this is what i think makes a Mountain Goats song special: these tender moments in forgotten figures on the edges of your vision who deserve a song celebrating them, the ones you thought are vestigial but were actually important all along. as my drama teacher said: "there is no such thing as a small role "
I waited here all by myself The room was dark and it smelled like sulfur I heard the screams from way down in the darkness Felt pretty sure my life was over I kept my hat on just for luck Sang simple tunes the whole night through I wondered if I'd wake to find myself in flames As I waited here for you Yeah when you came in I could breathe again I saw some guys dressed up like sorcerers Blue robes that flowed above the ground They came and went and I was frightened for my life I tried not to make a sound Just when my solitude was closing in I heard a howl like screeching tires And I told you the one thing I know how to say Through the bright ringing drone of 8-bit choirs Yeah when you came in I could breathe again
i love that this isn’t inherently a love song; like, yeah, Toad could just be super gay, but it could also be read as valuing a friend because of the comfort & reassurance they give you, or how the people you may not expect will be there for you when you’ve hit a low point
I always felt this showed johns talent because most of his sons are about serious topics and I always thought that was what I loved about his songs but then I found this and realized hes just amazing in general
hey there adventurer “I was talking about how - this childhood tendency of mine - I’m the most gullible person alive. I believe everything I’m told. Not just while it’s being told to me; a poet named Bill Direen has a very strong credo that, you know, for the duration of the story that someone is telling you, believe it. But I can’t escape at the end and so that’s sort of a thing about me. And consequently, I’m the kind of person who- and I think more people have this than admit it. You know how you hear a really dumb song - like you know it’s dumb, it’s just not the sort of stuff you maybe normally would listen to - and then you start to cry. And you say, ‘Why am I crying at ‘Nearest Distant Shore’, a country song from the eighties?’ Well, it’s that you let yourself get sucked into it and suddenly everything- the protagonist person was real, so maybe it’s dumb because they’re feeling beleaguered and they’re not really powerful enough to articulate things in a way that’s really clever because they’re in a whole, huge amount of psychic pain. Maybe that’s the reality of the dumb song. So anyway, I play video games and sometimes- and I’m not talking about video games with complex plot lines that everyone cries at, right. Everyone cries at 'Ocarina’. It’s true, when they seal Zelda up in the amber and you can’t- everybody cries at that. But this is not that. There’s not a lot of people who, when you reach the end of the maze and it blinks and Pac-Man has eaten all the dots and eaten a few ghosts while he was at it, so he has earned some right to freedom and rest… and the maze blinks and this music plays and you think, 'Oh, what music are they playing for Pac-Man?’ Maybe, as they usher him into the house that he won because he completed the maze. 'It’s so nice that he’s finished. He worked so hard at it. He died twice on the way through the maze and now he’s done! So now, good for him. And I helped him get there. So, this is great!’ And then a new maze full of dots presents itself. And there’s new ghosts, none of them are actually dead. Every time you eat them, the ghosts come back to life. And if you’re me, you reach a point where this feels like a crushing psychic weight. Like, 'Oh my god, Pac-Man will never be done. He will never be done. He has to eat the dots forever. There is no escape from the maze. There’s an exit on this side of the screen, but it just comes right back out on the other side of the screen. It’s hell. Pac-Man was born in and lives in hell. That’s all you’re doing, is helping him walk around down there and be chased by demons who have names like Inky and Blinky. You have to pool in a harsh universe through which he lives.’ So this song is about a little fellow who goes to free the woman he loves from an evil dragon. And he’s really not… he’s just a plumber. He’s not a hero or nothing. He’s just a little plumber-and he’s exceedingly little. I know it’s uncool to call people little, or something; like, people are all sorts of sizes but this guy’s literally like half an inch tall. And like one day, he just wakes up inside a sewer and the sewer has creatures that fly and he fights and fights and fights. But when he gets past the evil dragon, the person he’s looking for isn’t there. But somebody else he knows is, that he didn’t even know was being held prisoner. His name is Mario. His friend’s name is Toad. I find their story profoundly moving so I wrote this song for them.” - John Darnielle introducing Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is In Another Castle, Rio Theater on 2012-06-22. I don’t know about you, but the way he describes Pac-Man’s never ending time in hell really sounds to me like a thinly veiled illusion to facing your traumas from the past: no matter how long you fight it there’s no way you can really “beat” your traumas, you just strategize and try to hold them off to the best of your ability. Mario’s quest in this song is essentially coming to terms with your trauma, and coming to terms with thoughts and things that you didn’t even know you had to come to terms with. Perhaps my original comment was a bit too narrow, but it still is not far off. I would also like to add that I never said all of John’s music is about his abuse or any of the other trauma he’s been through. and even if I did say that, I wouldn’t be far off. He’s pretty open with how he uses his music to come to terms with the trauma he’s suffered in that past.
@@christianmccord9456 this song reminds me of something totally different than what John meant and I'm sure he would love what anyone holds to his music. That's why music is great. It transcends the artist you fuckwhit
last year I went to a fighting game tournament, realized I forgot the printer cable I use for my controller, then spent God knows how long wandering around town in sub-zero temperatures trying to find a store that sold the right kind of cable. By the time I got back to the venue, I could barely move my fingers and had to spend 5 minutes sitting in front of a space heater to warm them back up I was listening to this on a loop the whole time. My hands start to hurt a bit whenever I come back to it.
***** The name of the song is Toad's line every time you get to the end of a castle in the early Mario games, and he is always hidden in a dark room within a fiery castle, so it makes sense lyrically I suppose.
***** No it's not. It's pretty obviously meant to be Toad narrating. He's trapped in the castle 'all by myself' and he waits for Mario to turn up and rescue him, and when the unnamed saviour (Mario), he tells him 'the one thing I knew how to say' (that being the title of the song, the one line of dialogue Toad can respond with).
I know this song is literally about toad and Mario or whatever but if you listen to this thinking about taako and lup from the adventure zone you'll cry instantly
I remember the good times playing Mario on the DS with my cousins. Especially Mario Kart. The Balloon Battles were good fun. Except I used to get last place a lot and I had to spawn item boxes. I wasn’t angry, I just helped my cousins to destroy the older one. And the races we had. Oh my gosh we were so bad lol. We used to fall off the edges and lose power-ups. I used to come in like 5th or 1st. I wasn’t half bad. I think we were playing on like 50cc. But, thanks for the memories, everyone.
OMG! I heard this years ago, and now i remember it again! But it was different video i saw, anyway thanks for the memories, i completely forgot about this!
John could absolutely write a song about bestowing the danger and responsibility and power of a sword onto a kid who may or may not be ready for it and I would absolutely listen to it
+Am Fah There's a female voice at the end, when Peach and Toad are both singing. Most of the song is from Toad's point of view, but as always, Peach comes in making this about her. It highlights how unfair it is to Toad, who faces just as much, if not more, as Peach.
So let me get this straight...throughout the entire song it's clear it's from Toad's perspective, the title of this song is a direct quote from Toad after you rescue him, the events in the song all directly relate to Toad, the last verse implies Toad is saying "Thank you, Mario, but our Princess is in another castle!" to the sound of 8-bit choirs", but because John decides to end the song uplifting and emotional by having Kaki sing the same chorus John's already sung previously entirely through Toad's perspective, "Yeah when you came in I could breathe again", to illustrate to the listeners about how relieved Toad is after being rescued from captivity trapped in a dungeon, somehow this means Peach is the one saying it at the end? You're free to interpret it however you want, but you're really grasping at straws.
If it's clear that the song is being sung from the perspective of a male character, why is it grasping at straws to say that the song is being sung from the perspective of a female character when the voice changes to a female voice? why is that less plausible than to say that it's the same character, despite introducing a totally new voice?
I always thought this song was in the view of Peach waiting to be saved But now I think it's Toad.. Then again, Peach would make sense Then again, Toad is the only one in the series who says that Then again, I should stop saying "Then again"
My foster brother won a $20 bet beating mario 3 faced away from the tv in 10 mins (flute). Id love to see him and john 2 player that shit im good but respect game man
How does toad know that the choir is 8 bit? It is like fish being aware of water. This is dangerous knowledge for one to have. Perhaps his abduction was justified?
Because for a bunch of people that discussion is a part of appreciating a piece of art. You enjoy the piece itself and then try to take meaning from it you can relate to in some way. it's beautiful
not to have brain damage but i always thot this sounded a little gay. like oh you can breathe again? when you see a man? sounds a little saucy to me fellas
I've been a huge fan of tMG for about a decade now. I must admit, many songs grow on you over time -- and a few may even lose their original luster. It all depends on your own journey, I think, and where you are in life when you hear them. Sometimes the meaning just isn't there yet for the listener. This is a simple tune with simple but powerful lines (which JD has mastered IMO). It reminds me a lot of the Transcendental Youth album, and could really just slide right in with some of those numbers. More simple, jazzy in style... but, as always -- powerful, meaningful -- lyrics.
