2000 Great Songs #1426: Against Pollution

When it comes to John Darnielle and his Mountain Goats, I assume there are a handful of tunes which are generally-acknowledged classics by fans, and then certain songs that may become idiosyncratic personal favorites just because of the way they happen to hit you.

I assume "Against Pollution," off 2004's We Shall All Be Healed, probably falls into the latter camp. It's not his most immediate song, moving at a slow pace, but I've always found the imagery so striking (and the music so insinuating, even at that slow crawl) that it's burrowed itself into my brain. Pivoting from a graphic tale of a liquor store hold-up to a bold religious epiphany, it's one of those Darnielle wonders that makes the world stop as you take it all in. That shift from almost gleefully shooting a robber in the face to "we will recognize each other, and see ourselves for the first time the way we really are" just feels downright terrifying.

Studio session:

Live, Halloween 2005:

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