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Daniel 12:8 (third)
Flux

Album

The Life of the World in Flux

Released

2009

Artist

the Mountain Goats

Length

3:36

Previous Track

"Deuteronomy 2:10"

Next Track

"Matthew 25:21"

Daniel 12:8 (third) is the second song on the album The Life of the World in Flux. An alternate version of this song (labelled Daniel 12:8 (first)) was posted on John Darnielle's Tumblr in 2014.

Bible Verse[]

I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?” NIV Translation

Lyrics[]

Walk in the darkness, bump into things all night
Get dizzy and angry searching for some source of light
Unknown alphabets in spray paint on the street
Seek out their source and find it and fall down at his feet

Get some aspirin powders to rub into my gums
Wait for the pain to hit me, buckle when it comes
Feel it drill in like a corkscrew
Avert my eyes when the cause comes into view

Feel the fear in my chest all day
Praise you anyway
Feel the fear in my chest all day
Praise you anyway

See the road rise to the summit up ahead
Remember an old friend with a pistol to his head
When it comes my time for the laying on of hands
Let me feel the blow when it lands

Look for the secrets half-buried like trinkets in a field
Hope that the hidden things someday will be revealed
Stumble through the darkness, can't see anything at all
Whimper like a whipped dog when I fall

Feel the fear in my chest all day
Praise you anyway
Feel the fear in my chest all day
Praise you anyway

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

  • "...I was interested by the tension between these two concluding couplets - how the one, the first one, this one, tries to find a stoic resignation, but the later draft declines to share in the original’s attempt at optimism." -- John's Tumblr (The "later draft" is the version known as "Daniel 12:8 (third)" and whose lyrics are included in this article.)

Things Referenced in this Song[]

Notes[]

  • The original draft of the song ("Daniel 12:8 (first)", as performed in the audio file linked in Darnielle's Tumblr post) omits the chorus, uses "you"/"your" in place of "me"/"my" and "its cause" instead of "the cause" in the second verse, and ends with "try to calculate its span / seek out its source and take such comfort as you can" instead of "can't see anything at all / "whimper like a whipped dog when I fall".

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]



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