The Mountain Goats
Regarding the article on DB Cooper [ FT412:30-37], I was delighted to read in the list of popular culture references, innocuously tucked away amongst the other bands, an oblique reference to the song ‘Rain in Soho’ by The Mountain Goats. It’s off their album Goths, and I don’t think this awesome song – dark, energetic and bleak – has been given its due. Naturally, I’ve already brought it to the attention of the local karaoke bar. “Nobody broke DB Cooper’s fall / Nobody hopes to hear the bag man call / Children playing in the market square / But no one’s dancing, no one’s dancing there / The river goes where the water flows, but no one knows why the Batcave closed!” And so on. “No one knows where the lone wolf sleeps / No one sees him camped out on the front lawn”. And this cascade of enigmatic imagery culminates in the furious imprecation: “We played for you but you did not sing, no one’s going to get away with anything!”
I was first thrilled to discover The Mountain Goats from their contributions to the soundtrack of the stop-motion animated series ‘Moral Orel’ (their songs “No Children” and “The Old College Try” from their Tallahassee album), which was a satire of oppressive religious families. Interesting factoid:
such families actually have a mental illness designation folie au famille, where a narcissistic figurehead distorts the reality of those around him. Sadly, there is no intervention possible in such circumstances, as it’s too widespread and controversial to address. It’s something that just has to be left to burn itself out, for those affected. It’s rather like the absurd situation Jon Ronson points out in his book The Psychopath Test: that psychopaths are everywhere, really dangerous, and quite recognisable. But since there’s no cure, it’s not considered a priority to detain and treat them. Hey-ho. “Increase in wisdom is increase in sorrow”, as the Good Book says. Kafka too, who said: “Learning is always accompanied by the desire to die,” or something similar.
James Wright Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex