Track This: The Mountain Goat's "Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod."

While "This Year" generally gets the most accolades of the songs on The Mountain Goat's arguably most signifcant song cycle, The Sunset Tree, due to its catchy chorus and relatable message, my favorite track on the album is undoubtedly "Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod," although its nearly impossible to pick a song from this stellar set of doubtful, autobiographical uncertainties. The album fits into what I consider John Darnielle's greatest period, the albums that added more instrumentation starting with Tallahassee and stretching to Heretic Pride. Of course, there are also cases to be made for Darnielle's earlier boom box tape recordings. After that, I drifted away from their catalog and am hoping to revisit the later albums more extensively. 

I could probably write about most of Darnielle's songs, but "Tetrapod" connects more closely to my life than many of the others because of its relationship to music, growth, and fear. The pain on the track is palpable as the narrator attempts to find solace from his alcoholic stepfather in music and fails to do so. Darnielle sings, "And alone in my room / I am the last of a lost civilization." As a music obsessive, these lyrics reflect much of my high school existence, where I hid from my classmates and family in the lyrical and musical grooves because I wanted to crawl out of my skin most of the time. I looked forward to graduating and finding myself. Darnielle sings, to the strum of his acoustic guitar, "Deep in the dream chamber / And then I'm awake, and I'm guarding my face / Hoping you don't break the stereo / Because it's the one thing that I couldn't live without." While I did not deal with physical violence like Darnielle, I was often berated for my musical choices and my lack of agency just like the narrator. I feared confrontation and was often forced to defend myself, so the song's narrative is far too relatable. 

The song is less dynamic instrumentally than many others on the record, neither finding the reggae strum of "Song for Dennis Brown" or the catchy strumming energy of "Dance Music." but the lyrics are among Darnielle's most engaging for those who need music to cope. They trace the patterns of being a teenager looking for solace in media and growing through their hobbies. They also vividly show what it's like to live under the same roof with an addict. When the narrator claims, " One of these days I'm going to wriggle up on dry land," there is a quiet triumph that they have survived and grown. While the song's dark subject matter pulls us into the narrator's void, listeners can find relief that he was able to make it out of the situation. While music fans often give too much merit to the cliche that "music saved my life," in this, and many other cases, it becomes one of the greatest coping mechanisms. 

Track This is a recurring feature of Snobbin' that turns the music appreciation dial up and rips it off of your stereo. It introduces a new track, allows readers to rediscover an underappreciated one, or serves as a forum to discuss a song that falls into the ear candy category and should be listened to unabashedly for years to come.