
My eyes are sometimes green and sometimes brown. It depends on what I'm wearing, I think. It's really odd, and most people don't believe me when I call attention to it, until they observe me over the course of several days and are forced to concede the point.
Heidi, I'm not sure religion holds the answers you seek. Try out some Nietzschean self-justification for why you transcend common morality and therefore should be permitted to hook their balls up to a car battery until they pay you. (I believe that's a rough translation of a turn of phrase from Beyond Good And Evil.)
I feel dirty.
DD - when you first made a comment about marriage and how children don't factor into your comprehension of it. My first reaction was that maybe you were trying to tell us you were gay but that was just one thought that went through my mind and really I came to the assumption that what you're saying now is actually what you were on about. Dig? My second reaction was to post an image of a gay couple with children on my next post. That wasn't directed at you at all but just a statement suggesting that it's hard to fathom marriage without the discussion of children.
I want to be clear that I made no personal assumptions about you either way regarding any of this. And I know it sounds weird and again please feel free to rake me over the coals. Everybody does it!
bbodg, good luck getting paid. I should have said that before. I've been in a similar situation and it is unfun, to radically understate matters.
anyway -
it's hard to fathom marriage without the discussion of children.
Or the discussion of buying a home, splitting assets, whether one partner is going to change faiths, whether both partners are going to work (and whose job gets supremacy when the job paths come into conflict), what city you're going to live in, or lots of other discussions. All I thought was interesting in that thread was that, without mentioning children, that comments thread went headfirst into children.
This may represent some weird self-justifying cognitive block for me - and I'm chock full of 'em! - but it is not a hidden declaration of my sexuality.
The Internet is getting weird for me this week. (Not just here.) I think I'll see you guys at the end of the week.
Gaybies are the new black.
Doug you might want to keep in mind that coupled with all the facts that surround the idea of marriage, of which you brought up many of the more salient ones, is also the fact that many of us commenting are married parents or soon to be parents. Hard subject to avoid sometimes. Many of us have babies on the brain. Personally, I have water on mine, but you get the idea. And for the record, the discussion of marriage for me does not immediately bring up kids at all. Not at all. And I have two of the little fuckers. To me it's all about juggling, hard work, and more juggling and hardwork. That's what marriage looks like to me. The kids are the kids. Back to the ether where I belong...
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