The Hound Chronicles

Released: 1992

Label: Shrimper

Jump to the table of contents

Liner notes

(original J-card):

Recorded by the Mountain Goats featuring the Bright Mountain Choir. Winter 1991 – Spring-Summer 1992:

WE MISS YOU, AMY!

1546 – Hounds in New England keep early American settlers up all night, refuse to stop howling even under pain of death. 1600 – Food riots in Lukthersaram, India, attributed to a man in a hound suit, described by witnesses as "tall" and "fat." 1650 – Hounds in Palestine. 1713 – Or, "André the Hound." 1714 – Hounds in the French Alps melt millenia-old glaciers by breathing on them, proclaim imagematic independence from all extant systems. 1801 – Surrey, England 1-page broadsheet decries "excess of hound machineries in these parts." 1826 – World's Fair. Hounds unfair, but beautiful. 1840 – Hounds in Sonora, Mexico, invent music, write bogus "History of Music" to preserve anonymity. 1846 – Hounds. 1847 – Hounds. 1848 – Hounds. 1902 – Liberation of the Hound Sapphire from Chinese government. 1918 –

(reissue booklet):

The songs you find on this compact disc originally appeared on two cassettes. To elaborate further about that — to say, for example, that the songs originally appeared "on two cassettes that were released in ____ and ____" — would misrepresent the spirit of their time. These tapes did not have release dates. No-one anticipated their coming into the world, and very few noticed or cared. Among those who did, reaction was fairly evenly split. Some people thought these tapes were kind of cool. Other people thought they sucked. One can make, without much effort, a good case for either side of the proposition.

All previous eras cross at some point into the territory of the unimaginable, and so it is with the days of tape-trading. The obscurity in which these songs were incubated & born & brought into their faint light is a state of being which has passed into history. I don't keep diaries and I have a pretty hostile mistrust of nostalgic impulses, so anything I remember about these songs is shaded by having grown from the excitable young would-be poet & terrible guitarist who wrote them into the excitable less young would-be poet & improving guitarist who writes today. If I could speak to that younger writer, I would explain patiently to him that stalker narrators are neither interesting nor edgy, so he might want to refrain from writing "The Garden Song," lest his feminist activist older self feel embarrassed in the future. Through the impenetrable calcite wall of time I am pretty sure I can hear the younger writer responding that he sees my point, but that there is also a song about cows.

— John Darnielle

Durham, NC,

March 2012

Related material

The Hound Chronicles was reissued in 2012, again on Shrimper, as a single CD paired with Hot Garden Stomp. The song list and contents were identical to the original release.

Table of contents

The Garden Song

"Where's Spike when you need him? Huh?" "I'm warning you." "You? Warning me?" "Cut it out!"

I see the flowers in your garden are in bloom

I see the flags are flying high

I hear you've gone and rearranged things in your room

I guess you're trying to cut off my air supply

I came toward your window real slowly

I knew deep down I was about to strike oil

I guess by now the flowers in your garden know me

I felt them trying to get at me through the soil

My bare feet felt the cool, soft dirt moving up my ankles

But I don't fear you

The thorns began tearing at my shirt

But I didn't even care when they tore clear through

Your garden can't hurt me

Your flowers don't threaten my life

Your garden can't hurt me anymore

Your flowers don't threaten my life

Going to Wisconsin

"Oh yeah, th—"

There was the sound of a lake boiling over

On that day

Everyone said just to sit still

But the thickening air got in my way

So the hook's been baited now

Yeah, the cheese is on the water

Yeah, the water's been cleansed of all impurities, but

But now it really doesn't matter

Let's go, let's go

Wisconsin bound

Wisconsin bound

Wisconsin bound

Wisconsin bound

The bottom of the boat was a hot plate come alive

But the boat wasn't real and this is how I feel

You don't know where you are until you arrive

And the frogs sang out from the distant banks

And you say you need me in California but no thanks

Wisconsin bound

Wisconsin bound

Wisconsin bound, yeah

Wisconsin bound

Let's go

Spilling Toward Alpha

I hear you moving in the hallway

I hear you sharpening your claws

I hear you polishing your teeth sometimes

But I don't mind

And I hear you out in the garage

I hear you messing with the motor

I hear you tinker with the engine sometimes

But I don't mind

And I hear you moving in the kitchen

I hear you in there late at night

I notice when you leave the gas jets on sometimes

But I don't mind

Alpha Negative

The house was pretty and the yard was wide

And I felt strong with you at my side

Your eyes at night had a beautiful glowing in them

And I knew in my heart just what was growing in them

Ah, but you made me drink poison

It felt smooth running down my throat

I love you, and you made me drink poison

It was cool and smooth and sweet, do you remember

We had a bed of daisies thriving in the yard

And I quit my job so I could hold you all the time

I tried to stop the thing metastasizing in us

But in the warm, slow evening, I could feel it rising in us

Ah, and you made me drink poison

It felt so smooth sliding down my throat

I love you so much, and you made me drink poison

It was cool and smooth and sweet and cool and smooth and sweet and cool and smooth

"We'll just try that again."

The Torch Song

The sun was coming up and our friend was sound asleep

But we saw through the window that the water ran so deep

That you couldn't make out the ocean floor

Then I saw you in the light, I couldn't take it anymore

Give me your hand

Give me everything you've got

And the light from the window will fall on us burning hot

Just like a torch

The air was humid, I will not forget

When we stepped outside I hear your footstep

Now in my mind, it's a soft sound

Almost imperceptible against the giving ground

Let me kiss your eyelids with my lips

Let me feel the heat coming off your fingertips

Just like a torch

טקש

You've been away for quite some time

And now the rules are different now, everything's mine

Backtrack, hey say, what's the problem

Here's the problem, everything's mine

I can't be quiet

I can't be quiet anymore

I can't be quiet

I can't be quiet anymore

Yeah

You've been away for quite some some time

And now the rules are different now, everything's mine

Backtrack, hey, what's the problem

Here's the problem, everything's mine

I can't be quiet

The Cow Song

Bang, pow, look at me now

Don't let the cows stray off too far

Come down, take a good look around

See how the cows start to shine like lightbulbs

I love the cows

I love the cows

I love the cows, yeah

I love the cows

Rain comes, strikes you dumb

Reseed the meadow so the cows don't starve

Mud puddle, it's a fine place to cuddle if

You're a mosquito or a mosquito's baby

I love the cows

I love the cows

I love the cows

I love the cows

They're smiling in your face

All the time they want to take your place

Yeah, you know who I mean

Talking about those cow machines

I love the cows

I love the cows

I love the cows

I love the cows

—

(no lyrics)

Going to Chino

I'd like to say hello

To all our friends from Chino

To the people from Chino

Hello

I'd like to say hello

To all our friends from Chino

To the people from Chino

Hello

I know how hard it is down in Chino

I know how you struggle just to get by

I know they got farm-fresh eggs down in Chino

And tract homes, reasonably priced

I'd like to say hello

To all our friends from Chino

To the people from Chino

Hello

I'd like to say hello

To all our friends from Chino

To the people from Chino

Hello

Convenient access to the 60 freeway

Accredited medical care down at Chino Valley Hospital

A unified school system the likes of which you won't find elsewhere

And friendly people

I would like to say hello

To all our friends from Chino

To the people from Chino

Hello

I'd just like to say hello

To all our friends from Chino

To the people from Chino

Hello

Standard Bitter Love Song #4

Well, I see you've left me a photograph

Of a leopard tearing an antelope in half

What have you done

What have you done

What have you done

With our love

What have you done

Well, I see you've resorted to petty theft

You wanna take something from me, but there's nothing left

What have you done

What have you done

What have you done

With our love

Where have you put it

Well, I hear you calling from way over there

And I, I can't find it anywhere

What have you done

What have you done

What have you done

With our love

What have you done

Going to Mexico

I saw you at your window

I saw you in the sun

I saw you at your window

Looking out

I reached my hand in there

Then I touched your hair

And felt myself burn in the morning

And the chickens were screaming

Black dog at my heels

And the bluejays were coughing

Up in the trees

I'd forgotten my name

I felt kind of ashamed

And felt myself burn in the morning

I saw you at your window

At the beginning of summer

And invisible stars

Sent their heat down

I imagined your touch

It was almost too much

Burned like a bonfire in the morning

Lab Rat Blues

I saw you

I saw your hair

I could spend the rest of my life in there

I saw you and I sank into your eyes

I'm not going to apologize

Because you with your own hands made the whole world

You can't fool me, I'm onto you now

Because you with your own hands created everything

You can't fool me, I'm onto you now

Yeah, I saw you but you saw me first

Living water to quench my thirst

And you tell me quiet down, but I have no doubt

I know what you're all about

Because you with your own hands made the whole world

You can't fool me, I'm onto you now

Because you with your own hands created everything

You can't fool me anymore, I'm onto you now

Going to Kansas

"... tell me!" "Don't hurt them! Do something!" "It's all over, it's all over, I've been betrayed. Send David to me, I don't feel well."

You were all dressed in green

Clouds bounced against the edges of the sky

You had the prettiest hair I'd ever seen

We saw the world passing by

There was an ocean's droning

Though we were nowhere near the shore

We heard each other giggling and moaning

Then we couldn't hear each other anymore

Yeah

When my head was resting on your breastbone

I could hear your beating heart

Twenty-four hours later you had left me completely alone

I heard the whole world come apart

And you were all dressed in green

Rising in the sky was an unfamiliar star

You know, you know what I mean

Yeah, I remember who you are

The Water Song

[speech in other language]

Water came springing out the side of the wall

And I guess the same thing will happen to us all

I don't know how to explain what I mean

I mean to say it's kind of hard to explain

Now

Let them kill me

Let them kill me

Let them kill me

Let them kill me

Water came down through the cracks in the ceiling

But this time the water had a different feeling

It's the sort of feeling that is hard to explain

So let me put it to you in a different way

Now

Let them kill me

Let them kill me

Let them kill me

Let them kill me

You're the salesman, I'm the buyer

You're the tractor, I am the tire

I'm the glass, you're the water that fills me

I hear them coming, now let them kill me

Let them kill me

Let them kill me

Let them kill me, now

Let them kill me

Yeah

Let them kill me

Let them kill me

Let them kill me

Let them kill me

Going to Spain

[speech in other language]

It's heaven up here, but it's

Heaven down there, and

You're gonna leave me now

I don't care

It's heaven outside, but it's

Heaven indoors, well

Go on and leave me

I don't care anymore

I hear the airplane coming

I hear the airplane coming

I hear the airplane coming now

It can't touch me

I see you going up the

Little stair

Go on and board the plane

I don't care

I, I see you hold his hand

I see you wave goodbye

I don't know you anymore

So I'm not going to cry, now

I see the airplane coming

I feel the airplane coming

I hear the airplane coming now

It can't touch me

Keep It on Your Mind

"It's a quarter 'til 2 on the 23rd of February and this is a Hank Williams song."

Now, if you stay out and start playing around

Your baby's gonna burn your playhouse down

You better keep it on your mind

You better keep it on your mind

You'll be a-moaning and a-groaning, Lord

You better keep it on your mind

Now, wrong is wrong, and right is right

If you make a pig mad, he's sure gonna bite

You better keep it on your mind

You better keep it on your mind

I've had it proven to me, Lord

You better keep it on your mind

Every fuss got the same old end

I don't believe the good Lord meant for a man to win

You better keep it on your mind

You better keep it on your mind

You'll be a-groaning and a-hopping, Lord

You better keep it on your mind

Now, if she gets mad and tells you goodbye

There ain't a thing that you can do but sit at home and cry

You better keep it on your mind

You better keep it on your mind

You better call her sweet mama, Lord

You better keep it on your mind

The Hound Chronicles, Nall, accessed December 28, 2016.

Credits

Thanks as always to Caliclimber, whose Flickr page provided the album art, and who painstakingly transcribed the original liner notes. Thanks also to Sophie Kreeger for her Hebrew fluency and help understanding שקט.